Month: April 2023

Our pet of the week is featuring the sweet miss Simba. Simba was an owner surrender who arrived at Scruffy Tails a little over a week ago.

Now that she has had a little bit of time to settle into her new environment Simba has slowly been coming out of her shell. She is still a little shy when it comes to greeting new people, but if you give her a little bit of patience she will gladly accept some belly rubs and head scratches. To accompany her pets, she will serenade you with a soft and content purr. This precious lady is truly as sweet as they come and would love to find some people to share her snuggles with.

If you are interested in meeting the gem of a lady we are open from 3-6:30 pm Monday-Saturday! Simba would love to find her forever family that will give her all the chin scratches and belly rubs she deserves.

The Crookston School Board met Monday evening in the Crookston High School Choir/Orchestra room.

MULTI-USE ATHLETIC COMPLEX
The meeting started with good news from Shelby McQuay of Ehlers Public Finance Advisors.  The $4,965,000 in general obligation school building bonds had nine bids, with a low bid of 3.4262 percent from Fifth Third Securities Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio.   The estimated bond premium is $513,727, and the net available for the project will be $5,224,847. “During the election, we had estimated 4.7 percent interest, and it came in at 3.42 percent, so it came in at the tax impact,” said McQuay. “It will give the district a little more money for the construction fund through the premium bids the district received, so good news overall.”

At the end of the meeting, Superintendent Dave Kuehn gave an update on the multi-use complex bidding process.  He said they had had great news with the bids they have accepted.  He said the district had received the bids for the turf, press box, bleachers, and track, and they have come in on budget or a little lower through state bids.  The bids for the dirt work will go out Monday, May 8, and several local contractors have received the bid information.

SUPERINTENDENT’S LETTER TO THE DISTRICT RESIDENTS
Superintendent Dave Kuehn read the following before the open forum portion of the meeting –

The District’s highest priority is to ensure a safe and welcoming learning environment for all our students at all our school buildings. Recent events in our schools indicate that students struggle socially and emotionally, leading to many concerns about student behavior in our school community.  We share concerns about student behaviors and the overall safety of our schools with our families and staff.

We are committed to supporting every student by creating a sense of belonging in our school community.  Students who misbehave or jeopardize the safety of our schools will be and have been issued disciplinary consequences as outlined in our policies. In today’s society, handling personal conflicts and/or resolving issues seems to frequently resort to verbal and/or physical means of dealing with the conflict, hampering the ability for appropriate relationships amongst students.  Social media and cell phones are also strong barriers to resolving conflicts appropriately and respectfully.

Last Thursday, we had a behavior incident at our 7-12 building before the start of our school day.  There were less than 10 students involved in this incident, which included physical altercations and verbal altercations.

This incident lasted about 20 seconds – there were no injuries, limited physical contact, and no weapons involved.  ALL students involved in the altercation were disciplined based on school district policy, as well as ALL students received citations for violations of the law from the school district’s resource officer, who is an employee of the Crookston Police Department.  There was a parent of one of the students involved in the altercation who came into the high school office and created a verbal disturbance – she was dealt with appropriately, receiving consequences from both the school district and law enforcement.

To this date (150 days into our school year), we have had 12 physical altercations take place in our 7-12 building, which is 12 too many. Approximately 18 students have been involved in these 12 altercations, which is about 3% of our 7-12 student population.  In each of these incidents/altercations, student discipline has taken place based on our district policy and the 7-12 student handbook, and our school resource officer has administered legal citations/consequences.  Based on student data privacy laws, we as a school district are not allowed to share details of the discipline and legal consequences that were delivered.

I will end by saying that we are working hard on addressing behavior issues at our 7-12 building, and we still have A LOT of work to do on this front.  The priority of keeping students safe and providing a welcoming environment for all of our students also goes with our responsibility to provide an equitable education to all of our students and also the responsibility that we are helping students and not giving up on them.  We want all of our students to be successful learners and become productive citizens.
We will seek family and community engagement to determine the next steps for the Crookston Public Schools as we focus on safety and continuous improvement.  Together, we believe that we can make Crookston Public Schools the best place for students to learn and grow.

OPEN FORUM –
Two Crookston School District residents spoke during the public forum portion of the meeting.  The first speaker was Adam Schiller, and he was concerned about the fight at the school last week and asked if the school was looking at adding metal detectors or more security because this fight was fists and words, but next time it could be a gun. The board thanked him for his thoughts.
The second speaker was Cole Perry, and he had two bathroom-related concerns.  The first was vaping in the bathroom, and said they need to do something about it because his daughter is scared to go in the girl’s bathroom because of all the vaping.   The second concern was that his daughter was in the girls bathroom, and “a guy that thinks he is a girl” goes into the girl’s bathroom. Perry’s daughter is scared to use the bathroom when a boy comes in and asks if there are any private bathrooms in the high school.  The school board and Superintendent Dave Kuehn thanked him for his concerns and said they would be in tough with him to discuss the issue.

