Local News Headlines – Thursday, Aug 5

MT LAKE RESIDENTS ARE BEING ENCOURAGED TO COMPLETE A SURVEY ON THE POW-WOW CELEBRATION.  THIS IS OPEN TO ALL MT LAKE CITY RESIDENTS AND RESIDENTS IN THE MT LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT.  THE SURVEY MAY BE COMPLETED ONLINE.  GO TO www.surveymonkey.com/r/PowWowSurvey.  THE ONLINE SURVEY REQUIRES PEOPLE TO GIVE THEIR NAME, ADDRESS AND THEIR AGE GROUP.  THE NEXT QUESTION IS “DO YOU WANT THE NAME OF “POW-WOW” CHANGED?  THERE IS A FINAL SECTION FOR PEOPLE TO MAKE COMMENTS OR EXPLAIN THEIR ANSWER.  A TASK FORCE HAS BEEN DISCUSSING THE USE OF THE NAME ‘POW-WOW.’  SURVEY RESULTS WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP A RECOMMENDATION TO THE MT LAKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. 

 

THE FULDA CITY COUNCIL HELD A REGULAR MEETING THIS WEEK.  THE COUNCIL DISCUSSED A TIMETABLE FOR DEVELOPING THE 2022 CITY BUDGET.  THE FALL CITY-WIDE CLEANUP PROGRAM WAS SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST.  THE COUNCIL DECIDED TO MOVE THE DATE FOR THE REGULAR SEPTEMBER MEETING TO MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH.   IT WAS DETERMINED THAT FUTURE COUNCIL MEETINGS WILL BEGIN AT 5:00PM INSTEAD OF 6:30PM.  FOUR BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS WERE APPROVED.  IT WAS REPORTED THAT INTERVIEWS ARE BEING HELD TO HIRE A NEW POLICE OFFICER FOR A SHARED POSITION BETWEEN THE CITIES OF FULDA AND SLAYTON.   

 

THE WINDOM CITY COUNCIL MET THIS WEEK.  THE COUNCIL ACCEPTED A DONATION FROM COTTONWOOD COUNTY ANIMAL RESCUE TO PAY FOR THREE NEW PARK BENCHES AT THE WINDOM DOG PARK.  PLANS WERE REVIEWED FOR AN UPCOMING PROJECT ON COUNTY HIGHWAY 13 BEING DONE BY THE COTTONWOOD COUNTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT.  THE MILL AND OVERLAY WILL BE DONE IN 2022.  THE COUNCIL HELD THE SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE REVISION, ADOPTING NEW FLOOD-PLAIN MAPS FOR THE CITY.  THE WINDOM CITY COUNCIL APPROVED SEVERAL LICENSE APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING PUBLIC AMPLIFICATION PERMITS FOR LIVE MUSIC AT PLAZA JALISCO ON FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS, AND AN OUTDOOR EVENT FOR THE WINDOM INTEGRATION COMMITTEE.  

 

THE MONTHLY WEATHER STATISTICS HAVE BEEN REPORTED FOR THE CITY OF WINDOM IN JULY.   TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH CAME TO 2.25”.  FOR THE YEAR TO DATE, WINDOM HAS NOW RECEIVED 13.05” OF TOTAL PRECIPITATION, MAKING 2021 THE DRIEST YEAR AT THIS POINT IN OVER 20 YEARS.  LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME, WINDOM HAD RECEIVED OVER 17” OF PRECIPITATION.  THE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN JULY WAS 97-DEGREES ON THE 29TH.  WINDOM HAS HAD 19 DAYS THIS YEAR WITH HIGHS IN THE 90’s.  THE AVERAGE DAILY HIGH TEMP IN JULY WAS 84.1 DEGREES.  THE LOW TEMPERATURE IN JULY WAS 55-DEGREES ON JULY 8TH.  THE AVERAGE DAILY LOW TEMP WAS 63.9-DEGREES. 

 

THE MT LAKE CITY COUNCIL MET THIS WEEK.   A QUOTE WAS ACCEPTED FOR SOME PAVING WORK ON AN ALLEY AND CITY PARKING LOTS.  AN ON-SALE LIQUOR LICENSE WAS APPROVED FOR “THE BOTANIST.”  IT WAS REPORTED THAT THE STATE OF MINNESOTA HAS GIVEN FINAL APPROVAL TO THE CITY’S NEW FLOOD-PLAIN ORDINANCE.  THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE PURCHASE OF NEW COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND A COPY MACHINE FOR THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.  SOME BUDGET INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED.  THE 2022 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN WAS REVIEWED.  THE COUNCIL APPROVED AN APPLICATION FOR A NEW MEMBER OF THE AMBULANCE SQUAD.  A DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON DEALING WITH ABANDONED VEHICLES. 

                                                                  

THE JEFFERS CITY COUNCIL HELD TWO REGULAR MEETINGS IN JULY.  THERE WAS AN UPDATE ON A ‘DANGEROUS DOG’ INCIDENT.  THE OWNERS OF THE DOG REQUESTED THAT A PUBLIC HEARING BE HELD.  THE COUNCIL DISCUSSED ISSUES WITH NOXIOUS WEEDS.  LETTERS WILL BE SENT TO PROPERTY OWNERS WHO ARE VIOLATING THE CITY ORDINANCE.   THERE WAS AN UPDATE ON REQUIRED TRAINING FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS TO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION.  THE COUNCIL HEARD AN UPDATE ON THE ‘WELCOME TO JEFFERS’ SIGN.  A NEW SIGN IS BEING DESIGNED.  A DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON VIOLATIONS OF THE PUBLIC NUISANCE ORDINANCE.  PEOPLE WITH OUTSTANDING VIOLATIONS WILL BE CONTACTED. 

 

A RECENT STUDY CONCLUDED THAT MORE SPACE IS NEEDED AT THE COTTONWOOD COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER AND JAIL.    AN ARCHITECTURAL FIRM DETERMINED THAT THE CENTER NEEDS ROUGHLY 12-THOUSAND SQUARE FEET OF ADDITIONAL SPACE TO MEET CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS. THIS INCLUDES SPACE NEEDS FOR THE JAIL INTAKE AND BOOKING AREA, NEW JAIL CELLS, GARAGE SPACE FOR VEHICLES AND MORE ROOM FOR DISPATCHERS.  ONE POSSIBLE APPROACH WOULD INVOLVE AN EXPANSION OF THE CURRENT BUILDING ON THE MAIN LEVEL AND BASEMENT LEVEL.  THE ARCHITECTS WILL DEVELOP A FORMAL PROPOSAL INCLUDING COST ESTIMATES.  THE INFORMATION WILL GO TO THE COTTONWOOD COUNTY BOARD.