Month: October 2020

RiverView Health’s new hospital and clinic is now open!  The $51 million project has provided Crookston and the region with a state of the art healthcare facility that is unlike anything in a town of Crookston’s size.  RiverView Health CEO Carrie Michalski welcomes everyone and gives a preview of how to get to the new facility and more in the video below –

The Crookston School District, in an effort to remain open and transparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, has reported that an individual at Crookston High School has tested positive for COVID-19.  This is the second positive test result for somebody at the high school and because of health privacy rules, the district does not say if it is a student, teacher, or staff member. The official notice is below – 

This is a general notification to let you know that an individual at the high school has tested positive for COVID-19. Any close contacts have been contacted and Polk County Public Health has been notified.

The Cobblestone Hotel & Suites in Crookston received a Hotels.com Loved by Guests Award for 2020.  Manager Lisa Tadd said this was the first award the hotel has received since it opened six years ago, but they were also the highest-rated Cobblestone hotel in the country. “This is actually the first award that this location of Cobblestone has ever gotten,” said Tadd. “They’ve been open for six years. We got a guest satisfaction rating from our guests overall on the internet online surveys said we were friendly, helpful, and put us at an 8.6. The highest you can go is 10. Right now, nationwide for our company, the highest-ranking was, I believe, an 8.0. We beat that.”

Tadd said they have been short-staffed this year, but they focused on providing the best guest service possible. “Our little tiny Crookston hotel beat that, which was really a thrill and surprising for all of us because we’ve been running on a shadow crew staff this year because of COVID,” said Tadd. “It’s been really hard because of our restrictions on breakfast and stuff. Our little team, I think there are five of us this year that pulled this off. It’s pretty awesome because we have some pretty big hotels nationwide. My little team, we just rocked it and did the best we could with guest representation, guest service, and if they need something, we take it to them, those kinds of things.”

The rating means a lot to both the staff and local owners said, Tadd. “I know the investment group, the local owners of this hotel were pretty thrilled to see that,” said Tadd. “Especially this year because it’s been so hard on everybody, so they were pretty proud of us too. I’m going to have a pizza party for my team one of these days if we ever have time.”

Like many other businesses, COVID has caused things to change in the hotel industry. Tadd said she’d used her experience on the corporate level to help make changes while also steering guests to other Crookston amenities. “We’re interacting with a lot of companies, reaching out, trying different techniques this year,” said Tadd. “I, myself, come from the corporate office chain, so I’ve really taken a lot of ideas from my experience there for years for adjusting to COVID. We don’t have stuff from the university like we used to. We don’t have big groups for weddings and things like that this year. But we have actually maintained very well with supporting not only other local businesses but the other hotels too. We send people to their restaurants, or if they have amenities that we don’t, we gladly send them over there. I’ve had a lot of compliments on that, that my team has been supportive of the other hotels in the area. I think that helps. You get what you put out is my theory.”

Even missing many of their traditional bookings to COVID-19, Tadd said it appears they could outpace business from last year. “We’ve actually picked up,” said Tadd. “We’re probably going to beat our mark from last year at this time, which is really surprising. We’re thrilled about that.”

The candidates for the Crookston City Council Ward 5 seat are incumbent Joe Kresl and opponents Casey Anderson and Marc Palmer. We asked each candidate to introduce themselves and why they are running.

Q: Would you please tell us about yourself?

Joe: Most people around town know who I am. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m married to Jaime Kresl and have four kids. And I work at UMC for 25 years. I’m all for what’s best for Crookston.

Casey:   I’m Casey Anderson. I’ve lived in Crookston almost my whole life. I live in Ward 5. I have an adopted son and a rescue dog.

Marc: I was born and raised in Crookston all my life. I’m a union plaster. I worked for the Grand Theatre for 33 years off and on. I learned a lot of stuff there. That’s basically it.

Q: Why are you running?

Joe: I always wanted to be involved in city government to try to be a voice. I’ve ran a few other times – At-Large and Ward 5. I think it takes a lot for somebody to want to set up. I’m willing to do that and try to do the best for the ward and City of Crookston.

Casey: First and foremost, I am a social worker. I’m getting my master’s in social work in December. Giving back to the community and enacting change is one thing that is in my Code of Ethics as a social worker. I felt that this was a way I could do that effectively.

Marc: I don’t like some of the things the city is doing and the only way you can change it is if you run.

Q: Anything you would like to add?

