Rick Santorum, who's gained momentum in Minnesota's race for the Republican presidential nomination, was the clear winner in the straw poll taken at the Republican caucus held Tuesday evening at the Polk County Law Enforcement Center in Crookston. Out of 87 votes, he had 51, compared to 13 for Newt Gingrich, 12 for Mitt Romney and 11 for Ron Paul.
The caucus meeting covered the cities of Climax, Crookston and Nielsville and 14 townships. See more on both the DFL and Republican caucuses in Wednesday's Times.
The Crookston City Council Monday evening made a counter-offer to the counter-offer made earlier Monday by their preferred city administrator finalist, Tony Chladek, but the vote wasn’t unanimous. Council members Wayne Melbye and Bob Quanrud voted against the counter-offer, for a couple of reasons, mostly having to do with its amount, but also because they wanted council members to digest Chladek’s counter-offer before coming up with a counter to his offer.
The city council on Saturday, after unanimously picking Chladek as their top choice from the five finalists who interviewed over two days, offered him a first-year salary of $90,000. After a positive, six-month performance appraisal, he’d get a $2,000 raise. Then, on Jan. 1, 2013, when other non-bargaining unit management positions in the city are due a 2 percent raise, Chladek would have been eligible for that as well.
Monday, through administrative search consultant Richard Fursman, Chladek countered with a starting salary of $94,000. At six months, pending a successful performance review, he’d get a bump to $96,000. Then, six months later, pending another good review, he’d get $2,000 more, in addition to the 2 percent raise other non-bargaining unit management positions are due to get at that time. That would take him to right around $100,000 a year.
It appeared early on at Monday evening’s meeting that most felt Chladek’s counter-offer was too high. So council member Keith Mykleseth offered a motion to counter-offer with a starting salary of $92,000, a six-month bump to $94,000, and another $2,000 six months after that, in addition to the 2 percent raise on Jan. 1, 2013. Essentially, the counter-offer is $2,000 less at every stage compared to what Chladek proposed.
Previously, working with Fursman, the city council set a starting salary range for Crookston’s new city administrator of $80,000 to $98,000.
Chladek, with degrees from Winona State and Mankato State universities and previous administrative jobs in the Minnesota towns of Stewartville and Luverne, worked from 2006 until the spring of 2011 as city administrator in Merrill, Wisconsin, a city slightly larger than Crookston. He resigned at that time and has been unemployed since. He was paid approximately $89,000 in his final year in Merrill. According to Fursman, Chladek is a finalist for two other city administrator positions, but it’s not known if he’s interviewed yet for them.
Council members Tom Jorgens and Dana Johnson, with Johnson citing figures provided by Fursman that show Crookston’s administrator salary below that of salaries paid to administrators in comparative Minnesota cities, said the council needs to step up and pay for the administrator they unanimously want.
“We had a pretty good one before and he wasn’t making this much,” council member Tom Vedbraaten countered, a reference to previous administrator Aaron Parrish’s 2011 salary of $87,500, which was set to increase to $89,300 in 2012 had he not taken the Forest Lake administrator job in November after approximately seven years on the job here.
Jorgens said Chladek isn’t acting in an unusual fashion.
“I think we’ve found the leader we all feel is the right person for the job. What he has counter-offered is no different than what any of us would probably do in his situation,” Jorgens said. “It’s normal that when you move from one job to another to expect some increase over where you were before, and I don’t think what he’s asking for is unreasonable at all. If we’re talking about a $2,000 difference, I think we could find it somewhere else in savings if we really had to. I think this is an opportunity to be pound-sensible instead of penny-wise.”
“But he is not leaving another job to come here,” Quanrud responded.
Johnson said several members of the citizen panel who were involved in the interviews of the five finalists had contacted her to tell her that they thought the council had made a great choice in Chladek. “It only reinforces my feelings on this,” she said. “We need to be competitive if we want to get the person we want. If we don’t want to be competitive, then we need to maybe realize that we’re going to end up with someone else.”
Mike Pogge, a community planner/economic developer in Stillwater, Minn. with no previous city administrator experience, was the second-ranked choice by all but one city council member.
Melbye, citing the fact he’d seen Chladek’s counter-offer “four minutes ago,” asked that everyone take a day or two to decide what step to take next. “We’re always comparing ourselves to East Grand Forks, Detroit Lakes or Grand Rapids and saying we have to be like them, but we are not them,” Melbye said. “If we do this, I think we’ll have to go back to our whole salary setup with our department heads, because I think you’ll have some repercussions if you’re setting your salary standards based on what other cities are doing.”
