THE MAYOR'S PAGE

	Mayor's Reports 2006
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER

Mayor’s Report For December 2006

I have had several people ask me why we do not have the Christmas decorations lit up on Main Street. As most of you know, several weeks ago someone in a red Dodge pickup ran over a fire hydrant and clipped a power pole on the intersection of Co. Rd 17 and Main Street. This caused the wiring for our Christmas decorations to short out. The decorations are okay, just the wiring needs to be replaced in some areas. The council has given the okay to repair it. We should have them lit up shortly.

Speaking of Main Street, I attended the County’s annual five year road improvement proposal meeting, and asked to have County Rd. 62 (our Main Street) redone from the bank corner to the Polar corner. Because of the increase in the cost of fuel, which directly adds to the increase in road improvement, many of the present road projects in the county had to be pushed back a few years, which leaves no room in the county’s 5 year road budget for new projects. But we are on their radar; hopefully we can get it done in 7 to 10 years.

We have 3 heat/air temp units on top of the City Center. Two of them were in very bad condition (they are 16 years old). The one that’s used for the fire department part of the building doesn’t get as much use as the other two and is still okay. We replaced the two worn out ones at a cost of $11,712; this was $2,153 under the estimate.

Great news, I have been informed by the Lion’s club, their Wobegon trail covered bridge project has been put on the National Guard’s 2008 bridge construction training schedule. On behalf of the community I would like to thank the Holdingford Lions club for moving this project forward. When completed, this will be the longest covered bridge in Minnesota, and a great asset to the community.

The newly formed Holdingford Historical Society will be having their second meeting at 7 p.m. January 2, 2007 at the Corner Pizza. A guest speaker from the Upsala Historical Society will be present to speak about the start up of a Historical Society. Any interested citizens from the city or surrounding Townships are invited to attend.

Christmas Tree pick up will be January 12, 2007; please have your tree out by curb that day if you wish to have it picked up.

We are getting complaints of dogs running loose around town again. The city of Holdingford has a leash law, all dogs must be on a leash or risk being picked up and taken to the pound. Also a reminder, dog license must be purchased at the City Center before the first of the year to avoid penalties. Must show proof the dog’s vaccinations are up to date when purchasing dog license.

2006 has been a good year for the Holdingford community. Goals have been accomplished, friends made, and many people have chipped in with their time and talent to make this a better community for all of us. Thank You!

On behalf of the city council and staff, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe, prosperous, New Year!

Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit

Mayor’s Report For November 2006

The “Pedals to Petals” Garden Club will be having their first annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony December 2, at 5:30 p.m. at the Wobegon shelter. The Holdingford High School Honor Choir will be on hand to sing for us. The garden club will have hot apple cider, hot chocolate and cookies available. You will also be able to help decorate the tree with the bird friendly ornaments the club members have made out of bird seed, suet, and peanut butter. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy the festivities. See you there!

Attention: All people interested in the history of our community, or history in general, here is a chance for you to help archive and preserve our past for future generations. We are looking for people interested in starting a “Holdingford Historical Society.” Mike Odden already has collected a number of very interesting items from Holdingford’s past and is on the look out for more. If you have a passion for the history of our area and wish to preserve it, please call Mike at 746-2991 or e-mail him at mike@mikeodden.com

The City of Holdingford has purchased a used civil defense siren from the City of Minneapolis, which will be installed in Veterans Park. We had purchased one last year and put it up by the water tower but found the people on the southwest part of the city cannot hear it very well. With the installation of this one we will now have good coverage to help alert everyone during severe weather.

The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Holdingford, has been completed and adopted. This plan will assist the City of Holdingford and Holding Township in shaping the future growth of the community by creating a set of guiding principles. The plan also sets forth goals and it describes how the city and township will implement these goals going forward. The Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Map will always be on the Cities Web site, www.holdingfordmn.us as a reference for the community to follow as we head into the future. I would like to thank the committee members, Township Supervisor Mark Stai, Council Person Lloyd Rausch, Mark McClintock, Allan Dobis, and Rosemary Scepaniak, for all their time and hard work in putting together a good plan for our future.

We now need to update our old and create new, City Zoning Ordinances to fit our new Comprehensive Plan. We need to set up a committee to do this. We are looking for people who want to take an active role in shaping our community’s future. You will need to be available for approximately 5 to 6 evening meetings to be on this committee. If anyone from within the city limits is interested please call city hall at 746-2966 and leave your name and phone number.

