Month: June 2022

The Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston reported the following arrests.

Blaine Elliot Gourneau, 41, no address provided, for Domestic Assault

Whitney Paige Anderson, 27, of Crookston, for DUI

The post ARREST/FIRE REPORT- JUNE 28, 2022 appeared first on KROX.

The Crookston City Council met on Monday night in the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers in the lower level of Crookston City Hall.

CHEDA SPECIAL MEETING

Before the meeting began, the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met for a Special Meeting inside the City Hall Council Chambers.

After the Call to Order, the Board began the approval of the payables. The first item was the end-of-month payroll and bills for June 30 for a total of $23,149.04, and the disbursement for their Section 8 Rental Assistance for July 1, for $63,556.58. The Board approved all payments unanimously.

The next CHEDA meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 12, at noon at the Valley Technology Park.

CONSENT AGENDA

After the Call to Order for the meeting, the Council’s Consent Agenda consisted of them approving the City Council Minutes from their meeting on June 13 and the approval of the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $280,391.40. The Council approved all motions unanimously.

REGULAR AGENDA

The Council’s Regular Agenda included a Resolution to approve two Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program Mortgage Satisfactions to Willard and Linda Nephew, who had entered into a Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program Deferred Loan Repayment Agreement and Mortgage back in November of 2008. The first agreement was where the City had loaned them $12,052.14 for the rehabilitation of their property, and if they maintained the property and stayed in it without transferring it for over five years, the mortgage loan would be satisfied. The second agreement had them pay back the loan of $12,052.14 with interest to satisfy the mortgage loan, which they had done. Corky noted that while they could have done this back in 2013 at the end of the five years, but all of the loans were being handled by the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing back in the early 2010s, so now the procedure is for the Council to wait for a request by the person who has the loan, “One of the things is that the City would have to have tracked all of those types of loans, and the City had a number of them, in excess of twenty,” Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds explained. “Also, at the time, those loans were being handled by the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing, so we only become aware of them when the person who had the loan and has satisfied the conditions contacts us, the City, which was now done by the Nephews,” he added.

The Regular Agenda also included a resolution to amend the State of Minnesota Grant Contract with respects to improving sites along the Red Lake River Corridor, including Central Park. The amendments included extending the grant’s competition date due to the COVID-19 pandemic to June 30, 2024, and changing the City’s Fiduciary from Shannon Stassen to “Corky” Reynolds, as he now occupies the position she had at the time of the original grant. Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg approached the Board to explain the Campground in the park had opened today, and they had done some maintenance and cleaning on the bathhouse and had an inspection of the park done on Friday, June 24. The Council also heard from Finance Director Ryan Lindtwed, who reported on the plan to make the bathhouse a storm shelter as the City now had access to more legacy dollars, but they would first need to amend the grant with Reynolds as the new Fiduciary. He also explained they are getting two park rangers to help monitor the park.

The final items on the Regular Agenda included a resolution to approve a Dance License/Permit for the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership Event on Tuesday, June 28, in the Wayne Hotel Parking Lot and to approve the dispensing of intoxicating liquor on the premises as well. Reynolds reported that the event would have a music group and a food truck during the hours of 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Council approved all motions unanimously.

REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION

The Council then heard from Reynolds, who reported that many Food Trucks were coming to the City, with five coming very soon and more coming over in the near future. He reported that they have been working well with the ordinance and will bring forward a revision to it by the next meeting on July 11. He also reported that there currently is no update on the City Administrator search.

The Council then heard from Chad Palm of the IT Department that the City has a permanent URL for the City’s YouTube channel, that there was new training for the City’s Website Committee, and that they are running a new advertisement for the open IT Technician position.

The Council then heard from Tim Frober, who explained that he and other firefighters had gone up and down the river to survey any more damages up the river and would discuss some solutions for heavily damaged areas with Interim Administrator Reynolds.