Mykleseth wondered if anyone’s mind would change over a day or two, and suggested that the council act sooner and not later.
“I think we’re so close, it would be nice to get this done. I’m trying to find a compromise so we can be unified and move ahead,” Mykleseth said. “I would think if he really wants to come to Crookston, he’s going to come here for this.”
“We’re just negotiating,” council member Frank Lindgren added. “I have no problem with a counter-offer.”
Council member Dale Stainbrook reminded everyone that Chladek wouldn’t be guaranteed the salary bumps in the first year, that he’d have to show results, or at least show that he’s off to a good start.
“I don’t necessarily have an issue with paying him $98,000 in 2013, but he’s going to have to come in and prove he’s worth it,” Stainbrook said.
City Clerk/Treasurer Betty Arvidson said after the meeting that she’d notify Fursman of the city’s counter-offer.
Richard Fursman, the administrative search consultant leading the City of Crookston's effort to find an administrator to succeed the departed Aaron Parrish, said Friday that all five candidates picked from a field of 10 top candidates out of 44 applicants assembled by him at a special city council meeting earlier this week, have accepted requests to come and interview for the position.
More information will come Monday, but here's a quick rundown of the five interviewees:
BCTGM union spokesperson John Riskey announced at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening that union members at the locked-out American Crystal Sugar factories rejected by a resoundindg margin the company's latest offer. Voting began at 1 p.m. at each factory, with secret ballots. Today's tally had 92 percent of voting union members - 92 percent of the members also cast ballots - rejecting the company's offer. That compares to 96 percent of the members who voted no on the company's offer as the previous contract expired at the end of July, which spurred the lockout of 1,300 workers.
Check back for more on Wednesday.
American Crystal Sugar announced Monday afternoon that the National Labor Relations Board had dismissed a claim by the Bakery, Confectory, Tobacco and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union that American Crystal was not negotiating in "good faith" in the time leading up to the current lockout as well as into the lockout. The release from Crystal cited several specific examples in the NLRB's ruling that indicated the company had moved from its earlier offers and that it was the union that had failed to make appropriate counter-offers.
Reached by the Times after Crystal's announcement, BCTGM representative John Riskey said the dismissal was not a surprise, and came from a "regional" NLRB. Three previous complaints had been dismissed and today's announcement involved a fourth and final complaint, he said. "But we will appeal," he said. "We've been building our case all along to take to Washington, D.C. and we will be appealing to Washington, D.C."
Riskey added that the union would be releasing more details on its reaction and the next steps it will take late Wednesday or Thursday. Check back Thursday for more.
Crookston Police Chief Tim Motherway Sunday afternoon released the name of the victim of Saturday's fatal collision in Crookston, after Ricardo Mello, 23, allegedly assaulted police officers at Crooks Club, stole a squad car, and crashed into a Chevy S-10 pickup near the Crookston Fire Department. Eddie Robert Briggs, 78, was driving the pickup and died from his injuries. His body has been sent to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Briggs' wife, Patricia Johnette Briggs, 57, is hospitalized in fair condition at RiverView Hospital in Crookston.
Mello earlier Sunday was listed in stable condition at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, but early Sunday evening was released from the hospital, taken into custody and transported to the Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston, where he's facing charges of fourth degree asasult, theft of a motor vehicle, criminal vehicle operation, terroristic threats, damage to property, controlled substance in the 4th degree and obstructing legal process. Additional charges maybe forthcoming, Motherway stated in the latest release.
Also on Sunday, Motherway announced that a second suspect who was with Mello earlier on Saturday when police were first called to the VFW is also in custody, although Motherway said he had nothing to do with the stolen squad car and fatal crash. According to the release, around 2:20 p.m. Saturday, upon arrival at the VFW, officers spoke to the reporting parties who reported that two suspects had been pounding on their car and saying they owed them money and threatening them. When officers attempted to make contact with the two suspects, Mello ignored their verbal commands and walked into Crooks Club. The second suspect, Carlos Romero Jr., 42, of Crookston had stopped and told an officer his name before the officer had entered Crooks Club and the encounter with Mello ensued.
After further investigation into the original complaint, officers learned that the reporting parties were confronted by the two suspects on Market Street in the area behind Crooks Club and then again in the area by the VFW. Romero Jr. was saying that the reporting party owed him money and was threatening them. They had pounded on their vehicle and kicked their vehicle causing damage to the fender. Romero, Jro. made terroristic threats to the reporting parties, the release states, then officers arrived on the scene.