The new well project is finally moving along. It was on hold for awhile until we received our permit from the Minnesota Department of Health. The well will be dug within the next week or two, and plumbed into the pump house shortly thereafter. The electronics have been ordered and the whole project should be done by the first of the New Year. In the past we have used water pressure at the well pumps to try and gauge water level in the water tower. This has never been very accurate and has always caused a water hammer effect when the pumps start and stop. After the new electronics are installed, we will be gauging the water level inside the tower. A wireless internet connection provided by Surfsota will start and stop the well pumps to keep the water tower at an accurate level. Isn’t technology wonderful!

It’s that time of year again, Winter Parking Rules! From November 1 through April 1 no cars shall be parked on any city street between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. or you will be ticketed and/or towed. Please have your vehicle off the city streets during this time. On behalf of the city maintenance department, Thank You!

Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit

Mayor’s Report For October 2006

On behalf of the citizens of Holdingford I would like to thank the Lioness Club, for sponsoring the “Meet the Candidates” night. This was a good forum to have State, County and Local election candidates give us their views on today’s issues. There was a definite difference on some issues especially among state legislative candidates, and meetings like this help to define which candidate best fit our views and values at election time. I also want to thank Lois Thelen from Grey Eagle and Vicki Statz for their technical support.

The bids for the new well and pump house up grade came in under our Engineer’s estimates. This bid includes the drilling of a new well, upgrading the pump house by well number 2 (by the ballpark), moving the pump from well number 1 to the new well (which will be called well number 3), plumbing the new well into pump house number 2, filling in well number 1 and all test wells. We will buy the pump drives and tower fill monitoring equipment on our own and hire an electrician to install them. We will also on our own hire to dig up Plymouth Street and disconnect well number 1 from the distribution system. When this is all completed, (hopefully before it gets too cold) we will have two good wells in close proximity to each other and both hooked up to one pump house. This will give us good water and save us operating costs for many years to come.

Fire Chief Pat Meier, Firefighter Dan Gerads, and myself attended and 800 MHz emergency radio-funding meeting at the Albany Fire Department. It was attended by firefighters, police departments, ambulance companies, and elected officials from cities throughout the area. The County elected officials and sheriff’s department were also represented along with State Senators Michelle Fischbach, Dean Johnson, and State Representatives Dan Severson and Bud Hiedegerken. Where is the funding going to come from to complete and maintain the new 800 MHz emergency radio system, was the topic of discussion. The State wants to have this system operational, statewide by 2013. It’s a great system in that it allows all emergency and non-emergency personnel to talk to each other in case of an emergency, something they can’t always do now.

There was money available at first, mainly through grants to get the system going in the Twin Cities Metro, Rochester, and St. Cloud. But now it’s stalled due to a lack of funding for the rest of out state Minnesota. Also, who is going to provide funding to keep this system operational in the future? It’s a very expensive system using many towers, computers, software and IT personnel. The fire chief of St. Cloud stated his department’s budget cannot absorb the cost of keeping this system updated in the future. The people leading the discussion felt raising the 911 emergency phone surcharge was the fairest way to pay for this system, since it is for emergency services. This would spread the burden of cost to everyone who has a phone in the state. I would have to agree with that, adding a few cents to our phone bill to save lives would not create a financial hardship on anyone. This is something the 2007 Legislature will have to look at; we will see what happens.

We are still having a problem with some people not reading their water meters every month. Remember we wanted to save man-hours which saves money by having Herman and Jerry read water meters only once or twice a year, in September and in spring. If you don’t read your meter and write it down on your pay stub each month, you will just be charged for minimum usage each month. When September and March or April rolls around you will be charged for all your extra usage for those months in between and that could be a very hefty bill. Also reading it each month will alert you to any excess water usage that could be caused by leaking fixtures and appliances.

One more item, concerning the disposal of personal hygiene products for MEN and WOMEN. Please DO NOT flush these things down through the sewer system. It wreaks havoc with our lift station pumps, and causes the motors to burn out. There was also found a child’s heavy shirt in one of our lift stations recently. Please dispose of these items in the garbage.