Public Works Director Brandon Carlson reported that the Sweep Crew had begun the construction work on the sidewalk in downtown Crookston and had removed the trees so far and will begin removing half of the brickwork tomorrow. He reported that he had received many requests of trees that wanted to be cut down or trimmed but revealed that he could not due to many of the trees being diseased, and during the summer, there are more insects, and they can transfer the diseases to healthy trees when they are felled. So, he reported that they are taking inventory of what trees they’ll cut down or trim in the fall or winter. The Council had asked him about a smell that was hanging over the City as they had received many questions and complaints about it but were not sure what was causing it. Carlson explained that it was due to the excess wastewater coming from American Crystal due to the high-water events that happened over the spring. “Because of the high-water event this spring, our ponds were unable to handle some of Crystal’s water because our pond levels were too high,” Interim Administrator Reynolds explained. “So, we couldn’t take some of their discharge, so they have retained a critical amount of water, and they’re having to deal with that and dealing with it as best as they can, working with our Public Works Director Brandon Carlson,” he added. Carlson reported that they have begun working with American Crystal to try and clear the water and predicts that the process should be completed by the end of the summer but says that the odor should not last during the entire process.

Darin Selzler reported that they had responded to over 300 service calls in the last two weeks and that State College enrollment has increased over the year, which could help with recruitment.

WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE

Soon after the conclusion of the City Council meeting, the Ways & Means Committee met briefly to discuss the preliminary budget for the Parks & Recreations for 2023.

Ryan Lindtwed first explained to the Board that Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg had dropped their Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) from $121,000 to $91,000 to try and get funding to make improvements to different parts of the community like the parks and arenas, including lighting out on the tennis courts, financing of the hut and bathrooms at the Ray Eckland Complex, and adding pictures by the playground in the main rink and small tables around the rinks in the Crookston Sports Center. Solberg then mentioned that he was currently speaking with other communities to raise the revenues for each of the sports by $25 to help them cover their costs and expenses. “We’ll go through and talk with other communities and see where they’re at and bring back a proposal to the Council here,” Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg explained. “So if you add $25 to baseball, for example, this year it’s $100, next year it’s $125 to add fees to cover costs and expenses,” he added.

Solberg then reported that Club Kid had about 62 children participating in it, which was an increase from last year’s 57 children, and explained that he wanted some funds to purchase updated equipment. Such as new helmets for baseball and softball and new cones, pucks, and nets for hockey for some of the events the children would take part in.

The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, July 11, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.

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The Crookston School Board met on Monday night inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room. The meeting began with the board approving all the Consent Agenda Items unanimously.

CONSENT AGENDA

The Consent Agenda included accepting resignation letters from Crookston High School Spanish Instructor Tayler Christenson, Highland Elementary School Paraprofessional Kylie Brekke, Crookston High School Success Coach Nathan Sorenson, Washington Elementary School Head Custodian Ronny Ostgard, Crookston Head Baseball Coach Scott Butt, Crookston Assistant Basketball Coach Collin Cunningham, and Highland Elementary School Teacher Tina Leach. The Consent Agenda also included approving employment agreements with Kris MacGregor as an Elementary School Counselor, Kelli Moore as an Elementary Physical Education Instructor, and Katie Scott as a Preschool Teacher. The last items on the Consent Agenda were the approval of the Administrative Assistant Master Agreement for the next three school years and a Leave Of Absence request from Jennifer Knutson for the 2022-2023 school year.

MAIN AGENDA

The Main Agenda featured the approval of many items for the 2022-2023 school year. One of the items was Breakfast & Lunch price increases for the upcoming year. The price increases for Breakfast and Lunch will only be going up slightly due to federal law. “These are all minimal increases because we have to comply with the federal government as far as charging goes,” said Crookston Public Schools Superintendent Jeremy Olson. “So, we will only be doing the minimum five-cent increase for breakfast and ten-cent increase for lunch. The reason we are doing this option is that it complies with the federal government, and we know it could be tough on families. So, we don’t want to do more than we have to.”

The board approved the price increases. Superintendent Olson also noted every year he has been a Superintendent, he remembers the minimum cost set by the federal government going up. Another key item on the Main Agenda was the approval of the Preliminary Budget for the 2022-2023 school year, which according to Business Manager Laura Lyczewski, is very similar to past years. “It is very similar to past years. It will be a red budget which isn’t something we look forward to, but it is,” said Lyczewski. “We are buying a couple of school buses and a suburban for this year which does take a draw on our general fund. I’ve increased costs for utilities which we’re all seeing. Our food service department is going to go up, and the cost of diesel is obviously up as well so those are the big-ticket items in the budget for this upcoming year that are going to cost more.”

The board approved the preliminary budget. The Main Agenda also included approving Dave Kuehn as the School District Identified Official with Authority for the Minnesota Department of Education, approving Bread & Milk Renewals for the upcoming school year, and approving the Local Literacy Plan for the 2022-2023 school year. The board approved all of those items as well.

The meeting was also the last school board meeting for Olson who said his goodbyes to the School Board and the community. “I’d like to thank the community of Crookston as they have been great to work with,” said Superintendent Olson. “I would continue to ask that the community supports the School District as it is a great School District. So many individual people I can’t even start to thank cause there is so many, but I am very grateful for my time in Crookston and I’m excited to see Dave (Kuehn) lead the district as he is a fantastic leader and I know he will do a great job. Lastly, I would end by saying Go Pirates!”

The next school board meeting will take place on Monday, July 25, at 5:00 p.m. inside the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.

The post CROOKSTON SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES 2022-2023 PRELIMINARY BUDGET AND BREAKFAST/LUNCH PRICE INCREASES appeared first on KROX.

The Fertile Public Library has teamed up with the Agassiz Environmental Learning Center to offer a Story Stroll this summer! Enjoy “Hey Water!” by Antoinette Portis while exploring the prairie area at the AELC from July 1 to 17. 

The trails will be marked. The Agassiz Environmental Learning Center is dedicated to providing high-quality environmental education programs and premier recreation experiences utilizing the diverse and unique ecosystems of the scenic Fertile Sand Hills. This great family activity is offered free of charge.

The post FERTILE PUBLIC LIBRARY INSTALLS NEW STORY STROLL FEATURING “HEY WATER!” appeared first on KROX.

Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District Representative Michelle Fischbach will have a public appearance in the back room of RBJ’s Restuarant for a campingning event on Tuesday, June 28, at noon. The meeting is open to the public.

The post MINNESOTA REPRESENTATIVE MICHELLE FISCHBACH TO VISIT CROOKSTON ON TUESDAY appeared first on KROX.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause food insecurity, especially for children who aren’t getting meals at school or childcare centers, families with children age five and younger will soon get a little more help putting healthy meals on their tables.

Beginning in late June, the Minnesota Department of Human Services will begin issuing Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) food benefits of $30 per month per child to about 90,000 children for every month they were eligible for P-EBT from September to December 2021. The department will issue a second P-EBT for five and Younger benefit payment with a dollar amount yet to be determined later this summer for each month children were eligible from January to May 2022.

To qualify, children must have been five and younger on Sept. 1, 2021, and enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), or Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in any month from September 2021 to May 2022.

“We all know the strong link between nutritious eating and overall well-being and nutrition and academic achievement,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead. “Providing financial support to families facing food insecurities is an investment in our children, our economy, and our future.”

The department will send a text or email to families if they qualify for P-EBT for five and Younger benefits and issue them directly to families with existing Minnesota EBT cards. Families with more than one child five and younger will receive benefits for each eligible child. Parents do not need to take any action for their children to receive the P-EBT 5 and Younger benefit.

School-based benefits still available

Some children who are age five and younger may qualify for a school-based benefit if they are enrolled in an approved Pre-K program and approved to receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program or are eligible for SNAP, MFIP, or Tribal TANF. Eligible children will receive school-based benefits or P-EBT for five and Younger benefits each month they are eligible, but not both. Approved Pre-K programs include Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten and School Readiness programs.

“Meals are critical for our children’s health and well-being and provide them with the nutrition they need to learn and grow,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Heather Mueller. “I’m grateful the P-EBT program will continue to ensure our youngest Minnesotans have access to the meals they need.”

Since the start of the pandemic, the department has also issued P-EBT food benefits to children in grades K-12 who were out of school for reasons related to COVID and are not receiving free or reduced-price school meals as they normally would when they attended school.

With these P-EBT for five and Younger benefits, Minnesota will have issued an estimated $210 million in P-EBT benefits to families with children for the 2021-2022 school year.

More information a phone call away

For answers to questions, families can get assistance in multiple languages by completing the P-EBT Help Form or by calling the P-EBT Call Center at 651-431-4608 or 833-454-0153 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Families can also visit https://mn.gov/dhs/p-ebt/five-and-younger/ for additional information.

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