At 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, officers went to the Care and Share in Crookston and arrested Romero Jr. without incident for terroristic threats in connection to the original complaint made behind the VFW.
That's the latest as of Sunday at around 6 p.m. The CPD continues to investigate, with assistance from the Minnesota State Patrol. Check the revolving carousel of photos and stories on the Times' homepage for photos of Saturday's fatal crash scene.
For background purposes, what follows is the news release sent Saturday night from Chief Motherway. It contains information that has been updated as of Sunday:
On Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2:19 p.m. officers of the Crookston Police Department responded to the Crookston VFW Post 1902 on the report of damage to property. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the reporting parties, who reported the suspects had been pounding on their car and saying they owed them money and threatening them. When officers attempted to make contact with one of the suspects. He ignored their verbal commands and walked into Crooks Club, a lounge located to the north of the VFW on Main Street in downtown Crookston.
Officers went to Crooks Club, where they encountered the suspect, Ricardo Mello, 23, of Crookston. When attempting to take the suspect into custody a fight ensued. The suspect assaulted the officers, officers used a tazer on the suspect, which had little to no effect. Officers deployed pepper mace, which also had little to no effect on the suspect. The suspect was able to get away from officers and run out of the bar, where he jumped into a squad car. Officers tried stopping the suspect, but were feeling the effects of the pepper mace, and the suspect was able to drive off, stealing a Crookston Police car. The suspect left Crooks Club and traveled south on South Main St. at a high rate of speed. An officer radioed to dispatch that the suspect had got away driving a stolen police car.
The suspect, driving a stolen police car traveling at a high rate of speed, was attempting to make the corner at S. Main St. and Old Highway 75, where it went over the center line and collided with a 1998 Chevrolet S-10 pickup, that was traveling east on Old Highway 75. After the crash the suspect, who was injured, was transported to Riverview Hospital by a passerby. The crash occurred near the Crookston Fire Department and firefighters assisted at the scene. Crookston Area Ambulance Service transported the driver of the pickup and a passenger to Riverview Hospital.
Officers responded to Riverview ER, where there was another altercation with the suspect, who was taken into custody. The suspect remained at the hospital for treatment of his injuries.
The driver of the pickup was pronounced dead on arrival at Riverview ER.
After deliberating four around nine hours, a jury of 12 around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon found Thomas Fairbanks guilty of first degree murder in the death of Mahnomen County Deputy Christopher Dewey. Fairbanks shot Dewey in Mahnomen in 2009 and he died from complications from his head wounds in 2010.
Fairbanks faces a mandatory life sentence without parole. Judge Jeffrey Remick set sentencing for Sept. 9 in Mahnomen County. Due to publicity there, Fairbanks' trial was moved to Crookston.
Fairbanks was also found guilty of several assault charges in connection with the number of times he fired his gun at Dewey and also during a standoff later on the day of the shooting.
Fairbanks' attorney said he will appeal.
Check back Friday for more.
The vice president of administration at American Crystal Sugar confirmed to the Times this afternoon that if a new contract agreement isn't reached with the union by Aug. 1, workers at the Crookston factory and four other Crystal locations in the Red River Valley will be locked out on that date. The current, seven-year contract expires July 31.
Brian Ingulsrud said in a phone interview that he's unaware of any members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union removing any tools or tool boxes today. "We said that if we can't reach an agreement, there might be a need to get some tools," he said.
Two sources told the Times today that workers had planned to remove their tools on Wednesday, July 27, but on Tuesday received a letter from management suggesting that they remove their tools sooner than July 27.
Asked if management was willing to comment on the nature of the negotiations or any concessions sought from the union, Ingulsrud said he "preferred not to negotiate away from the negotiating table." He did stress, however, that he's confident a new agreement can be reached in time to prevent a lockout. "We think we'll be able to get one done if we can get both sides to find common ground and find room for compromise," he said. "Our first priority is to come to an agreement that is fair to both parties." Ingulsrud added that Crystal's employees and their dedication to the company are both "highly valued."
Ingulsrud said approximately 1,000 year-round employees are in the BCTGM union at the five factories, as are approximately 350 workers employed during the annual sugar beet processing campaign.
The expiring contract, at seven years, was longer in duration than most, Ingulsrud said. It replaced a two-year contract that included annual 2 percent increases in salary. A pension plan and health coverage are also part of the employees' benefit package.
The Times left a phone message with Roger Delage, president of the Crookston factory union, and hadn't heard back at the time of this blog entry. The Times was able to reach the vice president of the local unit, Randy Beattie, but he said he was unable comment on the situation at this time.