INCLUSIVE PLAYGROUNDS
There were two feature programs in the meeting.   The first program was Caitlyn Michno, Lance Norman, and Maddie Englestad of RiverView Health, giving a presentation on inclusive playgrounds.  Michno said the Crookston School District has over 1,100 students, and 324 are IEP students, which means they have some special needs. “We had a project proposal for an Inclusive Playground at Highland Elementary.  We approached Principal Chris Trostad earlier this year trying to bring this type of playground to Highland School, and he said they were looking at replacing their current playground,” said Michno. “This would allow all of the kids in our community an equal opportunity to play.”

The estimated cost is $500,000 to $600,000, and Highland Principal Trostad said several grants are out there to help with the project. “If we get approval, we will start fundraising soon,” said Michno. “We will be looking for a lot of volunteers and donation opportunities, and any involvement we can get from the community of Crookston would be great.”

ALLUMA IN THE CROOKSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
The second program was Shauna Reitmeier and Amy Bartz of Alluma on mental health support in the Crookston Public Schools.  Alluma has a total of seven employees in the three schools in the district.  Three at the high school, three employees at Highland School, and a part-time employee at Washington School.   Alluma has the following number of students that are clients at each school – 93 at the high school, 98 at Highland School, and 24 at Washington School. “We talked about the risk factors around mental health, the protective factors, and our long-standing relationship with the school district.  We have been in the district for about 15 years, and Amy shared the staff that we have co-located in the district,” said Reitmeier. “We also talked about opportunities to try to solve some of the issues that are not a one-person solution.”
The seven employees that work with the school district have a combined salary of $428,690, with the school district paying Aluma $60,000. “There is seven staff, but 6.1 full-time equivalent in the district, and one of our strengths is maximizing all the funding opportunities to serve as many kids, and we won’t continue to provide that.”

READING TRAINING PURCHASE
The board approved to purchase of LETRS Training from Lexia. The 140-hour training is for teachers and staff over two years to help teach reading.  Washington School Principal Denice Oliver said the districts that have used the LETRS training had shown big jumps in reading scores.   

SCHOOL CALENDAR CHANGE –
The board approved a change to the school calendar.  With the sixth snow day of the school year, it surpassed the five storm days built in, and that won’t affect the students as they will still have the last day of school on Thursday, June 1.  Teachers and staff will have a staff development day on June 2 and an option to have a staff development day on June 3 or 5 to make up the sixth snow day.

SCHOOL BUS STOP ARM GRANT
The Crookston School District received a $38,000 grant to purchase school bus stop arm cameras. “It will provide a front-mounted camera on the front mirror and the back of the bus,” said Kuehn. “A camera will record anybody that drives by when the stop arm is out on a bus, and the camera will pick up the car’s license plate.”

CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda includes the approval of bills for $339,573.25.  It consists of the resignation letter from Anna Ogaard-Brekken as Food Services Director and the retirement of Payroll/Financial Services Director Nancy Nottestad after almost 40 years of working in the district.
The board will be asked to approve the employment of Adrianne Winger as the K-12 music teacher.  The board will be asked to accept several donations including $720 from the City of Crookston for the Girls Hockey program, $500 from the Farmer’s Elevator Company of Eldred for the FFA program, $2,200 from the Crookston Baseball Association to the High School baseball program, $2,100 from the United Way for student transportation, $3,000 from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council for Highland School, $800 from the Pirate Fine Arts Boosters for the Speech program, $842 from Andy and Lisa Coauette to Pirate Athletics, and $842 from Brian and Melissa Boll to Pirate Athletics.
The board will also accept a $2,500 grant from the United Way of Crookston for the Eat United Program and $1,000 from the Crookston United Way for the P.A.T.C.H program.

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The Crookston City Council met on Monday night inside the City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting began with new Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Janelle Wald briefly introducing herself to the council. Wald told the council she is excited to get to work and believes her previous stops as director for the Northwest Private Industry Council Workforce Development Board in Northwest Minnesota among others will serve her well in this role.

