The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has moved to affirm support of the Meeker Memorial Hospital project and commitment to future approval of financing. The hospital board will be seeking financing of up to $30,000,000 towards the estimated $55,000,000 project.
The proposed project will include a new three-story addition to the hospital that will include spaces for the clinic, laboratory, infusion, rehabilitation, and specialty medicine services, in addition to new administrative and food services spaces. Additionally, the front of the hospital will be shifted from facing south on Lockerbie Street to facing east on Sibley Avenue, which is intended to provide more visibility for the facility.
To facilitate this improvement, the City of Litchfield has already approved the vacation of Lockerbie Street between Sibley Avenue and the alley east of Miller Avenue. The project is anticipated to cost up to $55-million, funded through existing reserves and new debt. The debt will be funded with the hospital’s operating revenues and will be structured to minimize any risk to taxpayers.
The Meeker County Board of Commissioners approved of the 2026 property tax levy of $19,010,391 – an increase of 9.16%, and the 2026 budget of $46,448,540 which is a decrease of 11.1% from 2025. The Board has moved to set a public hearing for a transportation local option sales tax during the February 3rd meeting at 8:30 a.m.
The Board approved of the reappointment of Tim Steinert as the County Veterans Service Officer for a term from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2029; moved to approve an agreement with Minnesota Housing regarding the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency Minnesota City Participation Program; move to approve authorizing the Snowmobile Safety Enforcement Grant of $2,552.37 for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, and July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027; and moved to approve of a quote from Climate Makers in the amount of $30,950 for a Direct Digital Controls upgrade in the jail.
The Commissioners also approved of numerous 2026 Health & Human Services contracts; listened to an annual report regarding income maintenance, eligibility and medical assistance from the Health & Human Services Department officials; and heard an annual report from Property Records, Taxation and Elections Manager Holly Nelson.
A Christmas concert with the Kingery Family will be held at the Litchfield Christian Church on Thursday from 6:30-to-7:30 p.m. – sponsored by Paul & Pam White. A freewill offering will be taken for the Meeker Area Food Shelf.
Paul White says if you’re not able to make a donation, come to the concert any way as they want as many people to hear the great music and Christmas message from the Kingery Family. He says an anonymous donor will match the funds that are raised, and the Food Shelf is such a worthy place to donate money.
White says the concert will last about an hour and refreshments will be served. Jamie Revermann from the Meeker Area Food Shelf says with the cash donations she receives, she can purchase food at a discount from Second Harvest Heartland and she’s seeing more families and elderly people coming in to the Food Shelf for help than ever before. She says the community has really stepped up to help.
Revermann says people are trying to juggle items in their budgets and the only place with some wiggle room is food, but they don’t want people to cut back on their nutritional needs. She says they try to nudge people towards more nutritional items when they visit the food shelf and the food shelves are set up with the healthier items in the front.
Revermann says the Food Shelf in downtown Litchfield is open Mondays from 11-to-6 and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10-to-3; the Food Shelf in Dassel is open Tuesday from 10-to-3 and Thursday from 3-to-6; and they also have a mobile unit for people who cannot make it to the Food Shelf. She says if anyone has questions, they may call 320-693-7661.
Rise and Roam Play in Litchfield recently observed its 5th anniversary. The play area is located at 715 North Sibley Avenue in Suite 201, right next to Litchfield Family Dental.
Lisa Cox says Rise and Roam is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-to-1, Thursdays from 3-to-6 and Saturdays from 2-to-6 and it can also be booked for parties over the weekend. She says it’s a great indoor place for kids to play, with lots of activities and it changes each season so it’s all ready for winter.
Cox says there are gift certificates and memberships available at Rise and Roam which make great gifts for the holidays. Judy Hulterstrum says there are also opportunities for people to be secret Santas and purchase gift certificates for other children.
Hulterstrum says there’s an area in Rise and Roam right now where children can dress up in winter gear and pretend to go ice fishing. She says it’s especially nice in the winter months for children to have an indoor place to play and the social aspect is also important.
For more information about Rise and Roam, go to riseandroamplay.com or call 320-593-7473.
The Litchfield City Council has approved of a bid of $6,053,700 for 3 transformers from WEG Transformers USA of Washington, Missouri. It could take up to three years to receive the transformers and the city will issue debt to help with the purchase of the transformers.
The Litchfield City Council heard an annual report last night from the president of the Litchfield Visitors Bureau – Rick Beecroft. He spoke about the statewide and local campaigns to promote Litchfield and the two big events of the year – the Parade of Bands and Light Up Litchfield. The Council accepted his report.
The Council also had a visit from Head Librarian Beth Cronk regarding funding for 2026. The Library was seeking a 5% increase in its funding from the City and Cronk said without the increase, they would have to dip into the Library reserve funds. The Council approved of funding at the 2025 level of $173,496, rather than the requested amount of $182,171.
The Council approved of a resolution selecting 4594 Design for $18,850, contingent upon execution of a grant agreement, for work at the G.A.R. Hall. A motion was approved on a 4-to-2 vote – with Darlene Kotelnicki and Bob Powers opposed – to renew tobacco licenses for several businesses, contingent upon completion of their paperwork. If their paperwork is not completed by the January 1st deadline, their licenses will expire. Kotelnicki also asked that there be a future work session to discuss the amounts of money that the City spends for contracted services.
Also last night, Council Member Bob Powers brought up the issue of winter parking as he’s noticed cars parked along streets after snowfalls which the plows have to drive around, and they have no tickets on their windshields, and then the plows have to return later to clean the streets again when the cars have moved. He says the ordinance should change to ban parking on the streets during winter months. Rather than changing the ordinance, the Council agreed to make efforts to educate the public about not parking on streets when there are snow events, and to issue tickets for first-time offenders and to tow the vehicles of repeat offenders.
On Sunday morning at 9:15, the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a fire at a residence in the 500 block of Simon Avenue west in Dassel. Deputies arrived to see heavy smoke coming out of the second-story window.
The owner, 65-year-old Connie Pool, and one other occupant, 42-year-old John Klingelhoets, were home at the time of the fire. Fire crews were able to put the fire out; however, the house sustained significant fire and smoke damage. The fire is believed to be electrical-related. The MN Fire Marshal was contacted and the investigation into the cause is ongoing. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
