At the April 4 meeting, the Rushford Village Council again pulled back on the proposed maintenance shed project. The Public Works facility is underutilized and needs improvements. Last month, the council dug into the costs. The proposed project came in at 35% higher than anticipated. Councilor Mike Ebner stated that the city could not utilize the contractor they’d hoped to … [Read more...]
Jail renovation and expansion bids presented
Bruce Schwartzman, BKV Group, and Pete Filippi, Contegrity Group, addressed the Fillmore County Board at their April 4 meeting. Chairman Larry Hindt was absent due to a medical issue. Schwartzman explained that the jail project went out for bids in February; the bids came in on March 23. There was good bid coverage with 25 bid categories and 57 bids total. Two categories … [Read more...]
Fountain Council selects new engineer
After months of discussion, the City of Fountain has selected a new engineer. At the April 5 meeting, the council unanimously approved hiring Bolton & Menk. The firm’s work agreement will be on a per-project basis. They included a fixed fee if the city wanted an assessment of its wastewater treatment plant. The council cited the firm’s experience and recommendations from … [Read more...]
Preston City Hall window replacement update
At the April 3 meeting of the Preston City Council, a quote for replacing windows on the west side of the building (city hall/library) was discussed. Councilman Dean Aug was absent. In October 2022, City Administrator Ryan Throckmorton sought quotes to replace the windows. A quote from Bowmans in the amount of $14,140 was accepted by the city council. A down payment in the … [Read more...]
Chatfield searching for city administrator
The Chatfield City Council, at their March 27 meeting, acknowledged the receipt of a notice of retirement from City Administrator Joel Young and approved the recommendation to retain DDA Human Resources, Inc. to search for his replacement. Councilor Mike Urban was absent. Young intends for the retirement to be effective sometime between mid-July and mid-September 2023. He has … [Read more...]
Fillmore County PSAP manager
The Fillmore County Board held a relatively brief meeting on March 28. Commissioner Randy Dahl was absent. Sheriff John DeGeorge requested approval of a proposal from Northland Business Systems to replace the server for the PSAP (public safety answering point) logger, which is in need of replacement. The new server will be paid for out of 911 grant funds. With trade-in credit … [Read more...]
Schools and transportation companies receiving $1.4 million in grants for school bus stop arm cameras Minnesota Department of Public Safety awarding fifth round of grants to help with safety, education and enforcement statewide
ST. PAUL — Sixteen schools and transportation companies will receive grants to install bus stop arm cameras to help keep students safe as they go to and from school. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) announced $1.4 million in phase five grants to change dangerous driving behaviors and protect kids. The grant project combines enforcement, … [Read more...]
Two Fillmore Central wrestlers make it to state tournament
At the March 28 Fillmore Central School Board meeting, Superintendent Heath Olstad updated the board on the winter and spring sports seasons. Winter sports have wrapped up and spring sports have started. Congratulations were extended to wrestlers Orion Sass and Katie Whelan for qualifying for the state individual wrestling tournament, with Whelan taking fifth in state. Parent … [Read more...]
Miller bill to help Spring Grove recover from devastating fire receives committee hearing
ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Senate Tax Committee today reviewed a proposal from Senator Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) aimed at providing needed assistance to the community of Spring Grove, which was ravaged by a large fire in December. The fire, which burned for more than seven hours, caused extensive damage: six apartments and MulQueen’s True Value Hardware store were destroyed. The … [Read more...]
Scam alert message from Winneshiek County
“In just the past two months, the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office has recovered and returned nearly $60,000 of scammed funds. However, most of the time once the money is sent – it is gone forever. There has been a sharp influx of scam reports from area residents involving large sums of money. These scammers are using a wide range of tactics and schemes to bait and hook … [Read more...]