Local News Headlines – Thursday, September 23

THE RED ROCK CENTRAL SCHOOL BOARD MET THIS WEEK.   THE BOARD VOTED TO SET THE PRELIMINARY 2022 PROPERTY TAX LEVY LIMIT AT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT ALLOWED UNDER STATE GUIDELINES.  THE FINAL LEVY WILL BE CERTIFIED IN DECEMBER.  A DISCUSSION WAS HELD ON THE UPCOMING BUILDING REFERENDUM.  THE DISTRICT RECEIVED A “FAVORABLE” REVIEW AND COMMENT FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.  THAT MEANS THE REFERENDUM NEEDS A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE TO PASS WITH 50% OR MORE VOTING IN FAVOR.  ALL VOTING WILL BE DONE BY MAIL-IN BALLOT.  THE RED ROCK CENTRAL SCHOOL BOARD ALSO VOTED TO APPLY TO “FEMA” FOR UP TO $1.9-MILLION TO FUND THE CREATION OF A NEW STORM SHELTER.   

 

THE WINDOM CITY COUNCIL HAS SET A PRELIMINARY 2022 PROPERTY TAX LEVY LIMIT.  THE PRELIMINARY 2022 LEVY WAS SET AT JUST OVER $2.3-MILLION, WHICH WOULD BE AN INCREASE OF 5.75% OVER THE CURRENT YEAR’S LEVY.  THE PRELIMINARY LEVY AMOUNT MAY BE REDUCED, BUT IT CANNOT BE INCREASED BEFORE A FINAL LEVY AMOUNT IS CERTIFIED IN DECEMBER.  SOME GENERAL FUND RESERVES MAY BE USED TO HELP REDUCE THE FINAL LEVY AMOUNT.  THE PROPOSED 2022 CITY BUDGET INCLUDES ROUGHLY $200-THOUSAND IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT SPENDING.  THAT AMOUNT COULD BE ADJUSTED AFTER THE COUNCIL HOLDS BUDGET WORKSHOPS IN OCTOBER.  IT WAS NOTED THAT WINDOM WILL BE RECEIVING ADDITIONAL FEDERAL COVID-19 FUNDING WHICH MAY BE USED FOR ELIGIBLE EXPENSES ONLY.   

 

THE 2021 “HINTERLAND ART CRAWL” IS BEING HELD THIS WEEKEND.  THE ART CRAWL IS A FREE, SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF ART AND ARTIST STUDIOS IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA.  IT WILL TAKE PLACE THIS SATURDAY FROM 10:00AM TO 6:00PM.  THE ART CRAWL WILL SHOWCASE THE WORK OF MORE THAN 25 ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE.  ARTISTS FEATURED ON THE CRAWL WILL BE SHOWING THEIR WORK AND GIVING DEMONSTRATIONS.  SOME ARTSITS MAY HAVE WORKS FOR SALE.  LOCATIONS FEATURED ON THE ART CRAWL INCLUDE THE LAMBERTON AREA, THE REDWOOD FALLS AREA, SPRINGFIELD, WALNUT GROVE, WESTBROOK AND WINDOM.  COMPLETE DETAILS WITH MAPS, LOCATIONS AND A LIST OF ARTISTS MAY BE FOUND AT www.hinterlandartcrawl.com. 

 

THE MT LAKE CITY COUNCIL MET THIS WEEK.   THE COUNCIL VOTED TO HIRE MICHAEL MUELLER AS THE NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR.  MUELLER WILL BEGIN HIS DUTIES WITHIN THE NEXT 45 DAYS.  HE HAS BEEN WORKING AS THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR IN MORRISTOWN.  PREVIOUS CITY ADMINISTRATOR MICHAEL SCHULTE RESIGNED IN JULY IN ORDER TO TAKE A NEW JOB IN SOUTH DAKOTA.  IN OTHER BUSINESS, THE COUNCIL APPROVED A CONTRACT WITH BARGEN, INCORPORATED TO HANDLE REPAIRS AT THE CITY BAND SHELL.  THE COUNCIL AGREED TO ALLOW SANITARY SEWER SERVICE TO BE HOOKED UP TO AN ADDRESS THAT IS JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.  THE COUNCIL DISCUSSED THE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT OF AN OLDER ELECTRIC GENERATOR.  

 

HOMECOMING WEEK CONTINUES AT WESTBROOK-WALNUT GROVE HIGH SCHOOL.   HOMECOMING CORONATION WAS HELD MONDAY.  THE HOMECOMING KING IS COLE VAN DeWIELE AND THE HOMECOMING QUEEN IS ELIZABETH WIGGINS.  THE WEEK INCLUDED DAILY DRESS-UP THEMES.  THURSDAY IS ‘EMO’ DAY AND FRIDAY IS ‘SCHOOL SPIRIT’ DAY.  ON FRIDAY, THE HOMECOMING PARADE WILL BE HELD AT 2:00PM.  THERE WILL BE A PEP FEST AT THE HIGH SCHOOL GYM AT 2:30.  THE WESTBROOK-WALNUT GROVE CHARGERS FOOTBALL TEAM WILL PLAY THE HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME AGAINST HILLS-BEAVER CREEK AT 7:00 FRIDAY NIGHT.  THERE WILL BE A DANCE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AFTER THE GAME.