News

The Litchfield City Council had a rather lengthy meeting Monday evening which began with the annual audit report presented by Justin McGraw of Conway, Deuth & Schmiesing. The Council also had a lengthy work session earlier in the day.

Mayor Ron Dingmann says the Council met on Monday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to talk about future projects and to get them on a priority list. He says, during the regular meeting Monday evening, the Council approved of a pavement replacement project for the trails at Anderson Gardens. He says Diversified Paving of St. Augusta was awarded a bid of $29,644.24 and that money will come from the Anderson Gardens trust fund. The work is expected to be completed before the Watercade celebration.

Mayor Dingmann says the Council again discussed the state flag and decided to take no formal action – leaving the 1983 flags in place; and had more discussion about the parking ordinance and also took no action as the City will try to communicate more with the public about the need to get vehicles off of the streets when there is one inch or more of snowfall. He says Council member Darlene Kotelnicki also brought up some concerns about the Litchfield Area Recreation Center.

Mayor Dingmann says the administration will look into the issues raised by Kotelnicki and provide more information. He says the Council also heard a report from intern Lydia Asmus about what she’s hoping to accomplish as she works alongside City Administrator Dave Czoik this summer.

The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a crash involving a vehicle and a payloader on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the 8400 block of County Road 9 Northeast in Green Lake Township. A passenger van, driven by a 44-year-old Spicer man with his family, was traveling southbound on County Road 9 when it attempted to avoid the large payloader which was crossing the roadway in front of them. The van struck the payloader in the bucket area. There were 5 occupants in the passenger van and all were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Spicer Fire Dept., Spicer First Responders, Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and CentraCare Ambulance.

An 18-year-old man drown after falling out of his kayak as he was fishing on a Wright County lake Monday evening. The incident was reported at 8:18 p.m. on Pleasant Lake just north of Annandale.

Wright County deputies arrived to find an overturned kayak near the public access and dock on the north side of the lake, where several other people were fishing. Witness statements and evidence gathered from the scene by deputies showed that 18-year-old Cameron Mertens of Watkins was fishing from a kayak near the dock at the public access about 75-to-100 yards from the dock. A witness said that Mertens fell from the kayak while fishing. Mertens’ body was recovered by the Wright County Sheriff’s Office dive team.