Respectfully Submitted By Mayor Ernie Schmit

Mayor’s Report For September 2006

          A rough draft of the Comprehensive Plan has been completed. The task force, I feel, has assembled a good plan which will serve as a guide for future growth and development within the community. But the citizens of the community need to be the final judge. We have the plan on our web-site www.holdingfordmn.us, Comprehensive Plan Property Land Use Map and printed copies at the city center. Please take time to look the plan over and give us your input. We will have an informational meeting at the City Center, Sunday October 1st at 1p.m., with the purpose of discussing the Comprehensive Plan and solicit input from the public. Your input is valued and your attendance at this meeting will be greatly appreciated. If you cannot make the meeting but have comments please direct them to me at City Hall and I will forward them on to the committee.
           We are having a “Meet The Candidates Night” Monday night October 2nd at 7p.m. at the Holdingford City Center. Candidates for State, County, and City elected offices will be here to share their views on the issues of the day. Anyone and everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. It will be a good opportunity to meet and talk to the candidates, so we can make an informed decision when we vote in the general election in November. We thank the Lioness’ for stepping forward and sponsoring this event. Refreshments will be served at this forum.
           A car hit and broke a fire hydrant in the intersection of Hill and 4th Streets, and drove off. We would appreciate any information on the person who did this, so we can collect the approximately $4,000 that it will cost the city (you and me) to repair the damage. It’s not fair that we all have to pay for someone else’s negligence.
           We have finished the preliminary budget for 2007, and filed it with the County. We did not increase the tax levy, but kept it the same as it has been for the last four years. We experienced some growth, so if your property value stayed the same, the cities’ portion of your property tax bill should go down. We will be raising some of our fees in January. Water and Sewer minimum rates will need to be raised a $1.00 each, and every cubic foot over minimum will need to be raised $.01. Water and Sewer Hook up fees will need to be raised to $900 each. And Liquor permit revenue will need to be raised approx 25% in the coming year. I know critics will say raising fee’s is no different than raising taxes, but I disagree. Fees are paid by the user, taxes are paid by everyone, whether you use the service or not. If we just raised taxes to cover all expenses, we would be subsidizing users of a product or service.
           Some highlights of expenses for next year; we budgeted $4,000 for tires for the front end loader; $3,000 to kill the dandelions and fertilize the City park lawns. For the Fire Department, we budgeted a capital outlay of $8,000 to cover the cost of half the new 800 mghz radio’s they need. The other half we will either fund raise for or budget in 2008. (The Fire Department’s budget is contingent on the townships okay at our fire board meeting in January). We are budgeting $20,000 to reline 9 manholes (we have 19 manholes that need to be relined at approx $2,100 a piece). This is contingent on how many other repairs we need to do to the water and sewer system in the coming year, such as water main breaks, pump failures etc. We will do as many as we can afford each year until they are all lined. I also propose we raise Mayor and Councilpersons salaries $25 per month in 2007. We work very hard for this city and I feel we deserve an increase to compensate for the time we take off from our regular jobs to attend city business. Do we need to do all we do, and attend all the meetings we attend? No, by law we just have to show up for our monthly council meetings, but I believe the citizens of this city want a very hands on, accessible government, and we do our best to do that.
          Everyone has a voice in the decisions city government makes. Your voice can be heard when you cast your vote in November. We have to hold public hearings in January before we can raise fees and give ourselves a raise, so November is a good time to come and voice your opinion. December 11, we will have our truth in taxation meeting which is also a good time to speak up about our budget. Copies of the budget can be picked up at City Hall or can be found on the City Web site www.holdingfordmn.us   Any questions about the budget can be directed to me or any council person or the city clerk.
          One last item, we are having a problem with people parking next to and blocking the fire hydrants by city hall. Please do not park next to a yellow lined curb, it could get you a ticket.

Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit

Mayor’s Report For August 2006

The Lion’s club along with other community organizations will be sponsoring a community picnic at Holdingford Veteran’s Park, Sunday afternoon, September 10, 2006. There will be a free picnic lunch and beverages, games for kids and adults, and all the area organizations will be setting up stands to show you what they are all about. There will also be live music by the Gene Ostendorf band, for your listening enjoyment. Everyone in the Holdingford School District area is invited to bring their families for a great afternoon. It will be a good time and won’t cost you a dime.

On behalf of the people of Holdingford, I would like to congratulate Jim’s Snowmobile and Marine on 35 years of serving the Holdingford and surrounding communities. They will be celebrating their 35 years in business in style. They will have factory reps from Polaris at their business in Holdingford, Friday, September 8, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, September 9, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. People 18 years and older will be able to test ride Polaris Rangers and ATV’s, both days and “Dare To Compare” them against other brands they will have on hand for you to drive. There will be free food and beverages both days, and KASM radio will broadcast on September 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. You will also be able to see the full line up of Polaris snowmobiles and ATV’s both days, and will be able to enter into a drawing for a TwoUp ATV (a $7,000 value) that will be given away at the end of September. Anyone and everyone is invited to come on down and take part in the festivities.

