Fillmore County Assessor Jason McCaslin was present at the April 6 Fountain Council meeting to discuss changes to the city’s tax values. Like many other municipalities in the county, Fountain will see an increase to its building values, largely driven by the spike in housing market sales. The county is required by state statute to value property every year and conduct an … [Read more...]
Kirsten Zoellner
Reporter
kirsten@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Kirsten has been a reporter for Fillmore County Journal since 2008. No awards to date, but her mother finds her articles riveting. She enjoys shining a light on the great people and events in the county and has aspirations to someday write a novel about them. A native of Rushford, she is a member of Root River Community Church, co-founder of Odyssey Homeschool Association, and was the founder for the Rushford-Peterson Valley Farmers' Market.
When not writing, Kirsten happily spends her time raising a family alongside Joel, her husband of 18 years. She homeschools their six children (Evin, Lauren, Logan, Ada, Kathleen, and Emelia) and does her best to ensure domestic bliss. Kirsten is an advocate for conservation and homesteading and operates Liten Dal Farm, where the family raises dairy goats, pastured poultry and hogs, alpacas, a few steers, and horses. Hobbies other than juggling include the outdoors, reading, vegetable gardening, cheesemaking, fermenting various things in Ball jars, and making everything from scratch despite the fact that it probably costs more.
Kirsten and her family proudly reside in rural Fountain on her great-great-grandfather's farm.
You can follow more about Kirsten on the family's Facebook page, Liten Dal Farm, or their blog: ourprairienest.wordpress.com.
Rushford approves private bond placement for Highway 30 project
At the March 28 meeting, the Rushford City Council received an update from financial consultant Mike Bubany, of David Drown Associates, regarding the bond for the rapidly upcoming Highway 30 project. The street and utility project is being coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and is set to kick off as early as late April. Being a state-run project, … [Read more...]
Rushford Village lifts COVID restrictions
After nearly two years prohibiting the public usage of the community center, the Rushford Village Council has voted unanimously to lift rental restrictions. Initially, the council prohibited rentals due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an inability to clean to safe standards after every usage. “We have a service that’s doing the cleaning now. They already started and they’re doing … [Read more...]
Disciplinary action taken against Rushford employee
At the Rushford Council meeting earlier this month, Councilor Leigh Volkman questioned the city’s reaction to allegations against a city employee. Nothing further was said on the matter other than an investigation was ongoing. During a closed meeting portion of the March 14 council meeting, the matter was discussed further. Minnesota Statutes Section 13D.05 Subdivision 2(b) to … [Read more...]
Peterson digs into city projects
After months of discussion, the Peterson City Council, at its March 9 meeting, voted unanimously to move forward with several projects which will give the city fresh appeal. Following the replacement of the welcome sign on the Root River State Trail last year, the city is replacing the outdated city sign on the Highway 16 corridor. The new sign will be manufactured by the … [Read more...]
Rushford reviewing large gap in airport hangar funding
The City of Rushford has been carefully planning the reconstruction of a hangar at its municipal airport for the last two years. The easterly hangar building, with six units, was a complete loss due to a fire, and additional damage was sustained to the AD Building/pilot’s lounge facility. The western hangar, housing units 7-12 received no damage. Without nine rented hangar … [Read more...]
Rushford Village still baffled by new insurance valuations
In January, Rushford Village received an initial report from the League of Minnesota Cities’ appraisal of all city property. There were wide discrepancies and the city’s insurance agent, Butch Johnson Insurance, offered to check into whether or not errors were made on the figures as the appraised amount will greatly affect the insurance premiums for the year. At the March 1 … [Read more...]
Rushford approves agreeement for Highway 30 project; serves notice on Well House permit
It’s been a long time in the works, but plans for the reconstruction of Highway 30 in Rushford are being finalized and the proposed start date for the project is just months away. Engineer Derek Olinger, of Bolton & Menk, presented a cooperative construction agreement from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) at the February 14 city council meeting. Included … [Read more...]
Peterson finds savings; looks to welcome sign impact
An opportunity for significant refinance savings could have a big impact on Peterson’s budget. The city council was made aware of the opportunity at the February 9 meeting courtesy of financial consultant, Mike Bubany, of David Drown Associates. “When we issued bonds for County 25, we promised not to prepay or refinance before a certain date. It had a call date of February 1 … [Read more...]
Rushford Village tackles personnel goals
At the annual organizational meeting, the Rushford Village council approved the addition of several city and public works goals. Two of these were to write a Personnel Manual and to complete steps for A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Program, a part of Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration (MNOSHA) compliance. Adopted to existing safety … [Read more...]
Fountain follows up annual designations
The Fountain City Council breezed through a two-minute meeting February 2. There were only two items for agenda consideration. The first item was the monthly consent agenda, consisting of last month’s meeting minutes, the treasurer’s report, and approval of monthly bills. All were approved in one motion and with no discussion. Councilor Colleen Fohrenbacher was absent from this … [Read more...]
Rushford Village kicks off a new year
The Rushford Village Council held their annual meeting January 18. Committee Designations for 2022 will remain the same with the exception of Personnel & Finance Committee. Citing a lack of availability and experience with Personnel issues, Councilor Bob Hart asked to be removed from the committee, unsure if the Personnel & Finance duties could be split and shared by … [Read more...]
Rushford sees opportunities for better communication
The last meeting of 2021 (December 27) for the Rushford Council was largely a follow-up on the city’s final levy and the annual performance review for City Administrator Tony Chladek. This was his fifth year with the city. Mayor Terri Benson kicked off the discussion noting she’d compiled the comments and concerns from the individual performance reviews done by herself and … [Read more...]
Rushford ponders future project impacts
As part of ongoing efforts to thoroughly understand and mitigate the impacts of future projects within the City of Rushford, the city council met with financial consultant Mike Bubany, of David Drown Associates, for a special meeting on December 20. Bubany’s computer modeling provided some clear parameters for projects, including the 2022 Highway 30 reconstruction, a Minnesota … [Read more...]
Rushford moves closer to deciding levy
In September, the Rushford City Council set the maximum levy at $1,017,000, representing a 0% increase over the 2021 levy. At the December 13 meeting, more discussion on the topic was held with City Clerk Kathy Zacher presenting comparative and historical data, as well as updates on capital projects. “In keeping it level this year, we’re decreasing some of our funds and we’re … [Read more...]