Joe: Just get out and vote. That’s how you get your voice heard. My door is always open if I get elected. Feel free to talk to me any time you have problems or concerns, and I will dress them immediately. Thank you.

Casey: I really believe there is potential and room for growth in the City of Crookston. I think if we can make Crookston feel like home to people who are driving through, visiting, or people who live here. If it feels like home to them, they’ll keep coming back and they’ll invest in our community. I think that’s the best thing we can do.

Marc: That’s basically it. I’d just like the city to start working for the residents more.

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Amy Finch, Crookston’s new city administrator, just completed her first week on the job. Finch comes to Crookston from Ottawa, KS, where she worked as the City Clerk.

Finch said she had a good first week as she learns about Crookston. “Very good, very busy,” said Finch. “Been to some outside meetings, spent a lot of time meeting with staff. And then next week, scheduled to meet with each council member individually to hear what their individual priorities and hopes are for what we can accomplish going forward.”

According to Finch, the focus for the first weeks is getting caught up on what’s going on in Crookston. “I’ve spent this week trying to get caught up on ongoing issues,” said Finch. “Some of the economic development projects coming down, the mixed-use building, apartment complex. Just getting up to speed. I can’t say I’ve had a lot of time to dive into any one thing but spending this week trying to get informed, ask questions, read the documentation.”

On Wednesday, the Crookston Chamber held the Meet the Candidates Forum, and a frequent topic was the need for more communication and information from the city. Finch said that was something she talked about in her interview with the City Council in August. She’s already put some steps in place during her first week to improve the city’s communication with the community. “That’s something that I brought up even in my interview that’s important to me,” said Finch. “Good two-way, open, clear, communication. We’ve already kind of started that. We have implemented trying to get agendas prepped a little bit sooner, so we can get a preliminary list out to councilmembers for feedback. If they feel they need more information on something or an item isn’t quite ready for consideration, then staff can take that and make adjustments. On a broad level, we’ve discussed how we can get more information out to the public on our social media sites. How do we show the public what projects we’re working on? Are we repairing a street, ground-breaking, how are we getting that out? How do we utilize our staff? Website, we would like to get that up to date. We have training this afternoon to get more staff members with permissions to get their documents posted as soon as they’re approved so that access for citizens or any interested party is ready in a timely manner.”

Finch said she also toured RiverView this week and has spent time at Crookston High School, where her two sons have been enrolled. “One of the things that’s been the most fun for me is I just go to go on a tour of RiverView,” said Finch. “I was here for ribbon-cutting, and I was excited then, but I got to go in and tour the facility. That’s awesome. What a huge asset for the community. I’ve spent a little bit of time at the high school. Both of my sons are students – an 11th- and a 7th-grader. That’s been neat to meet the teachers. One thing I’ve learned that was exciting for our family was the college in high school options for my junior. He’s excited about that. We didn’t have anything exactly like that in Kansas, where we came from. Lots of new things to learn – new state, new schools, new options.”

Finch said she’ll be spending a lot of time in the community getting to know Crookston’s people, organizations, and businesses. “I’m excited to be here,” said Finch. “I’m going to spend time out in the community. That’s part of what my ongoing plan will be. Seeing different community partners, meeting individuals, getting acquainted with our business owners. I’m really excited about that. And I think with good teamwork, communication, and the right people in the right places we can do really, really great things here.”

PREVIOUS STORY ABOUT AMY FINCH

AMY FINCH
Amy Finch is currently the City Clerk for the City of Ottawa, Kansas.  “I have lived in Ottawa for most of my life,” said Finch. “I have three sons. One is an adult and lives on his own. One is going into his junior year of high school, and one is going into the seventh grade.”

Finch said she was attracted to Crookston because of the university, the outdoor recreation opportunities with the Red Lake River, and Crookston Public Schools. “I am one class away from finishing my master’s in Public Administration,” said Finch. “I have served six years with the City of Ottawa. Two as the assistant city clerk and four as city clerk. And feel like it is time to start taking my career to the next level. I was pretty picky about where I put applications in. Crookston attracted me because of the university in town, the river, and outdoor recreation activities, as well as the school and those offerings.”

Finch said she’s found Crookston charming, and enjoyed many of the stops on the city tour. “I think it’s charming,” said Finch. “I love the historic downtown. Ottawa also has a Carnegie Building, that was our library. It’s now our cultural arts building. The university was fantastic. We got to see some of the parks, the new housing development with the lake behind it, and I understand there will be a new RV park. I took a tour of the school today with the principal and superintendent, and I enjoyed that at the high school.”