The County is in the process of updating its’ Comprehensive Plan. Lloyd Rausch and I attended the Eastern County Comp meeting held at St. John’s. This first meeting was an informational gathering meeting, with cities and townships correcting current information and expressing ideas for changes they want to see. There will be other meetings with the consultant the county hired, compiling information throughout the county.

The first phase of the Ridgeview housing development project is moving along nicely. The piping has all been laid and they will be starting on the road soon. I understand one lot has already been spoken for, and inquires made as to the purchase of a couple more lots. This development will be a nice addition to our community.

Herman did some horse trading with the addition. We needed black dirt for the Wobegon Park and Larson excavating needed water for the construction process, so we traded water for black dirt. We could use more nice clean “free” black dirt if anyone can spare some, for landscaping the park. Call city hall at 746-2966 if you can spare some.

We have been notified by the Board of Soil and Water Resource panel of their recommendation to the full Board to terminate the South Two Rivers Watershed District. We will know by the end of the month if the full Board of Soil and Water will follow the panel’s recommendation.

We have had a couple incidences of people almost getting hit by bicycles on the sidewalks. People please walk your bikes when on the sidewalk, so no one gets run over or seriously hurt.

You will see the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has raised its fee from .44 to .53 per month on your water bill.

Election of two council seats and mayor position will be held on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006. Filings for candidacy for any of these offices are from Tuesday, August 29th to Tuesday, September 12th at 5 p.m. at the city clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to run for these offices is encouraged to sign up. There is a $2 filing fee. Mayor Ernie Schmit’s position, as well as Lloyd Rausch and Mike Odden’s council seats are up for election.

Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit

Holdingford Daze went very well; it keeps getting bigger and better every year. I heard so many good comments about all of the two days' activities. Council person Mike Odden has pictures of the parade on our website. This year's theme, "Aloha from Paradise" was fitting for the weather and a great inspiration for people in designing floats and costumes. On behalf of the people of Holdingford, I want to thank the Commercial Club and especially Mary Stalberger, for the planning and hard work that goes into this yearly festival. I would also like to thank Herman, Jerry and their crew of helpers for having the city cleaned up before most of us got out of bed Sunday morning.

Congratulations to Norb Vos and Gwentha Konsor, for being elected the 2006 by City Father and Mother by a majority of their peers. This is quite an honor; they were chosen because of their lifetime commitment to the City of Holdingford. Thanks to Helping Hands for doing such a good job with the Father/Mother program and all that they do for the elders of our community.

The Comprehensive Plan Task Force has put together a rough draft of a land use map along with goals and statistics for our Comprehensive plan. We had it on display during Holdingford Daze, and it will be on display in the bank. The committee will be fine tuning this map in the next couple of months and we would like your input. In September or October we will have a public meeting so all citizens of the community can help us put the final touches on this map, and the plan, before we adopt it. Please look it over and talk to your neighbors about it; remember; this is your community. Task Force members are, Rosemary Scepaniak, Lloyd Rausch, Mark Stai, Mark McClintok, Allan Dobis, Ernie Schmit.

The grant writing course we sent Vicki, our City Clerk/Treasurer to has paid off. She has applied for and received a $3,124 matching grant through the "Help America Vote Act" to install automatic door openers on the front doors of the City Center. This will enable handicap individuals to come to our polling place without assistance, to independently vote. We are going to be furnished a voting machine, from the County, for the sight impaired, giving them access to independent voting also. There should not be any reason why anyone from Holdingford City or Krain Township.not casting a ballot at election time this year.

We have a very handy community calendar on our website www.holdingfordmn.us . We would really like to keep it current so anyone can look at it and find out what activities are going on in the community. If you know of an event happening in the city or township, please email Mike at www.mike.council@holdingfordmn.us or our city clerk at www.clerk@holdingfordmn.us or call the City Center at 746-2966.

The grand opening of the new Wobegon Shelter/Bathroom and the Trail going north on Tuesday, June 20th, was fantastic. We had a very good turnout of people from our community, along with many State and County Dignitaries. A big Thank You to the Snowflyers Club and the DNR for donating $40,000 each to make this shelter possible.

The Garden Club marked the occasion by ceremoniously planting two trees beside the new shelter. A big Thank You to the Garden Club for these trees and all they do for the community.

The City Council has decided to hire a company to start cleaning our sewer lines, so we do not have a back up like we did last month. They will pressure clean the lines and run a close circuit TV camera through them, to make sure they are clean and see what condition they are in. We can afford $5,000 worth this year, so the maintenance department will pick out the lines that need it most and we will do more in the following years until we have them all cleaned and checked.