Ingulsrud said it's "probably not that uncommon" for negotiations to run up close to a contract expiration. "We have all of next week until we're at the end of the contract," he said. "We're determined to work toward a fair agreement."
A Polk County social worker who met with a student at Crookston High School who was a possible abuse victim is crediting a therapy dog stationed at the school with helping the student tell his story.
Near the conclusion of Monday's Crookston School Board meeting, Superintendent Wayne Gilman read the letter written by the social worker, who said the teen wasn't making eye contact with the social worker and was silent. Then the therapy dog came by, entered the room and immediately sat down right next to the boy, the social worker wrote. The teen started petting the dog and soon "was telling his whole story into the dog's calming fur," Gilman read. The teen became emotional and apologized for crying.
The social worker said she would have never gotten the "disclosure" had the therapy dog not entered the room. Now social services is working with the family to make things better.
"We see these dogs every day in school and they affect everyone they come in contact with," Gilman said after reading the letter. "It's a nice piece that we have in the schools."
After an almost-90 minute discussion that ebbed and flowed between all sorts of possibilities and included at least one vote in which some people weren't exactly sure what they were voting for or against, the Ox Cart Days Planning Committee this afternoon voted 7 to 4 in favor of moving Crookston's annual summer festival from its primary home base in Central Park to Crookston Sports Center. The move will take effect immediately, with the 2011 festival scheduled for Aug. 18-20.
Options that were debated included leaving things entirely as is for this year at least, to give new Chamber President/CEO Shannon Stassen a year to get more feedback while not having to rush a change as big as moving the community's biggest event of the year. Another option floated before the committee involved "easing into" a move by locating some festival events at the CSC, but leaving others in the park. That option included leaving the Thursday evening lineup of events, including the kids' pedal tractor pull, Riverview bed races, the service clubs' brat and corn feed, athletes' challenge and battle of the bands, in their current location, on Ash Street and in the park.
Stassen said he was more than willing to support any of those options, and stressed repeatedly that he might have jumped the gun and gotten a little too excited about the potential move to the CSC when he spoke to the Times Tuesday morning and an article was subsequently written in Tuesday's paper about the Ox Cart Days move to the CSC being almost a "done deal."
But comments by city council member Wayne Melbye about the city's desire to use the CSC for as many things as possible that don't have to do with hockey or skating, and Parks & Recreation Director Scott Riopelle's desire to streamline the festival events at one primary location as much as possible to boost efficient use of staff and resources, seemed to turn the tide among some committee members. Committee member Andrew Svec, noting declining festival attendance in recent years, said the time to give Ox Cart Days a "shot in the arm" is now, and that "shaking things up" and giving the festival a "fresh start" might boost interest and attendance.
With the decision made, now the task of making it happen needs to commence. Chamber Events Coordinator Juanita Lopez, the point-person for the festival for the past handful of years who said she personally preferred leaving the festival in Central Park, said the most important thing was making a decision one way or another today, because there's a ton of work to be done.
The change in venue isn't all that's on the table. Not a fan of the festival wristband that people need to purchase for the weekend of events, Stassen wants to increase business sponsorships so that as many official Ox Cart Days events events as possible are free of charge. His goal is to have events located outside, in the east parking lot of the CSC, free. Bigger "premiere" events located inside would cost money, unless sponsors step forward. For families with kids who like to attend all kinds of events, he said he's open to keeping the wristband option if it's cheaper in some situations than a "pay as you go" setup.
Tom Anderson, who coordinates the Battle of the Bands, and Stacey Bruggeman, who helps coordinate the RiverView Bed Races, each said they could make the CSC work for their events. Bruggeman added that, if for some reason the CSC move proves to be unpopular, the festival could potentially return to Central Park later.
Events that coincide with Ox Cart Days but aren't official festival events, such as the Miss Crookston Scholarship Pageant, the Rib Fest and Crookston Classic Cruisers Run to the Park, will stay put in their current locations, the high school, the American Legion and Central Park, respectively.
Check back for more on Thursday.
City Fire Chief/Emergency Manager, at a Ways and Means Committee meeting following tonight's Crookston City Council meeting, said that volunteers will likely start walking Crookston's levees early Tuesday morning, after he and a couple council members stroll the dikes tonight.
Due to the weekend rains, the Red Lake River in Crookston, which had dropped to almost 15 feet, started rising again. It was just under 20 feet tonight, and the latest National Weather Service hydrograph says it could reach 22 feet by Wednesday. Rock, who said the river in Thief River Falls and Highlanding crested earlier today, isn't convinced the river in town will keep rising. There's no ice to contend with any longer, either, but with warmer temperatures and the frost coming out of the town, thawed levees are more prone to sloughing, he told council members. "I don't want to get caught off guard," he said.
Dike walkers will work two at a time in three-hour shifts, if it's determined they're needed. No ward command posts are expected to be activated, and he same goes for the city's Emergency Operations Center at the police department. Supplies and information will be coordinated out of the fire department.
The winter storm watch on Saturday was downgraded to a winter weather advisory for Crookston and the surrounding region, but that, too, has been cancelled. The forecast for today and into Monday morning is for north winds up to 30 miles per hour, with some light rain possibly mixed with snow. If it gets cold enough for snow to fall, Crookston could get an inch or two. But it looks like the brunt of the system has shifted to the west.
Crookston is in the middle of a winter storm watch for the region issued by the National Weather Service, from late Saturday night to Monday morning. The storm system is expected to bring mostly rain and then a rain/snow mix to the southern valley, with most of the snow, more than six inches possible, falling along U.S. Highway 2 and to the north. The NWS says temperatures are critical in regards to what kind of precipitation will fall and when.
North winds from 20 to 30 miles per hour will usher in cooler air behind the system, although temperatures in the 40s are expected by the middle of next week.
Chances are, the winter storm watch will be downgraded to a winter weather advisory or upgraded to a winter storm warning as the system gets closer. For the latest weather news, click on the new AccuWeather page linked from crookstontimes.com's homepage. Click on "Full Forecast" in the upper right portion of the homepage, near the current temperature and conditions, to access the AccuWeather page.
So what does this storm mean for the spring flood? It would seem communities along the Red River are at the most risk to be negatively impacted. A fair amount of runoff has made its way into the Red Lake River in Crookston from several days of snowmelt, and the ice is starting to break up. For days the river in Crookston has been hovering between 14 and 15 feet. NWS hydrologists expect it to rise to around 16 feet by April 8. That outlook, no doubt, has the potential to change, however.
Check back later for more updates on the coming storm.
A change in federal statute means that the price for a lunch in Crookston’s public schools will be going up 10 cents a year for the next three years. Food Services Director Ann Riedlinger told the Crookston School Board on Monday that the federal government changed the rules because there’s a thinking that school districts are essentially subsidizing their regular food program with the financial break they receive from their free and reduced meal program.
Presently, Riedlinger said, the school district gets $2.85 back for ever free and reduced meal served, and 38 cents back from each regular meal served. Fifty-eight percent of students pay full price for meals, she explained, and 67 percent of those eat school meals every day.
In order to comply with the new rule, Riedlinger said the price of a regular lunch in the schools will have to increase to $2.46. But the government is also capping the amount a district can increase the price at a time to 10 cents, which, she said, means it’ll take three years to get to $2.46 for a lunch. As for Crookston’s breakfast price, she said the district is already compliant with its $1.10 price for a student breakfast and $1.35 for a faculty/staff breakfast. The minimum price required by the federal government for a breakfast is 95 cents, Riedlinger said.
“We don’t have to do this if we have some other way of getting revenue, but we don’t have any other way than this, so we need to comply,” she told the board. Riedlinger added that she’s not counting on any profits in the meal program being spurred by the series of increases, given that she’s been told that both food and non-food costs will be going up an estimated 5 percent in the coming year.
Then there’s the Farm2School program, which seeks to give kids healthier opportunities that are grown or produced in a more local fashion. The district is a participant, and Riedlinger said the program adds to labor expenses and equipment expenses, mostly from dealing with fresh produce. If recommendations from the National Institutes of Medicine ever become reality, Riedlinger said costs will really spike.
“They want a cup of veggies or fruit a day, or a certain number of greens a day or legumes per week,” she said. “That’s going to add to costs if it happens.”
Meeting notes
· The board accepted the retirement letter from Carol Hunt, the literacy coordinator who is currently funded by federal stimulus dollars that are going away. Hunt spent 32 years in the district, the vast majority of them as a teacher.
· Dan Erdmann and Art Nash each spoke during the open forum portion of the meeting to stress the importance of keeping the swimming pool open, and to also thank the board for, apparently, leaning toward not closing the pool as part of the next round of budget reductions.
· At the suggestion of Superintendent Wayne Gilman, the board will hold a Finance Committee/board working session Friday morning to listen to potential operating levy referendum strategies put together by Gilman and Business Manager Laura Lyczewski. If the board can come to some kind of consensus, Gilman didn’t rule out adopting a resolution at their next meeting on April 4 that sets forth an operating levy plan, including an amount district voters would be asked to support. “I’m getting an indication from some people that they’d like to maybe start earlier than last year on this,” Gilman said.
The CHEDA Board of Directors, in a special meeting Monday afternoon, approved a "contribution agreement" that will have CHEDA putting money forth toward the purchase price of the 100-acre Colborn property on the southern edge of town. Owner Dave Colborn and the city have come to an agreement with a $590,000 purchase price. The city wants to get the land ready for future industrial development, since the current industrial park is low on available land.
The agreement approved today still includes some blank spaces that will be filled in after Thursday, when Crookston Jobs, Inc.'s shareholders will meet to discuss a potential contribution to the purchase price. Crookston Jobs, a non-profit, was sort of a precursor to the local economic development authority and has a history of getting involved in industrial-related initiatives in the community.
If Crookston Jobs decides to put no money forth, the City of Crookston and CHEDA will split the $590,000 cost equally, City Administrator Aaron Parrish said at today's meeting. The contributions of the two entities could be decreased, he said, if Crookston Jobs puts up some money. It's possible the three entities would split the cost three ways.
Recruiting Johanneck's successor
The CHEDA board also endorsed a plan to recruit a successor to Dan Johanneck, the current CHEDA executive director who's resigned to become business manager at the Mount St. Benedict. The board OK'ed a recruitment plan that is similar to the one that landed Johanneck in 2008. The salary range will remain as it was in 2008, too, from $50,000 to $70,000. Johanneck said he recently surveyed people holding positions similar to his in the region, and he found that the salary range was still fairly representative of the position's pay in the region.
As for a timeline, Parrish, who will be the CHEDA interim director when Johanneck leaves, said he'd like to be interviewing candidates by May and June with the hope of having someone hired and on the job by July or August.
Today's meeting ended with an informal reception for Johanneck, who thanked everyone for their support. "I feel very fortunate for the experience this position has given me and for the things that I will take away from it," he said. "I am very appreciative."
Johanneck also stressed that he and his family are staying in Crookston, and he hopes for a long time. "Crookston as a whole is just a great community," he said.
The Crookston City Council tonight unanimously adopted a resolution to continue forth with the city's DNR Parks and Trails grant application, funded by the Legacy amendment fund, but not before some people spoke out against the project. No one is against it entirely; the two most vocal opponents at tonight's required public hearing, John Sampson and Mary Bollinger, were not in favor of the campground and the dog park, respectively.
Bollinger, who said she's lived on College Avenue nearby for 70 years, said doesn't want the increaesed traffic and the smell near her property. She said she'll "fight it until the finish," even if it means pursuing litigation. "If it comes to filing a lawsuit, I'll be there," Bollinger said. "Because I have the money!"
Resident Ann Garrison, who said her home is surrounded by people with lots of dogs, said a dog park would be a way to "bring people together" and, more specifically, show young dog owners how to properly care for and clean up after their dogs. Sampson's Addition resident Winnie Skaarland also chimed in, questioning if any dog park opponents had ever actually visited a dog park. "There are rules that people have to follow," she said.
Sampson, who lives in Thief River Falls, owns land near Castle Park. He spoke out last year against the dog park, but that was when the tentative plan was to locate it on the southern portion of Castle Park, closer to his property. Now, with dog park moved further to the north, the campground is proposed to be located on the southern edge of the park. Sampson, who complained about not having enough time to prepare a presentation and then about not having enough time to voice his opposition, said he'd like to sell his property and/or see it developed into apartments with high balconies with a command view of the Castle Park wilderness. With campers and RVs parked in the campground, he said, "the whole visual deal will be ruined."
The grant is due March 31. The city, with the Park Board's endorsement, is pursuing it because the Castle Park proposal seems to fit the DNR grant parameters perfectly. The project, with a price tag of just under $402,000, requires a 25 percent local match, which City Administrator Aaron Parrish said has been identified in the form of various park-related reserve accounts. If funded in the current grant cycle, Parrish said the completion goal is October 2013.
The proposal includes the campground, which would replace the city's flood-prone campground in Castle Park. Each campsite would have water and electricity and, even though it's not reimbursable in the grant, possibly sewer at a later date. The proposal also includes a Red Lake River recreation area and fishing pier, a shelter, enhancements of the existing trail system, a traditional playground as well as a nature-based "discovery" playground, and enhancements to the current dog park plans. The biggest expense, by far, is the campground, with a $274,650 estimated cost.
