At their August 1 meeting, the City of Rushford Village, Minn., set a public hearing about the possibility of demolishing the Village Road Bridge. The CRV and the county were intending to do some repairs on the bridge, but needed easements from three property owners. One of the three has refused to grant an easement on his .03 acre. He had wanted a guarantee that the road would … [Read more...]
HVAC to be Updated in Historic Courthouse
At the August 1 regularly scheduled Houston County Commission meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of two “chillers” from Winona Controls to replace the current HVAC systems in the Historic Courthouse. The county received a bid from Winona Controls and Winona Heat and Vent for two units. Winona Controls came in at $128,000, and Winona Heat and Vent at $163,310. … [Read more...]
Children’s Mental Health Case Management
Fillmore County Children’s Mental Health case workers made their first presentation to the county board at the August 1 meeting. The county terminated its contract with Hiawatha Valley Mental Health in Winona on May 1. The county now provides children’s mental health services. The Fillmore County Children’s Mental Health team includes caseworkers Ashley Greden, Andrea … [Read more...]
Q & A session on Houston referendum
The Houston School Board held an extended Q & A session following a board meeting at a special meeting July 20. Public comment was allowed as usual, with a three-minute limit during the meeting as well. Tom Weber from SiteLogiQ and Ryan Fetters from Baker Tilly attended the meeting to help answer questions regarding the referendum. Board member Arlin Peterson brought up … [Read more...]
Polly Heberlein appointed Houston County interim auditor/treasurer
At the July 25 regularly scheduled Houston County commission meeting, commissioners appointed Houston County Deputy Auditor/Treasurer Polly Heberlein as interim auditor/treasurer. Heberlein will serve the remainder of the elected term vacated by Donna Trehus. Heberlein was selected from a field of four candidates, all of whom were interviewed by commissioners at the July 11 … [Read more...]
Fillmore County continues 2024 budgeting process
Four departmental budgets were reviewed at the county board’s July 25 meeting. Terry Schultz, Facilities Maintenance supervisor, detailed budgets for the Building Maintenance department and Infrastructure. The proposed Building Maintenance budget is about $20,000 higher than the 2023 budget, or $563,195 for 2024. The increase is mostly due to gross salaries and the county … [Read more...]
Rushford gets SMIF update
At the July 24 meeting, the Rushford Council heard from Southern Minnesota Initiative Fund (SMIF) representative Andi Arnold, who discussed ongoing programs, grants, loans, and investments in communities and future partnerships and programs. Rushford is just one of the cities in Fillmore County benefitting from the SMIF partnership. According to Arnold’s report, for every $1 … [Read more...]
Chatfield decertifies three TIF districts
Three resolutions were adopted at the July 24 meeting of the Chatfield City Council decertifying three tax increment financing districts. Councilor Josh Broadwater was absent. Chris Giesen, EDA director, explained the three TIF districts have run the course of their agreements. They are all on the Fillmore County side of Chatfield. District 3-2 was created in 2003 to assist … [Read more...]
Fillmore Central referendum set for November 7
At their July 25 meeting, the Fillmore Central School Board approved putting to the voters a vote on revoking the current referendum revenue authorization of $292.15 per pupil and replacing it with a new authorization of $783.86 per pupil. The new authorization would be subject to an annual increase at the rate of inflation. The current referendum is set to expire in one more … [Read more...]
Competitive and financial healthy adjectives used to describe Caledonia
At the July 24 meeting of the Caledonia City Council, Mark Goldberg, David Drown & Associates (DDA) explained the results of the Classification and Compensation study with the council. At the February 27, 2023, council meeting, the council awarded the Classification and Compensation study contract to DDA for a total of $17,500.00. The proposal is for a full classification … [Read more...]