On behalf of the citizens of Holdingford, I would like to thank the Holdingford American Legion for their wonderful donation of $3707.14 to the City of Holdingford. This money will be used to provide picnic tables, benches and trash receptacles at our new Wobegon trailhead park. Again Thank You Legion!
More good news! The grand opening of our new Wobegon Park Shelter and Trail going north will be Tuesday, June 20, at 3:30 pm. Stearns County Commissioners and County Parks personal will be here, along with some of our local State representatives. The garden club will have a tree planting ceremony, and we will conclude the event with an ice cream social. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend this great occasion, bring your bikes, roller blades and or walking shoes!
Speaking of the Garden Club, if you haven't already, please take a look at the flowers the garden club has planted around our city. They have made a beautiful flower garden between the trail and Main Street, across the street from the funeral home. The club has also planted flowers around several trees in Veterans Park, under the new welcome to Holdingford sign coming in to town from the west, and in whiskey barrels at the new Wobegon shelter. On behalf of the City of Holdingford, I would like to thank the garden club for their hard work to beautify our city, it's greatly appreciated.
Another Thank You goes out to the Commercial Club for purchasing and installing the" Welcome to Holdingford" sign coming in to town from the west, and the pots of flowers setting around on Main street. These are also greatly appreciated additions to beautify our city, making it a great place to live.
All these flowers will also tie in with our Holdingford Days theme of "Aloha from Paradise". Holdingford Day's will actually start with a Medallion Hunt. The first clue for this hunt can be picked up at the Wobegon Café, Stearns Bank, and City Hall July 3. Festivities start Friday evening July 7 with a 500 card tournament at St Mary's church basement and the annual cancer walk at the High School track. On Saturday, July 8, we have a full day of activities planned, starting with the trail bike ride, 5k run, kiddie parade, big parade, lawn tractor pull, talent and hoola hoop contests, inflatable games for the kids, bingo, polka mass, fireman's pork chop supper, street dance, and Pot-O-Gold raffle. There will be street vendors out all day and into the evening. And to top it off, we will again have a magnificent "Fire Works Display". Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy the festivities; it's always a fun time for the whole family. Anyone wanting information on parade or event participation is encouraged to call Mary Stalberger 746-2637, or City Hall 746-2966, leave a message and we will get back to you. Pot-O-Gold raffle tickets can be purchased at all Holdingford businesses
Reminder, our annual City wide cleanup day, is June 24, 8am to 12 noon. Anyone living within the city limits of Holdingford may bring there "stuff' down behind the old maintenance garage for disposal. There will be a charge for some items, such as appliances, tires, and electronics. Regular garbage, building materials, lawn and tree clippings will not be accepted. City staff will be on hand so no unacceptable merchandise will be put into dumpsters.
The public hearing concerning the dissolving of the South Two River's Watershed District will be held Monday June 19, at 2 and 6 Pm. at the Albany School Gym. All citizens living in the Watershed district can and are encouraged to comment at this hearing. If you can't make it, the Board of Soil and Water will take written comments for four weeks after the public hearing. The cities position from the day this Watershed was started is that it's unfair for a city to be included in paying the cost of a Watershed district. The Cities of Holdingford and Albany already pay thousands of dollars annually for a central sewer system and waste water treatment facilities to prevent pollution of our lakes and streams. We also are required to install water retention ponds to prevent storm run off into our river. The taxpayers in each of our cities bears the cost of these entities, the watershed and homes outside city limits do not help us defray the cost. And Minnesota Pollution Control, Minnesota Department of Health, DNR, and Stearns County Environmental Services all look over our shoulder to make sure it gets done right according to law. So why should a city also be taxed to help others outside city limits pay for projects to keep lakes and rivers clean/ That's exactly what we are doing when you see the line item amount on your yearly property tax bill that goes to the watershed. It's just not fair! Keeping our lakes and rivers clean in Minnesota is very important to us, its part of the good quality of life we enjoy in this State. But the burden of keeping our environment clean must be shared equally. Another issue that concerns the city is the fact that Watershed board members are appointed, not elected. They have tax levying authority, with out accountability. An elected official such as Mayor's, Council members, State and Federal Representatives, must be accountable for the taxes they levy and spend or they are voted out of office. Not so with Watershed board members, because they are appointed, they can levy and spend tax payer's money anyway they see fit within the law, and we as citizens have no means of holding them accountable. Taxation with out representation is the main reason this country celebrates Independence Day every year.
We had a sewer main plug up, causing sewage to back up in to the basement of a city residence. The city is liable for it and it has been turned over to our insurance carrier. We need to come up with a better way of cleaning out our sewer lines so this does not happen again.
Our City Clerk will be going on a humanitarian trip to Mexico June 20th to June 30th. Our city offices will be closed during this time, but Kathy or I will be checking phone recordings daily. So don't hesitate to call and leave a message if problems or questions arise and we will get back to you.