Council member Keith Mykleseth defended any contention of a rushed timeline, saying the city has discussed the dog park for more than a year, and also the city's campground concerns. The city's master plan for parks, approved last year, included a campground at Castle Park.
Ward 1 Council Member Tom Jorgens, who represents Sampson's Addition, said people have contacted him both for and against the plans. But, he added, a lot of work has gone into the plans and that he thinks it's good for the neighborhood and the community.
Mayor Dave Genereux agreed. "It's a nice addition to that end of town, and with the right buffering, it can be as least intrusive as possible to those living nearby," he said.
Ward 6 Council Member Tom Vedbraaten, reminding everyone that he's a mail carrier and is theoretically supposed to hate dogs, said he doesn't mind dogs, and that he spends a lot of time in campgrounds and very rarely comes away with any negative thoughts about them.
Ward 4 Council Member Wayne Melbye stressed that getting the grant is the next and most important step. He promised Sampson that if the city is awarded the grant, he'd call him up and they could talk at length about Sampson's concerns. "We'll make it the best we can be," Melbye said to Sampson. "And I'll give you more than 10 minutes."
First, the Life Skills Apartment program:
The program was threatened by last year's round of budget reductions as well, and proponents rallied to its defense. Although it was streamlined some on the staffing level, its supporters a year ago got what they wanted in the end: A program that is still based downtown, in the "real world" and not in a room at the high school.
With the district's administrative team in the process of coming up with a list of $500,000 in reductions for the 2011-12 school year, the handful of people who spoke during the "open forum" at today's board meeting said they showed up in response to "rumors" that the off-campus program is on the "chopping block" once again.
Supports continually spoke of the program's "uniqueness," mostly due to its location in a real apartment in downtown Crookston. Deb Huot said she's worked with as many as 20 school districts and has never seen a program as good as Crookston's, even in the Twin Cities area.
Chad Erdmann, a social worker with Polk County Social Services, said the special education/special needs students, who can participate in the program until they're 21 years old, learn how money works, how to budget and pay bills, and they gain work experience. "It's a wonderful program because they learn things that really aren't touched upon in any other program," Erdmann said. "But the key is that it's off campus. You're going to lose a lot if it moves to the high school."
Julie Perrine, who moved to Crookston four years ago, said her family chose Crookston over neighboring towns in large part because of the Life Skills Apartment program that her daughter is enrolled in. "Special education is dear to my heart, and it's a program that doesn't need to be touched," she said. "It's a program that is federally reimbursed, at 100 percent in a lot of cases."
Moving the program into a "home ec" room won't work, Perrine said. "You can't pretend with these kids; you can't pretend that the electric bill is due," she said. "You have to actually pay the electric bill. They have to see it and know what it means."
Perrine asked the board to make a decision soon, because her family needs to make a decision on her daughter's education plan. If the Life Skills Apartment moves, she said, their daughter likely won't be in the program any longer.
Lincoln School
Duane Stroot said he's purchased the Lincoln School property from Clayton Briggs with plans to renovate it into 12 apartments, with the kindergarten room and gymnasium to serve as a "youth center." The kindergarten room, he said, would have pool tables, pinball, foos ball and other games. Kids could also go into the gym.
Stroot said two people would be on staff to monitor youth at the facility, which would be open from 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and likely for more extended hours on weekends. He said he's working with D'Anne Johnson at Polk County Public Health/Chemical Free Polk County. "She's on board," Stroot said.
Saying he'd gladly pay the property taxes due on the property, Stroot asked the board to abate the property taxes for five years once the project is complete. He said he'd like to have the renovations finished by late summer. Board chair Nick Nicholas said the board doesn't have any experience abating taxes for that long, adding that two years has been the extent to date, as part of the city's housing incentive program. He said the matter would be researched and referred to a board committee for further discussion.
Stroot said he's made a similar request to the city and that he'd be talking to Polk County officials on Tuesday. He said the former school is valued at around $87,000 now, but estimates have the value jumping to around $700,00 when it's finished.
Asked about how the youth center would work, specifically, would youth pay a fee or get memberships, Stroot said he hadn't worked those details out yet.
"This is something the town needs, I think," he said.
The city Public Works Committee this evening recommended council approval of an agreement with Bob Herkenhoff, who wants to extend utilities to around 100 acres of land he owns in the city's northeast corner and have about 20 home lots ready to sell this summer. Once he extends the utilities to the lots, on land Herkenhoff purchased from the Nagel family in 2010, the city will forgive approximately $35,000 remaining to be paid on an assessment for street work on Eickhof Boulevard several years ago. Since the 2011 assessment has already been certified, Herkenhoff will have to pay that, around $8,000, but the city will then refund him that amount. So, in exchange for what he'll spend on the utilities, around $100,000, Herkenhoff estimates, the city will waive around $43,000 in assessments.
