Litchfield City Council Approves the Hiring of a Litchfield Area Recreation Center Director

The Litchfield City Council approved of hiring Owen Boerma as the Litchfield Area Recreation Center Director on Monday evening. Twenty-five people had applied for the position.

Mayor Ron Dingmann says there were lots of great candidates. He says Boerma is a Litchfield High School graduate and presented his ideas for the future of the recreation center during his interview. On a related item of business, the City Council approved of residing the Civic Arena so that it will blend in with the new LARC facility. RAM Buildings, Inc. will do the project for $168,474.

Mayor Dingmann says there was also an opportunity to add 8 basketball hoops to the center for a cost of $82,510 and $20,000 has already been donated toward that project, so that was approved. He says the Council also approved of proceeding with a land purchase with First District Association at the Wastewater Treatment Plant for their pre-treatment project.

Mayor Dingmann says a public hearing will be held on June 16th at 5:30 p.m. to consider this sale of public property. He says the city staff will be meeting with members of the Golden Fleece Lodge to consider their idea of building a log picnic shelter at South Park.

Mayor Dingmann says the Council approved of the T-hangar project at the Airport with a bid approved from Everstrong Construction of $1,149,547, but the bid won’t be awarded until August to make sure federal funds come through for 95% of the project. The City of Litchfield and the State of Minnesota would each pay about $28,000 for the hangar project. The Litchfield City Council will be having a work session on June 2nd to meet with LARC consultant Holly Johnson.