Mayor’s Report For December 2009
The Holdingford American Legion has graciously donated five comfortable executive chairs to the City of Holdingford to be used by members of the City Council during council meetings. For many years the council had been using uncomfortable old worn out second hand chairs. These new chairs are a very nice upgrade; on behalf of the City Council and myself I would like to thank the Holdingford American Legion for this wonderful donation!
The City of Holdingford has been granted permission by Stearns County Housing and Redevelopment Authority to use reimbursed home rehab funds from ten years ago to purchase and demolish the old grocery and hardware stores on Main Street. We have at present obtained signed purchase agreements for both buildings. Pending the outcome of an environmental study, we will have the purchase completed by the end of the year. The goal is to demolish and remove these two buildings this spring or summer. We have not received any offers to buy the vacated lots and put up another building at this time. But we feel that if the City does not take the initiative to remove these buildings no one will, and these buildings will be an eyesore in our downtown area for many years to come. It will be much easier to bring new businesses to our down town if we have clean lots available. Even if we cannot get a new business in town, a parking lot will be more eye appealing than those two old buildings.
The maintenance department is in the process of making an ice skating rink in the parking area of Veterans Park. It should be ready to go in a few more days. It’s been a few years since we’ve had an ice rink, hopefully a lot of people still have their ice skates. Everyone please spread the word, so all the skaters out there know about it.
A reminder to all you dog owners within the City of Holdingford, you must purchase your dog licenses by December 31 to avoid a penalty. The dog licenses you purchase this year will be good for two years, thus saving the hassle of buying a license next year. Also remember to bring proof of rabies vaccination when you come to purchase your dog license.
Garbage recycling will be moved up a day to December 24, instead of the 25th.
The city clerk’s office will be closed from Tuesday, Dec. 22 through Monday, Dec. 28. Phone messages will be answered. Those wanting dog tags call Kathy at 293-6687. She will help you with them; otherwise, put the rabies vac. paper and fee in the water bill drop box and the tag will be mailed to you.
On behalf of the Council and Staff for the City of Holdingford, I would like to wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year!
Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For November 2009
Great News! The City of Holdingford has been notified that it will be eligible for home rehab dollars in 2010. This Home rehab is open to all residents in the City of Holdingford who meet income guidelines established by the State. There will be an informational meeting at the City Center Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m. Please come down if you are interested in having your home rehabbed. Some of the things that qualify are: siding, roofing, electrical, furnace replacement, landscaping (if sloped wrong for water runoff). Income guidelines and all other information concerning State funded home rehab will be discussed at the meeting.
On behalf of the Holdingford Community, I would like to thank the Garden Club and Michelle Kiley for all the fall decorations put up around town and in the parks these past few weeks, (actually the Garden Club has been doing a great job all summer) It’s great to see people take such pride in their community! Also please note, the Garden Club will be having their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the triangular garden across from the funeral home, Friday night, November, 27th, (the day after Thanksgiving) at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to come and help kick off the Holiday season and enjoy hot cider and chocolate, cookies and the awesome lights the Garden Club worked so hard to put up.
The dirt and culvert work is now completed on River Street, east of St. Hedwig’s cemetery. This should take care of the flooding problems we’ve been having in that part of the City.
As of November 1, the Albany Medical Center will no longer operate a clinic in Holdingford. They cited that the low number of people using the clinic did not justify the cost of operation. Hopefully when the economy gets better, they or another medical organization will restart a clinic in Holdingford again. We need a medical clinic in town, and we need to support it.
In the October Mayor’s report I mentioned the problem of tree limbs hanging over the streets causing safety issues for street sweeping and snowplowing and asked homeowners to take care of trimming their tree limbs so they don’t hang over the street. The council has decided it would also be a safety hazard for home owners to be standing on ladders in the middle of the street trimming trees. So the City will hire a professional to take care of this problem and will pay for it out of our street budget. Please don’t stand on a ladder in the street.
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For October 2009
I would like to start out by thanking people and organizations that I did not have room to thank in last months’ report.
The Community Family Picnic in the park we had in September was fantastic, the weather was great, the music entertaining, the food delicious, the demonstrations by the various organizations very informative and a good time appeared to be had by all. On behalf of the greater Holdingford Community, I would like to thank the Lions, Lionesses, Garden Club, Commercial Club, Helping Hands, Fire Department, Historical Society, Dairy Princesses, Holdingford Sportsmen’s Club, St. Wendal Sportsmen’s Club and anyone else I hope I didn’t miss, for putting on this fun picnic, Thank You!
I hope everyone has noticed the new wooden train set in Wobegon Park alongside the trail. This train was the product of many nights of planning and building by a group of people who wanted to do something for the children of the community. The completed train was first put on a float during the Holdingford Daze parade to coincide with the theme of this year’s parade “Riding the rail to Holdingford.” It has been installed in Wobegon Park so children now and in the future can play on it. On behalf of the whole community I would like to thank everyone involved with this project, it’s something to be proud of Thank You!
A very good book has been written about the history and architecture of area churches. The author of this book will be at the next Holdingford Area Historical Society meeting, November 2, at 7 p.m. in the City Center. Anyone and everyone is invited to come and hear him speak about his research for this book. He will also have a book signing afterwards. I might even spring for some cookies, please come.
The Holdingford Area Garden Club does such a wonderful job of beatifying our community. The City is constantly getting comments on how beautiful the flower gardens in the City are. I know a lot of you folks wish you could join the club and help out and learn the secrets of building beautiful flower gardens from the masters. Well, you are in luck! The Garden Club is now accepting new members. Any City, Township, man, woman or child, who wants to join, should please come to the clubs’ next meeting which will be on Thursday, November 5, at 6:45 p.m. at the City Center. You will be glad you did!
Several residents in the City of Holdingford, (me included) have tree branches hanging over streets and sidewalks. When maintenance sweeps streets or plows snow on streets and sidewalks, branches are hitting the trucks, scraping off paint, causing mirror damage, and possibly putting a limb through a wind shield. We would like everyone who has branches hanging over the streets and sidewalks please trim them a minimum of 15 feet up from the street and 8 feet up from the sidewalk so equipment can pass under without causing damage to equipment or injuring our operators. This is a safety issue that homeowners need to take care. If not the City will have to hire someone to do it and bill the homeowner. Please let’s do our part and get those trees trimmed as soon as possible.
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For September 2009
The City Council for the City of Holdingford has approved the preliminary budget for 2010, and again we have kept the tax levy the same as it’s been since 2003. The budget for 2010 is approximately the same as 2009 with some exceptions; the final bond payment for the City Center will be made this year leaving us more money to improve city infrastructure in 2010. We will be receiving extra income from the Water Tower antennas and Local Government Aid (depending on the Governor and Legislature). Extra expenses we will have next year include, election expenses (2010 is an election year), we will also increase the hours for the City Clerk. We are projecting water and sewer revenue to be down next year because it’s going to be approximately $20,000 short of expectations this year. The final budget approval will be at the December 14, Council meeting; anyone wishing to comment should appear at that time. Copies of the 2010 budget can be picked up at the City Center during regular business hours.
We have been notified that because of licensing problems, the River Birch Assisted Living facility has been closed. All residents had to leave by September 15. Jeff Fromm, the director of Helping Hands is actively trying to find out if this is a temporary or permanent closure. This would be a blow to our community if River Birch did not open again. Our elderly are a huge asset to this community, we want to keep them here, not send them off to other cities. Also we don’t need another empty building in town. Hopefully this can all be worked out; we need facilities in our own community to provide for America’s aging population.
The City has spent $46,900 to purchase a good used snowplow truck. It’s a 2001 Freightliner dump truck equipped with front and side plows, and a sander attachment. The expectation is for this truck to last us a minimum of 15 years. Our old truck was purchased used in 1994 and it gave us good service for 15 years. The running gear in it is still good but the frame and box have been eaten away by the salt to the point that it won’t pass D.O.T annual inspection. We will be putting it up for sale as soon as we find out what it’s worth, and if we can legally sell it without putting it out for bids.
We are having flooding issues on both sides of River Street by St. Hedwig’s cemetery. The problem is the culverts under the west side cemetery driveway are not doing their job and the ground on the east side of the cemetery has filled in the culvert that goes under River Street. Shortly we will be replacing the two culverts under the driveway and landscaping the ground around them to get better drainage to the west. After the crops are off the nearby fields, we will push dirt back away from the north and south culvert on the east side of the cemetery, add extensions to this culvert on both sides of the road and landscape by this culvert on both sides of the road to get better drainage to the north.
I would like to thank volunteers, Gary and Audrey Lange, Gordon Sjaaheim, and Gary Zapzalka, for giving up their Saturday morning to help with the Stearns County Hazard waste pick up. I understand a substantial amount of Hazardous waste was collected. A big Thank You to our volunteers, and an even Bigger Thank You to all the Citizens who brought in their waste to be recycled, it shows you care about our community’s environment!
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For August 2009
The annual Holdingford Area Picnic in the Park will be held Sunday September 13, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Veteran’s Park. Like last year, everyone living in the Holdingford School District is invited. Come and join us for free food, musical entertainment, and fun. The Holdingford Lions Club along with other area organizations put this picnic on every year not as a fund raiser, but as a way of getting the community together. So please come, and join your friends and neighbors for a good old fashioned picnic.
The City of Holdingford has started a compost site by the Waste Water Treatment Plant. City residents can bring their leaves, grass clippings and brush there for composting. Maintenance has signs set up as to what compost goes where. Also a wood chipper is brought in to chip the brush from time to time and the wood chips are available to anyone in the city who wants them, just help yourself. Compost will also be available next spring to anybody in the city who wants it. Since the taxpayers in the City of Holdingford are paying for this, we can only allow people living in the city limits to use our compost site, sorry. I should also mention this is a self policing program, if people start to abuse this program, such as not putting compost in designated areas, or dumping garbage, tires or old appliances and furniture we will need to shut it down.
We will be submitting a home rehab grant application this month and it looks very promising. So far we have 22 people on the list who have indicated to us that they want to be part of the program. If anyone else is interested please call the City Center at 746-2966. We will know by early spring if Holdingford has been accepted into the program.
There will be a motorcycle fundraising rally benefiting Holdingford Helping Hands Outreach To Elders program coming through Saturday, September 12. We are expecting anywhere from 50 to 200 motorcycles stopping on Main Street that day. This is a fundraising effort being put on by employees of Cold Spring Granite, with all funds going to Helping Hands. If you see these motorcycle riders please thank them for their contribution to our community!
Remember, County Hazardous Waste pickup at St. Mary’s parking lot on Saturday, August 29 from 9 to 1. They only come to Holdingford every two years so please take advantage of this service. It’s a good time to bring waste that cannot be put in normal garbage.
ACCEPTED WASTE PRODUCTS: paints, solvents, fluorescent bulbs, cleaners, garden chemicals poisons, mothballs, mercury, auto chemicals, roofing tar, fuels, sealers, adhesives, pool chemicals, photo chemicals.
PRODUCTS NOT ACCEPTED: tires, used motor oil, explosives, electronics, antifreeze, household garbage, appliances, unknown chemicals, furniture. ALSO, pharmaceuticals and medical waste CANNOT be accepted.
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For July 2009
Another Holdingford Daze has come and gone, and what a good time it was. It just seems to get better and better every year. The weather was perfect and every event from Friday night thru Saturday night was very well attended. A car show was added to the list of events on Friday night. We were expecting 25 to 30 cars and trucks, but ended up with more than 140. And judging by the size of the crowd looking at these vehicles, I would have to say this event was a success and we definitely will have to do it again next year.
The Cancer walk, the 500 tournament, and the crowning of Bud Headley and Lois Suek as City Father and Mother, were also popular Friday night events that drew big crowds.
Saturday we had the two parades, children’s games, 5k and 1k run, baking and food contests, HO model train display, tractor and ATV pull, Quilt auction, Hula Hoop contest, Polka mass, square dancing, street dancing and fireworks. All these events were very well attended and a good time had by all.
At this time I would like to thank all the sponsors and everyone who volunteered their time and talent Friday and Saturday to help with all the events of Holdingford Daze; without you none of this would be possible! Thank You!
The Governor announced his Local Government Aid cuts. He spared low tax capacity cities with a population of l000 or less, like Holdingford, from LGA cuts. Sometimes it pays to be a poor city. Now that we don’t need to worry about losing our 2009 funding we can go ahead with our budget plans for this year.
Many people in the city do not have enough room in their yard to plant a garden, so we were wondering would the citizens of Holdingford be interested in starting a community garden in the city next year. Councilor Lloyd Rausch has been researching and found the way it works is the city provides the land, the initial ground tilling and water. Each gardener pays a fee for a plot in the garden, plant what crops they want, takes care of, and harvests their garden plot. The fee would be minimal, just to cover the city’s costs. We want to know if there is enough interest in the community for this project before we proceed. If interested in a community garden please call Councilor Lloyd Rausch at 746-2326, or City Hall at 746-2966.
If there is enough interest we will again be submitting a grant proposal to the State for the low income home rehab program this fall. It appears that we have a couple of partner cities who want to join us, so this might be the year it happens. We need to know now how many home and business owners are interested in this program. Vicki has a list started of people who have been interested in the past, if you want to get on this list or verify that you are already on the list please call City Hall at 746-2966. We want to make sure we still have enough interest to go ahead with this.
The Stearns County Hazardous Waste pickup is set for Saturday, August 29, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Mary’s church parking lot. If you have paint, solvents, cleaners, antifreeze, etc. to get rid of, this is the time to do it. They only come to Holdingford every other year, so please take advantage of this program. We also need several volunteers to help the county out. If you are able to help out for all or part of these four hours they are here, please call City Hall at 746-2966; we would greatly appreciate it.
Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For June 2009
The 2010 Street and Utility Rehabilitation project is on schedule. The City Council has passed a Resolution authorizing our Engineering firm to complete a preliminary engineering and environmental report for Rural Development. These reports will be submitted sometime in August to Rural Development for final approval of the project. After that, is the hard nuts and bolts engineering of the project, in which our engineer, with approval of Rural Development engineers, put together the plans and specifications of the project to get it ready for bidding in spring of 2010.
I had the privilege of being invited to take part in the ground breaking ceremony for the new Community Country Church being built across the street from our School. This church will be a wonderful addition to our community. It not only features a worship area, but also classrooms, gathering and social areas, offices, and a children’s play area. It will also feature a lighted steeple and other amenities that will make it stand out as a landmark in the community. On behalf of the people of Holdingford, I would like to thank the congregation of Community Country Church for building their new facility in our community. Thank You!
Except for some minor odds and ends, the bathrooms remodel project at the Municipal Liquor Store is complete. They look wonderful, and a big improvement over what was there before. I would like to invite everyone to go and check it out. A big Thank You to everyone involved in the remodel, great job!
Robb Berscheid’s Volleyball court project in Veteran’s Park has also been completed. It looks great, a real professional job. On behalf of the people of Holdingford, I would like to thank the Berscheid Family for all the hard work they put into it, and I would also like to thank all the organizations and individuals who donated money for materials for this project, Thank You!
The Holdingford American Legion has donated $3,445.86 to the City of Holdingford, to be used for the band and car show during Holdingford Daze, the Pedals to Petals Garden club, the Volleyball court project, and Veteran’s Park. On behalf of the people of Holdingford, I would like to thank the Holdingford American Legion for their generous donation to all of these worthwhile projects!
The annual Holdingford clean-up day is Saturday, June 20, 8 a.m. to noon at the old maintenance garage. As usual we will have dumpsters available, and City employees will be on hand to help unload. It’s a great time to get rid of that unwanted stuff. A list of acceptable items is included in this month’s council minutes and was included in the May utility billing.
We have been noticing old junk cars, brush piles, junk piles etc. in some yards around the city. I’m sorry folks, but according to our ordinances, that is a definite no no. Junk like that is a hangout for skunks, rats, mice and other vermin, which is a public health and safety issue, and we can’t have that. Letters are going to be sent out politely asking people to dispose of this junk, and if there is no compliance, the city will hire someone to remove it and charge the property owner accordingly.
I will not be in my office Monday June 15, 22, and 29; but will be back Monday, July 6.
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For May 2009
Our County Attorney attended our Council meeting to go over the 2008 prosecutions. In the City of Holdingford we had 34 Misdemeanors and 4 Gross Misdemeanors in 2008, which is close to the same as previous years. A couple items of interest, there were 11 no proof of insurance prosecutions in 2008 which is up compared to 2007 when there was only one. But illegal alcohol consumption was down in 2008 with one, compared to nine in 2007.
The 2nd annual Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon went off without a hitch. We had approximately 180 runners participate in the run from Holdingford to St. Joseph. On behalf of the City I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped with blocking streets at the start of this marathon to help keep the runners safe. We could not have done it without you, Thank You!
On behalf of the City of Holdingford, I would like to thank Opatz Metals for a $150 donation toward the purchase of an electric Cable Winch for the Maintenance department. This winch will be used to safely lift pumps out of the lift stations, Thank You Opatz Metals!
The Heartland Chapter of the MN. Dark House and Angling Association has donated $750 to the Holdingford Fire and Rescue Department for the purchase of a cold water rescue suit or any other type of rescue equipment. On behalf of the City of Holdingford and the Townships of Brockway, Krain, and Holding, Thank You!
Rob Berscheid is in the process of building two professional Volleyball Courts in Legion Memorial Park. These will be tournament style courts that could be used for Volleyball Leagues. Rob’s goal is to have them completed and stage a Volleyball tournament during Holdingford Daze. The cost of this project will be approximately $5,000 and rely on donations to complete. If any person or organization would like to contribute to this worthwhile project, please call Rob Bersheid or Holdingford City Hall.
The Federal Government has a low income phone program available. A person meeting the qualifications can receive a free cell phone plus free minutes. The idea is to provide emergency phone service to people who could not ordinarily afford it. The web address for this program is on the City web site: www.holdingfordmn.us Lower left corner of this home page is a link called, Telephone Assistance Programs for Low Income Households.
There have been incidents of young people playing in Opatz Metals at night. