• Home
  • About FCJ
  • FCJ Staff
  • Advertise
  • Student Writers
  • Special Sections
  • Cookbook
  • 507-765-2151

Fillmore County Journal

"Where Fillmore County News Comes First"

  • News
    • COVID-19
    • Feature
    • Agriculture
    • Arts & Culture
    • Business
    • Education
    • Faith & Worship
    • Government
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Outdoors
  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Commentary
  • Police/Court
  • Classifieds
  • Legal Notices
  • Columnists
  • Social Scenes

Mabel mourns mayor’s death

September 19, 2022 by Rich Wicks Leave a Comment

Jim Westby obituary, Fillmore County Journal

Jim Westby obituary, Fillmore County Journal Mabel’s city council meeting on September 14 was shrouded in sorrow due to the recent death of Mayor Jim Westby.  The council observed a moment of silence, followed by a statement read aloud by council member Kirsten Wyffels, who stated, “We would like to take a moment to memorialize and pay tribute to our mayor James R. Westby. Jim was a strong leader and fierce advocate for the City of Mabel. He spent over 25 years serving our EDA board, eight years as a city council member and over 20 years as our mayor.    We are indebted to him for his endless contributions, his vision, his leadership and his commitment to the City of Mabel. He will be greatly missed.”

Council member Adam Wilder was appointed to fill the remainder of Westby’s term as mayor, and Tina Bakke was appointed to fill the council vacancy created by Wilder’s promotion. Both terms expire December 31, 2022. The council also voted to add Wilder as an authorized signer on all city accounts.

The council discussed a suggestion to create two 15-minute parking spots in front of the post office. The council voted to approve the idea. Jeff Rein said he and Kirsten Wyffels had viewed the spots to determine how best to mark them as 15-minute spots. He said they decided upon painting the curb (“John Deere green”) and stenciling in lettering to indicate the special designation at those two parking spots. The new time limits are expected to be in effect by September 16.

Regarding the city’s new digital electronic sign, which will be used to promote upcoming events and notices, Rein said the sign has been received at LetterWerks, and will soon be ready to install in Mabel. The council voted to allow non-profit groups/events to submit notices for the signage for free, while individuals (such as birthday announcements) and for-profit groups will be charged $10 per day.

Karen Larson brought up the request to hold a joint meeting of Mabel and Canton’s city councils with the Mabel-Canton school board, as has been done in recent years. The meeting is set for September 21 at 6 p.m. at the school. Larson suggested that no more than two members attend, to avoid a quorum.

Larson brought up the proposed contract renewal from MMUA (Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association) for Mabel’s Safety Management Program. She said the annual cost unexpectedly jumped from $5,900 to $11,078. She said she spoke with MMUA’s director, but didn’t get a clear understanding of why the cost would jump so drastically. There was discussion about the possibility of splitting the cost with Lanesboro, which might entail staff having to travel to Lanesboro for some trainings. No action was taken at this time, so that the council can check to see what options are available to avoid incurring a large increase in cost.

Rein informed the council of his suggestion regarding the possibility of blacktopping the area where the charging station for EVs (electric vehicles) will be.  He said based on costs, he suggests not blacktopping at this time. Wyffels agreed, saying, “We can always do it later.” The consensus was to leave the area as a gravel surface.

Rein updated the council on options for the water drainage concern that was brought to the council recently by Kelly Sand.  Rein suggested the best cost-effective solution appears to be, “We think we can go in there and scrape off, and then fill in so it’ll be nice and level for the grass to grow for them to mow on, and then just go along the curb.” He said this would create a new path for drainage on city property to get the water to the drain. Wyffels agreed this would be a good first attempt, and if not effective, other options could be considered later.

Zoning permits were approved for three households (Rod Johnson, Will Persons, and Diane Wilder). The next meeting of the Mabel council will be October 12 at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.

Filed Under: Government, News Tagged With: Mabel


About Rich Wicks

Reporter
rich@fillmorecountyjournal.com
Read other articles by Rich Wicks

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

FILLMORE COUNTY WEATHER

Fillmore County Journal - Your number one source for news and community information in Fillmore County Minnesota
Fillmore County Journal - Your number one source for news and community information in Fillmore County Minnesota
Fillmore County Journal - Your number one source for news and community information in Fillmore County Minnesota

News Categories

  • Features
  • Agriculture
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Education
  • Faith & Worship
  • Government
  • Health & Wellness
  • Home & Garden
  • Outdoors

Contact Your Legislators

Governor - TIM WALZ
Office of the Governor
130 State Capital
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

800-657-3717 | 651-201-3400
mn.gov/governor/

U.S. Representative - JIM HAGEDORN
District 1
hagedorn.house.gov

U.S. Senator - AMY KLOBUCHAR
www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public
507-288-5321 | 888-224-9043

U.S. Senator - TINA SMITH
www.smith.senate.gov
507-288-2003

State Representative - GREG DAVIDS
District 28B
651-296-9278
rep.greg.davids@house.mn

State Senator - JEREMY MILLER
District 28
651-296-5649
sen.jeremy.miller@senate.mn

Government this week

Monday, June 5

• Kingsland School Board, Work Session, Elementary Conference Room, 6 p.m.

• Lanesboro City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

• Preston City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

• LeRoy City Council, Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 6

• Fillmore County Commissioners, Courthouse, 9 a.m.

• Houston County Commissioners, Courthouse, 9 a.m.

• Houston Planning Commission/EDA, City hall, 5:30 p.m.

• Hokah City Council, Fire Department Building, 6 p.m.

• Ostrander City Council, Community Center, 6:30 p.m.

• Rushford Village City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, June 7

• Brownsville City Council, Community Center, 7 p.m.

• Fountain City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

Thursday, June 8

• Filllmore County Planning and Zoning Commission, Courthouse,   7 p.m.

Monday, June 12

• Whalan City Council, City Hall, 5 p.m.

• La Crescent City Council, City Hall, 5:30 p.m.

• Caledonia City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

• Grand Meadow City Council, Community Center, 6 p.m.

• Houston City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

• Spring Valley City Council, City Hall, 6 p.m.

• Rushford City Council, City Hall, 6:30 p.m.

• Chatfield City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

• Wykoff City Council, City Hall, 7 p.m.

*Schedule subject to change.

NEWS

  • Features
  • Agriculture
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Education
  • Faith & Worship
  • Government
  • Health & Wellness
  • Home & Garden
  • Outdoors

More FCJ

  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Commentary
  • Police/Court
  • Classifieds/Legals
  • Social Scenes
  • Special Sections
  • Columnists
  • Journal Writing Project
Fillmore County Journal
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
  • Home
  • About FCJ
  • Contact FCJ
  • FCJ Staff
  • Employment
  • Advertise
  • Commentary Policies & Submissions

© 2023 · Website Design and Hosting by SMG Web Design of Preston, MN.