The Litchfield City Council held a work session on Monday afternoon regarding the downtown Historic District façade improvement grant process. 4594 Design is the project architect for this initiative which began when Litchfield received $2-million dollars in the Legislature’s bonding bill to help restore façades on downtown Litchfield buildings.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says 4594 Design has been doing a fabulous job on this project. He says the initial requests totaled $6-million, so 4594 Design will help in the process of deciding what projects will qualify for funding.
Dingmann says the Council will be having future work sessions which will include League of Minnesota Cities training, and future personnel and budget discussions. He says one of the other topics that came up during the regular Council meeting Monday evening was a request from Ryan & Emily Bratz to purchase the city-owned property at 1002 South Armstrong Avenue, and there have been other requests in the past to purchase this property, so the administration will prepare a report in about 7 weeks about whether or not the city should sell the parcel of property.
Meeker County Public Works Director/Highway Engineer Phil Schmalz introduced the Meeker County Board of Commissioners to the new Ditch Inspector. Devon Savage has assumed that position.
Schmalz presented the County-State-Aid-Highway 34 bridge bids. There were 3 bids and Structural Specialists of Hutchinson had the low bid of $1,852,555.61 which was just slightly higher than the engineer’s estimate of $1,807,254.50. The Board approved of the low bid. Schmalz also gave the Board an update on the potential future improvement project at the intersection of Highways 34 and 12 on the east side of Litchfield. He says he feels good about a couple of funding sources that they are pursuing for the project and Mn/DOT is also getting the project into its future planning process.
The Board approved of a conditional use permit for Bender Landscaping for a landscaping project at 61335 193rd Street, south of Litchfield, in Section 14 of Greenleaf Township in the Lake Minnie Belle Shoreland District; approved of a conditional use permit for Johnson Landscaping for a landscaping project at 61554 194th Street, south of Litchfield, in Section 14 of Greenleaf Township in the Lake Minnie Belle Shoreland District; approved of a conditional use permit for Elite Stainless for a welding and fabricating shop in Section 24 of Forest City Township; approved of an interim use permit for the McCann Daycare Facility at 35497 602nd Avenue, south of Eden Valley, in Section 27 of Manannah Township; and approved of an interim use permit for Ailie Concrete and Bituminous Recycling in Section 24 of Dassel Township.
The Meeker County Commissioners also heard an annual report from Finance Director Heather Lemieux. Heather also asked the Board to approve of the publication of the 2024 financial statements and vendor list.
A Reader’s Theater production of “War of the Worlds” will be presented at the Litchfield Opera House on Saturday at 7 p.m. Admission for everyone is $10 at the door.
Connie Lies says Orson Welles produced the radio show in 1938. She says when it was broadcast, there was a delay for some of the listeners who missed the introduction, and they thought aliens from outer space had actually invaded the East Coast of the United States.
Lies says there are some talented readers who will act with their voices and many of them have three different parts. She says she has a small part and the other actors include Dean Urdahl, Rick Beecroft, Dave Holle, Levi Nelson, Carole Wendt, Darlene Kotelnicki and Cathy Osdoba.
The Litchfield City Council has approved of a lease agreement with the State of Minnesota for use of the Litchfield Area Recreation Center. The State will pay $600 a month to use one of the meeting rooms for driver’s exams.
The Litchfield City Council held a public hearing regarding the vacation of a drainage and utility easement for the property that First District Association is using for its pretreatment facility by the City’s wastewater treatment plant. The Council approved of the first reading of the ordinance vacating the easement.
The Council had a request to purchase the city-owned property at 1002 South Armstrong Avenue. City Administrator Dave Czoik says this is not the first request for the purchase of this property. The Council approved of a motion to have the staff put a report together on the feasibility of whether or not to sell this parcel of property.
The Council approved of a request from the Litchfield HRA to purchase two lots for $40,000 and to support the HRA’s submission of a grant application. The Council also approved of a request for proposal to do a building conditions assessment for the G.A.R. Hall. The Council also authorized 4594 Design to draft and compile the scoring matrix for the Council to evaluate and approve the list of approved properties for the state historic building grant for the façade improvements in the downtown Litchfield historic district.
Also last night, Head Librarian Beth Cronk presented a report to the Litchfield City Council. She says the library is well-used by the community, and she presented many examples of how the library serves the community.