CONSENT AGENDA

The consent agenda included the approval of the meeting minutes from the April 10 meeting, a resolution approving city bills and disbursements in the amount of $443,268.34, a resolution approving 2023 license renewals, a resolution to approve a donation received from the United Way of Crookston in the amount of $1,500 for the Crookston Parks & Recreation Department, and a resolution to consider approving Election Judges for the 2023 special elections. The board approved all consent agenda items unanimously.

There was then a public hearing held for proposed changes to the Crookston Water Department fee schedule. This will only affect the Corrections Center in Crookston and they will be charged an extra $400 per month from the city for the use of a grinder. No one came forward with questions or comments so Mayor Dale Stainbrook then closed the public hearing.

MAIN AGENDA

The main agenda began with three resolutions that tied together regarding the Crookston Municipal Airport. The first resolution was regarding a grant application with respect to an Airport Improvement Project, the second resolution was regarding a grant application with respect to the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) at the Crookston Municipal Airport, and the third resolution was approving Short Elliot Hendrickson (SEH) to conduct a study for the site selection of the new AWOS equipment at the airport. “The first resolution is simply a grant application that the city needs to submit regarding an airport improvement project. The plan is to construct a new T-Hangar and pavement for some runway,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “We need to have someone do this for us, but this resolution was simply for the submission of the grant application. The second resolution was another grant application to fund new AWOS equipment at the airport. The current AWOS equipment is outdated and in a location that no longer fits the criteria. Therefore, the third resolution was to then approve SEH to conduct a site selection planning and environmental review at the airport to select the best spot for the new equipment to go. In summary, we are employing SEH to do this work for us by submitting the applications, and then seeking grant money to help pay for the project and design process.”

The board approved all three resolutions unanimously.

The next resolution was for establishing procedures relating to compliance with reimbursement bond regulations under the Internal Revenue Code. The city is working with Ehlers financial group who has advised them to pass this resolution, and by doing so, the city will now have the option to bond finances moving forward. This does not mean the city will bond and seek repayment for projects, etc…., it just means they now have the option to do so. The council approved the resolution unanimously.

After that, the council passed a resolution regarding the adoption of the Polk County All Hazard Mitigation Plan. “The county has a mitigation plan in place. Jurisdictions within a county need to be a part of the county plan if they want to seek federal dollars,” said Reynolds. “So, we did adopt this policy so that if there is for instance a chemical spill, a railroad derailment with oil, a high water event, we would be able to submit our documentation to then receive federal funding to help mitigate it.”

The last item on the agenda was a resolution regarding the purchase of an investigation vehicle for the Crookston Police Department. The vehicle being discussed was obtained by the police department due to a DWI forfeiture. “Per Minnesota Statute, if we obtain a DWI forfeiture vehicle through an administration process, we then have the choice to sell it or to keep it for official use,” said Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler. “However, with either of the options we need to pay off the lien which in this situation is a bank. So, we will pay them off at approximately $12,500 for a vehicle that is roughly worth $23,000, making this a very advantageous situation for the city and police department.”

The vehicle will be used for official use within the department, and the council approved the resolution unanimously.

REPORTS

During reports, Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler noted they will be filling their final opening sometime next month with the hiring of a new officer. Crookston Fire Department Chief Shane Heldstab however did not have good news to report, as he told the council that they offered their firefighter opening to a candidate who turned the position down. The fire department will begin the process to find another candidate. Chief Heldstab did have some good news in stating the river levels are below the action stage of 12 feet, meaning the city should be in clear for flood concerns. Lastly, Crookston Parks & Recreation Department Director Jake Solberg informed the council that Recreation Supervisor Cody Brekken has turned in his notice with his final day being on May 4. Brekken has accepted a full time position with the National Guard. With him leaving, the department has begun advertising for the open position and are in the beginning stages of the process.

The next meeting will take place on Monday, May 8.

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The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced beginning May 1, the Oak Lake rest area east of Erskine will be under construction. There will not be any impacts to motorists on Highway 2. There will be a temporary closure of the plaza, including the restrooms, in late June.

The contractor for this $2.29 million dollar project is KGM Contractors Inc.. This project will create improved pedestrian accessibility and a longer-lasting driving surface. It is estimated to be complete by mid-August, weather permitting. Visit the project website below for more information www.mndot.gov/d2/projects/hwy2-oaklake.

Important reminders for motorists regarding work zone safety:

• Slow down when approaching every work zone, then navigate through with care and caution.
• Stay alert; work zones constantly change.
• Watch for workers and slow-moving equipment.
• Obey posted speed limits. Fine for a violation in a work zone is $300.
• Minimize distractions behind the wheel.
• Be patient; expect delays, especially during peak travel times.