We had an incident this past winter of a sheet of ice and snow sliding off the roof of the new maintenance garage and narrowly missing a person coming out of the service door. To be safe, we had a roof built over the service entrance to prevent this from happening again. When we built the building we should have had the service door put on the south (gable) end of the building and we would not have had a problem. As the old saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.

No one came in to contest their property value at our annual board of review and equalization meeting. This is the first time in all the years I've been on the council that this has ever happened. I would like to think it's because everyone feels their property has been assessed fairly. Cheryl Foster, the County assessor for this area, showed us the four sales so far this year were higher than she had them appraised at. This is a good indication that property in the city is being assessed a little below market value, which is good. If the County assessor values property 10% on average lower than sales, the State will come in and raise the total property values in the whole city. That's not good.

Joe Christensen (chair of our Economic Development Task Force) and I attended an Entrepreneurship workshop put on by the Initiative Foundation and Minnesota Rural Partners; it was very informative. It's next to impossible for a small city to get a business to move into town. So small towns need to find local Entrepreneurs that want to start a business in their local community.

Take Holdingford as an example. The majority of the businesses we have here now, such as Polar, Two Rivers Enterprises, Scepaniak's Inc. Headly Hardware, Stearns Bank, Korner Mart, etc. etc. did not move here, they were started here at one time by local people (entrepreneurs). At this workshop they talked about what we as a city can do to help get a business off the ground. There is lots of help out there, both financial and tutorial, to help a fledging entrepreneur start a business. If you have a good product or service and are willing to work hard we will help you get a business started in Holdingford. We can get the right people to help you put together a business plan, find financing and find mentors and tutors to help you start a successful business. At this workshop they also talked about helping existing businesses in our community expand. There is a tremendous amount of help out there, in the way of capital, mentoring, counseling, for any business in the community who wants to expand.

If a present business owner in our city wants to expand, or anyone wants to start a business in our community, please see me or one of the Economic Development Task Force members. We will do our best to help get you to the right people. It's to the city of Holdingford's advantage, to do all we can to help businesses start, grow and prosper. It expands our tax base, and brings dollars and jobs into our community.

The Initiative Foundation's annual awards banquet was very impressive. The awards were given out for; Outstanding Enterprise, Outstanding Community, Outstanding Nonprofit, Outstanding Environmental, Outstanding Volunteer, and Outstanding Youth Volunteer. All award winners were each given a $1,000 grant, to donate to the nonprofit organization of their choice. Bob and Dan Warzecha, owners of Two Rivers Enterprises of Holdingford, this years' Outstanding Enterprise award winner, chose to donate their $1,000 to our Healthy Communities Partnership Program. This money will be used to help fund the projects our task forces are involved in. On behalf of the citizens of the Holdingford Community, I would like to thank Two Rivers Enterprises for this wonderful donation.

Great news, we are going to have a new housing development in the city of Holdingford starting soon. Tim and Sharon Berscheid are developing the twenty acres they have purchased from Jeff and Karen Larson on the south edge of the city. Tim gave the council a tour of the property they are calling "Ridgeview", showing us how it will be laid out. This is going to be a very nice development with big lots and spectacular views. Work on the first phase will be starting soon.

In his quest for documenting the history of Holdingford, Mike has found copies of the Holdingford Herald dating back to 1908, being stored at the Stearns Morrison Enterprises office in Albany. He asked, and they have graciously accepted Mike's request to bring them back to Holdingford. Our maintenance department has built a cabinet for the papers so they can be stored at the City Center. On behalf of the City of Holdingford, I would like to thank the Stearns Morrison Enterprise for their generosity.

The planning of our new well is moving along. We met with an engineer from the Minnesota Department of Health, and he has set the locations for the three test wells we need to put in around Well Number 2 by the ball park. Once the test wells are put in, Well Number 2 will be pumped hard for a period of time to determine how much it draws down, and the test wells will be monitored for contaminants and direction of ground water flows. One test well will be drilled behind the right field fence line, and drilled all the way down to the granite. If all testing meets with the satisfaction of the health department, our new well will be drilled at this location. It's not the location we hoped for, but we will be able to use the same pump house for both wells, which was one of our goals with this project. The down side is, the piping from the new well to the pump house will need to be buried through the outfield of the ballpark. We will wait until softball leagues are done in fall before we run the pipe, and with some good landscaping it should look good in the spring when leagues start up again.

One of our HCP task forces, the "Pedals to Petals" Garden Club will be building a flower garden on the property between the trail and Main Street, across from the funeral home. This will serve as a nice welcoming to people who come into town by bike or car, leaving a nice impression on people so they will come back and visit us again. And while we are on the subject of welcoming, this task force also wants to start up a welcoming committee to welcome new residents to the community. If anyone is interested please call City Center at 746-2966 to be on this committee.

We will be having our annual city wide clean up day, Saturday, June 24th. As in other years, only people living in the city may bring "stuff" to discard, and there will be a charge for some items such as appliances and tires. It's a good time to get rid of unwanted "stuff" and spruce up our city.

Do to some problems with the black top on the new trail going north, the Grand Opening of the Wobegon Trail and Shelter, which was scheduled for April 25th, has been postponed to a later date. We have some finishing touches to do on the new shelter, which will be completed shortly. We will then have it open for use, and have a grand opening with the County Parks Department when they have the Trail problems worked out.
Thanks for your interest!

When we had our Community Visioning Session this past fall, people in attendance voted on what they would like to see happen in our community. Commercial development, specifically a grocery store, and a youth center were the big vote getters. To follow up on this, an economic development task force was set up to promote and bring these visions to reality. But first we need to know if the community will support these visions. We want our visions to be a success, so a little homework needs to be done first. The economic development task force has put together a survey and would like each household in the city and township to fill it out. It will give us an idea; if for example, a grocery store will thrive in this community. And if this is the case, we can use this survey as a selling point when we go out and recruit a store for our community. So please, when you get this survey, fill it out, and let the task force know what you want.

Every year the Initiative Foundation honors the best in central Minnesota. This year Two Rivers Enterprises of Holdingford has received "The Best Enterprise Award." This is a great honor, and on behalf of the Holdingford Community I would like to congratulate the employees and management of Two Rivers Enterprises for this remarkable achievement. There will be an awards banquet at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud on April 7th, to honor Two Rivers Enterprises along with other award winners. Anyone wishing to attend this banquet please call the clerk's office before March 31 to RSVP. Tickets are $40.00 per person, and include dinner, music and awards ceremony.

We had another water main break on Park Street at the same location as last year. This time the bottom of a fire hydrant broke and had to be replaced. Of course it had to happen on the coldest day of the year. Mike took pictures of the break and repair, and has them posted on the city's web sight www.holdingfordmn.us click on Maintenance Dept. A big "Thank You" to Herman, Jerry and the crew, for repairing it in one day, under adverse conditions.

In the past I have signed the temporary on sight gambling permits for raffles and the like. By law I am not allowed to do this. Any organization that wants a permit must now come before the city council and get approval, NO EXCEPTIONS! Remember, the City Council meets the 2nd Monday of each month so please plan ahead.

The City and the County will have a joint Grand Opening of the Wobegon Trail going north, and the new Wobegon shelter, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. More details in the April Mayor's report.

I will be out of town Monday, March 27. Mike Odden will cover for me Monday night 6 to 8 pm. for anyone wishing to discuss city issues.

On behalf of the people of the Holdingford Community, I would like to thank the Holdingford American Legion for their donation of $2500 and the Sno-Flyers Snowmobile Club for their donation of $1500, toward the cost of materials for the Legion park shelter that was remodeled by the Lions club this past summer. The renovation could not have taken place with out the donation of time and money by these fine organizations. "Our charitable organizations are the best."

The new Wobegon park shelter/bathroom is basically completed. The rock masonry around the poles will be done this spring. If you haven't seen it yet, go and look it over, it's a beautiful building and a real asset to our community. It will be opened up shortly, and be open year round at set times, (yet to be established). The bathroom doors are set on a timer to lock and unlock automatically, to avoid being left open all night. The bathrooms are also heated with in floor heat, which is more efficient and less prone to vandalism.

The dedication of this shelter/bathroom will be in conjunction with the county's dedication of the Wobegon trail going north this spring. I will keep you informed of the date when it's been decided. This project was made possible by a $40,000 donation by the Sno-Flyers Club a few years ago, along with a matching grant of $40,000 from the DNR this past year. We owe both of these organizations a BIG THANK YOU for what they have done for our community, and recognize them at the dedication along with our shelter building committee members, Kim Ebnet, Louise Winkler, Rosemary Scepaniak, Mike Odden, Louie Walz and especially Tim Berscheid, who got the bids and used his expertise to supervise the construction.

Webmaster Mike Odden has put a community calendar on our city website, www.holdingfordmn.us . It's a great way to see what's going on in the community, such as meeting dates and times, organizational fundraisers, school events etc. Any individual or community organization can put items on the calendar by e-mailing or calling the city clerk at www.clerk@holdingfordmn.us or 746-2966 or by emailing Mike at www.mike.council@holdingfordmn.us.

The Commercial Club has set the date for Holdingford Daze as July 7th and 8th. The theme for this year is "ALOHA FROM PARADISE." Now would be a good time to find that grass skirt in the closet and get it spruced up, because it will be a good time. Anyone wanting information on parade and booth entries or joining activities schedule for those two days call Mary Stalberger at 746-2637 or Karen Solarz at 746-2566.

The Social and Welcome task force has put together a Garden Club. They are now meeting once a month to plan some great gardening projects for our community this summer. They are looking for more members, if you want to be a part of this fun and creative group please call or e-mail the city clerk's office. They would love to have you.

The Helping Hands Outreach to Elders Program has been awarded a Vista Volunteer position. They are now looking for someone in the community to fill it. The position comes with a small salary and limited medical insurance. Anyone interested should call Helping Hands at 746-9960 for a job description.

We have a new business in the community. A gentleman by the name John Kulla has purchased Ken's Repair. He is calling it 9 Seventeen Repair, because it's on the corner of County Roads 9 and 17. He does auto and light truck repair, as well as selling gas and used vehicles. Mr. Kulla has over 16 years' experience working on cars and light trucks in St. Cloud and Upsala. Please make John feel welcomed in the community, and support John and all our hometown businesses.

Our Healthy Community Task Forces are up and running. We could use more people on the Tourism task force. If you have ideas about how to make this community a destination point for tourism, please join the task force and share your ideas, contact Mike Odden at mike.council@holdingfordmn.us or call him at 746-2991. We are not turning anyone away from the other task forces either. If you want to join or just find out information about the other task forces please get in contact with the co-chairs of each. Comprehensive Planning; Ernie Schmit, 746-2603, mayor.eschmit@holdingfordmn.us or Mark Stai 746-2852. Economic Development; Joe Christenson 746-2619 or Karen Solarz 746-2566. Social and Gardening; Vicki Statz 746-2966, clerk@holdingfordmn.us or Louise Winkler 746-2904. These task forces are working on the dreams set forth at our visioning session. Any help or advice we can get to make these dreams a reality is greatly appreciated.

We are starting a new year and I would like to remind everyone in the community how important it is to be an informed citizen. We want a very open city government, our regular council meetings are the second Monday of every month, anyone and everyone is invited. The minutes of all our meetings are at the Post Office and in the rotunda at the City Center within a week of the regular meeting each month. They are also posted on our website www.holdingfordmn.us Our website also has a lot of other information about city government and the community along with links to area businesses. If you have questions or concerns please call me, or your council members, Mike Odden, Lloyd Rausch, Kim Ebnet, Dick Paggen, or the city clerks office. I am also in my office at the city center every Monday night from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (except holidays) for anyone who wishes to talk to me. People of Holdingford, this is your city; you have a right to know what is going on at all times in your city. We are trying our best to put all the information concerning this city out there. If you feel we are not doing our job in this respect, give us your input on how we can serve you better!

This is the year we plan on replacing city well number one. For those of you who don't know, well number one is the well behind the car wash. It's our oldest well, and has been in use a long time. It still meets state drinking water standards; the problem is this well does not meet the well head protection statutes set forth by the State Health Department. Basically that means because of its location it can be easily contaminated. In 2001 we had a fuel oil spill by this well which was cleaned up, but proves that this is not a good place for a well. We had the State Health Department Engineer here to help us choose a new well sight. We need to do some testing before a sight can be selected, we will keep you all informed as we progress on this project.

We have been getting some complaints of snowmobiles driving on private property. Please be considerate and stay out of private yards. One or two inconsiderate people always give everyone a bad rap.

We've also had reports of people pushing snow onto plowed streets. There is an ordinance against that mainly because it's very dangerous. A pile of snow that is left to freeze on a roadway can cause serious injury to anyone that hits it. Please don't push snow on the streets or alleys.