Two weeks ago, realizing he'd start paying higher taxes once he platted the lots, Herkenhoff told the city he'd likely back away from his development plans if the city didn't waive the assessments. City officials and committee members were receptive to Herkenhoff's plans because the city needs more home lots and officials want to continue to add to the tax base. But they also made it clear they wanted any waived assessments to be contingent on him getting the utility work done this summer. Herkenhoff said he's working with Rich Clauson at Widseth Smith Nolting & Associates and will get started in the spring. He plans to sell the first 20 lots, around 100 feet by 200 feet in size, for around $18,000 each. Since they'll involve new home construction, City Clerk/Treasurer Betty Arvidson said they'll be eligible for the city's housing incentive package, which includes, among other things, two years of property tax abatements. Arvidson also added that she's received a few calls in her office from people wondering when Herkenhoff's lots will be available for purchase. Hearing that, Herkenoff said he'd likely hire a realtor to help market and sell the lots.
Colborn property
The city Administrative Committee, which met after the Public Works Committee, recommended council approval of a purchasement with Dave Colborn for the city to buy the 100 acres of land he owns south of Ingersoll Avenue for $590,000 with an eye on readying the land for future industrial development. The city's industrial park is essentially full.
The city will tap its Municipal Land and Buildings Fund for the money, and CHEDA is expected to invest some as well. In addition, Crookston Jobs, Inc. a non-profit that served as sort of a pre-cursor to the EDA when it came to investing in land and things that would boost employment in Crookston, often in the industrial sector, will hold a special shareholders meeting on March 27 to discuss the potential of investing in the land. City Administrator Aaron Parrish said Jobs has some money to invest, and could potentially contribute up to one-third of the sale cost.
Colborn currently rents out the land for agricultural use. The current lease has one year remaining. Parrish said it's possible that the city will extend the lease for a year or two with the current tenant if an agreement can be worked out.
Castle Park grant
The committee enthusiastically recommended council approval that the city continue with its plans to submit, by the March 30 deadline, a grant to the DNR, through the Legacy amendment passed in 2008, that could transform Castle Park in Sampson's Addition into a recreation and natural resources destination. Although the estimates are early, Parrish said the total project could cost just over $400,000, with the grant requiring a local match of one-fourth the total cost. The Park Board, which previously endorsed the grant application, identified Parks and Recreation funds that could be used to come up with the local match.
If awarded, Central Park would no longer be used as the city's primary campground; it would be replaced by a 20-stall campground in Castle Park, with about a handful having sewer service. There would also be a bathhouse. Further north in the park, the dog park would be located, and a portion of the wooded area would be cleared partially for a Red Lake River recreation area, a shelter, and a fishing pier. Trails that have existed in the woods for years would be enhanced as well. The nature-based park fits the grant parameters nicely, Parrish said, adding that the city's application would be made even stronger because the fact that the Central Park campground is vulnerable to flooding when the Red Lake River rises each year.
As part of the application process, a public hearing is required to gather public support, or public concern. That'll be scheduled for March 14, at the next council meeting.
Check out Tuesday's Times or check back at crookstontimes.com Tuesday afternoon for more details on what the committees did Monday night.
City Administrator Aaron Parrish alerted the Crookston City Council near the end of their meeting Monday night that city officials have decided to take a "proactive" approach to the spring flood outlook and sandbag Jerome's Addition to hold back water to a Red Lake River crest of 28 feet.
National Weather Service hydrologists, so far in their long-range flood outlooks, have indicated a 50 percent probability that the river in Crookston will reach a crest of around 25 feet. That's based on current snow and moisture data and normal moisture between now and the spring melt. The outlook will be updated later this week.
Crookston's other at-risk neighborhoods like the Woods, Chase-Loring and Sampson's addition have permanent levees that protect to approximately 30 feet.
Parrish said the decision to sandbag to 28 in Jerome's came after numerous flood planning meetings among local officials.
The plan is to do the sandbagging during the first week of March using community volunteers, he said. UMC students, who have come out in force along with high school students to sandbag in the past, will still be on campus then, Parrish said. The following week they'll be gone on spring break, so he said the decision was made to sandbag when they're still around.
The city will release more details on the effort as they fall into place.
Newsroom bloggers include Managing Editor Mike Christopherson and News/Features Editor Natalie J. Ostgaard.
