Thursday, January 28, 2010
Volume 97; Number 33
Still no
decision
on
Veteran’s
Scenic
Highway
By Jan King
Todd County Commissioners
still have not decided what to do
about the designation of a
Veterans' Scenic Highway.
During their January 5 meeting,
commissioners unanimously
agreed to reconsider a motion
made on December 15, which
created the designated highway.
The reconsideration was made
after commissioners learned that
some Todd County veterans'
organizations opposed portions
of the proposed route.
The proposed highway would
loop through 93 miles of county
roads, and would include the
road to Battle Point Park and a
one mile section of County Road
55 along Lake Osakis.
Both the American Legion and
the VFW Posts of Long Prairie
have stated in a January 12 let-
ter to the board that they are
very much in favor of a scenic
highway to honor veterans.
However, they would like to
exclude the Battle Point Road,
Deadly house fire
Walter Paulson, rural Parkers Prairie died in a house fire January 19. The Bertha Fire
Department received the fire call at 4:15 am. When the fire department arrived, the house was
fully engulfed in flames, and the second story of the home had already collapsed. Parkers
Prairie Fire Department was called for mutual aid, and the Bertha Fire Department remained
on the scene until 11:30 am. The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Minnesota
BCA and State Fire Marshal.
Photo by Stacey Rushmeyer.
Wed Jan 27
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A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560
stating that it is a small town-
ship road that may not be able to
handle the traffic. The letter also
said there is a "personal agenda"
to the proposed one-mile section
of County 55.
The idea for a Veterans' Scenic
Highway originated with mem-
bers of a group that opposed
development along County 55.
At the Board's January 19 meet-
ing, Kathryn Edenloff of Osakis
told commissioners she wants to
honor veterans. She had pro-
posed renaming the one-mile sec-
tion of County 55 at the
December 15 meeting. Funding
for new signs and their installa-
tion would come from Ellsworth
Johnson, a resident on County
55, according to Long Prairie
Attorney Randy Brown.
A resolution by Commissioner
Randy Neumann to support the
December 15 resolution failed on
a three to two vote. Neumann,
along with Commissioner Mark
Blessing, voted in support of that
resolution.
Speaking to a packed board-
room on January 19,
Commissioner Gerry Ruda said
he had hoped that the groups of
people in the county could reach
an agreement. Veterans' Service
Officer Peter Bersheit was asked
by commissioners to facilitate a
meeting with veterans' organiza-
tions before the next board meet-
ing in February.
Ruda said he would like to see
a new resolution that moves the
issue forward. The Board wants
to truly honor each and every
veteran, he said.
CONDITIONAL USE PER-
MITS
WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT
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www.bladepublishing.net
Commissioners unanimously
granted a Conditional Use
Permit for Laurence and Arlene
Fox of Hartford Township. The
permit will allow them to modify
and expand their existing chick-
en butcher facility be adding a
kill floor to process red meat for
retail sales and custom process-
ing.
A Conditional Use Permit was
also granted to Jacob and Emma
Miller of Eagle Valley Township
to open a retail business. This
business will make, sell, and
repair leather goods, such as
harnesses, saddles, and accesso-
ry items.
PRELIMINARY PLAT
Ben Zacher of Blue Spruce
Development was granted
approval for his preliminary plat
of a development called Sandy
Shores Too on Lake Osakis. He
had been granted several exten-
sions in order to work on com-
plex drainage and shoreland
issues. Ruda said he thinks
everything done on the prelimi-
nary plat will be in the best
interest of Lake Osakis.
COUNTY DRAINAGE
DITCHES
The Todd County Ditch
Inspector was given permission
to grant one-year extensions on
Hold Harmless Agreement peti-
tions. Landowners submit these
petitions when they are working
on ditch projects at their own
expense. A one-year extension
may be granted from the original
petition date, provided that the
project has not changed from the
original permit. This will allow
landowners time to complete a
Continued on page 16.
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75¢
Cities differ in
feeling effects of
state’s budget woes
By Rin Porter
If you live in a city under 2,000 population, like Browerville and
Clarissa, then your city has not been hit by Governor Pawlenty’s cuts
to Local Government Aid, or LGA. But if you live in a city with a
population over 2,000, like Long Prairie and Staples, then you have
been affected by budget reductions.
Over the last two years, the State of Minnesota and many other
states have lost expected tax revenues because people have been los-
ing their jobs. When hundreds of thousands of people are no longer
earning a paycheck, then they are no longer paying state income tax,
and they are buying fewer goods, so they are no longer paying as
much sales tax as they did before.
The recession caused by the housing crisis and bank crisis has
affected state governments nationwide, as well as the federal gov-
ernment. And just as water runs downhill, the federal and state
budget crises affect cities, townships, school districts, and counties.
Because the federal and state governments have less money coming
in, they have less money going out to local governments.
Browerville has a population of about 735. Browerville City
Administrator Lynn Fabro said Browerville did not get its LGA
reduced in 2008 or 2009. “We were ready to, and I had been prepping
my staff since Pawlenty started talking about this last spring, but we
didn’t get cut. We were frugal with our budget. The governor
looked at city size and uses a formula that takes into account your
ability to raise funds: tax base, housing over a certain age, etc. and
he decided we didn’t have the ability to raise funds.”
Despite not having LGA cut, Fabro and the staff agreed not to
take any salary increase for 2010. The City also added $3,000 to the
levy so it could put money away in a reserve fund for equipment pur-
chases that will be needed. There was just a small increase to the
city budget, Fabro said.
Clarissa is in a similar situation. With a population of 609,
Clarissa fits into the category of cities under 2,000 population. City
Clerk Sue Kent said, “We have not been affected by unallotment, but
we feel the effects of the economy just the same as other small com-
munities. Our staff of four full-time employees received small
increases in salary. We don’t know what will happen this year. It’s
hard to say as long as they have a deficit down there [in St Paul.”
Clarissa does not have any big city projects planned for 2010.
On the other hand, Long Prairie is a city with a population of just
over 3,000. City Administrator and Clerk Dave Venenkamp said,
“We have had a loss of LGA, both in 2008 and 2009. Our loss of LGA
led to cuts we had to make, including eliminating summer swimming
lifeguards at the beach, eliminating part-time help in Public Works,
cancelling sealcoating of the streets in 2008 and 2009, changing the
Public Works employee work schedules to eliminate overtime; cut-
ting back on publishing council minutes in the Leader, cutting police
overtime; eliminating training
Continued on page 16.
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