The Litchfield City Council heard City Engineer Chuck DeWolf’s request Monday evening to approve the plans and specifications for the Civic Arena floor project and to advertise for bids. The project should begin in March and is expected to be completed by August.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says a public hearing was held earlier in the meeting regarding a tax abatement process – part of which includes $2-million for the Civic Arena project. He says another public hearing was held regarding the sale of property at 181 North Gorman Avenue to Gregg Schilling who plans to build an 8-unit apartment complex at that site this year.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council approved of committee assignments on Monday evening and made annual appointments including Emily Wood and Rebecca Rue as city attorneys, the Enterprise Dispatch as the official newspaper, Chuck DeWolf from Bolton & Menk as City Engineer, and Mario Provencher as weed inspector. He says the Council also approved of a contract with Marco for IT services.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council had a lengthy discussion about the New History meetings that have been taking place to help in the process of distributing the $2-million from the state to property owners in the historic downtown district for façade improvement projects. He says the Council approved of hiring New History to do monthly meetings in 2025 to assure that the funds are used appropriately.
The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating a fatal crash on the Highway 71 bypass on the east side of Willmar this morning. A dump truck was traveling northbound with its dump box up, around 7:15 a.m., when the truck struck a railroad overpass near Highway 12. The driver, 67-year-old, Terry Allan Vreeman from Spicer, was killed.
The Meeker County Board of Commissioners welcomed its two newly elected board members –
Cheryl Van Ort from District 2 and Darren Sombke from District 4. Paul Johnson will be serving as Chair for 2025, with Beth Oberg as Vice Chair.
The County Board approved of the final payment to Knife River of St. Cloud for projects on County-State-Aid-Highways 2 and 34 for $1,724,527.02. The Board approved of a sponsorship resolution for the City of Dassel for its active transportation grant application. The Commissioners also authorized the Public Works Dept. to set letting dates for the 2025 highway construction projects.
Public Works Director Phil Schmalz reviewed the projects that are scheduled for 2025 including a couple of reclaim and paving projects. He says those will include County-State-Aid-Highway 3 from the Kandiyohi County line to Highway 22, and County-State-Aid-Highway 12 from the McLeod County line to Highway 1.
The Commissioners approved of the 2025 federal supplemental boating safety equipment and aids to navigation grant of $4,107; approved of the position of assistant veterans service officer; approved of the Herald Journal Publishing bid for the Dassel-Cokato Enterprise Dispatch as the county’s official newspaper for 2025; approved of ratifying the 2025-2026 LELS non-licensed supervisors contract; and approved of the 2025 fee schedule following a hearing on the proposed changes.
The Board appointed three people to the Aquatic Invasive Species Board for 3-year terms – Kennedy Penk, Barry Calhoon Jr. and Jerome Wosmek. A letter of support was also approved for funding to repair the Salisbury Bridge.
Thrivent Financial is hosting a charitable planning workshop on January 18th at noon at Peter’s Ribs in Litchfield. Anyone interested may sign up or get more details by calling 593-2846.
Kyle Kalkbrenner says this workshop will be partnered with Youth For Christ, so anyone with a heart toward that organization would especially be interested in attending, but they will have to limit it to 20 attendees, so call soon. He says they also want to remind their clients that they have until March 31st to designate their Thrivent Choice dollars for 2024.
Kalkbrenner says lots of Thrivent Choice dollars go unused each year as people forget to designate them towards their favorite charities which is a shame. Jackie McGhee says with the start of the New Year, it’s a good time for people to get some financial planning done if they haven’t done so before.
McGhee says they work with clients of all ages and focus on financial planning, but for those getting ready to retire, they can help them determine when might be the best time to sign up for Social Security. Again, for more information, call the Thrivent office at 593-2846 or stop at 403 North Sibley Avenue in Litchfield.