The Crookston City Council will meet Monday, October 26 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.  All items for the evening are on the consent agenda.

The consent agenda includes approving the October 12 meeting minutes, approving bills and disbursements totaling $225,728.88, a resolution ratifying the sale of property in the Nature View Estates Plat 5 to the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority, and a resolution terminating Tax Increment Financing District 3-7.

The Ways & Means Committee meeting scheduled for Monday has been canceled.

The Crookston School Board will meet Monday, October 26 at 5 p.m. in the choir/orchestra room at Crookston High School (CHS). The main agenda will include changing 2W days from half days of school to full workshop days on the district calendar for the remainder of the school year and discussing the district’s learning model for COVID-19.

The consent agenda includes approving the September 28 meeting minutes, approval current bills, and accepting a donation from Ken Johnson for $1,000 for the Nature Center at Highland Elementary School (HES) and the Itasca trip. Also included are the following personnel items:

• Accept the resignation letter of Bill Gillette, instructional assistant at HES
• Approve employment with Linda Yeager as an instructional assistant at HES
• Approve employment with Madison Olson as a school readiness/VPK assistant at Washington Elementary School (WES)
• Approve employment with Joel Pyles as a technology support specialist for the district.

The board will also hear administrative reports from Superintendent Jeremy Olson, WES Principal Denice Oliver, HES Principal Chris Trostad, and CHS Principal Eric Bubna.

In the latest Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 numbers, Polk County reported 26 new positive tests, while the state reported 1,682 with 21 new deaths.  All the numbers and graphs are below – 

Updated October 25, 2020
Updated daily at 11 a.m., with data current as of 4 p.m. the previous day.

Data is for cases that were tested and returned positive. All data is preliminary and may change as cases are investigated. Many data points are collected during case interviews. Data presented below is for all cases, regardless of interview status. Data for cases pending interview may be listed as “unknown/missing.”

The COVID-19 case definition was recently updated to include antigen testing. Previously, cases were only reported through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Positive PCR test results are considered confirmed cases. Positive antigen test results are considered probable cases. Confirmed and probable cases are reported separately in the following areas:

• Newly reported cases
• Total approximate completed tests
• Total positive cases
• Total cases by county of residence

Death, hospitalization, demographic (age, gender, race), likely exposure, and residence type data combine PCR (confirmed) and antigen (probable) cases for an overall total.

All probable cases get the same public health follow up and recommendations as cases confirmed by PCR tests.

Other Statistics

• Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children (MIS-C) Statistics
• Minnesota COVID-19 Public Dashboard
• Minnesota’s COVID-19 Response and Preparation Capacity
• Dial Back Dashboard
• CDC: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Cases in the U.S.
• Minnesota COVID-19 Modeling

RiverView 2020 is open! That’s right, after years of dreaming and planning, RiverView Health’s hospital and clinic replacement project is officially open for business.

All RiverView Clinics are now in one place, with one main registration desk through the main doors on the new building’s east side at 323 South Minnesota Street. Patients should enter the campus off of Old Highway 75 and follow the signs to the main entrance on the building’s river side.

Patients with appointments for the Clinic, Diagnostic Imaging, Laboratory, and Surgery must check-in at the new facility’s main registration desk. A separate Emergency entrance is on the south side of the building and can be found by following the signs.

Due to COVID restrictions, patients with appointments at the Clinic, Diagnostic Imaging, Rehab Services,  and Lab need to call 281-9595 when they arrive in the parking lot to register for their appointment and wait in their vehicle until they are notified that they can come into the building.

The new gift shop and lobby café are not open at this time due to COVID-19 concerns.

RiverView 2020 is a $51 million project consisting of an 80,000 square foot, two-story building to replace RiverView’s current hospital and clinics. The building’s upper level consists of the Inpatient Unit with 18 universal patient rooms, three labor and delivery rooms, and four family suites. Every room has a private bathroom and a large floor plan to allow caregivers adequate space to provide patient care and room to ensure family and friends are comfortable. The ground level is home to all three of RiverView’s current Crookston clinics consolidated into one large clinic. The new clinic has 48 exam rooms, four procedure rooms, and four consultation rooms. The project also includes a lobby café, relocated gift shop, and an 80-occupant training and conference center.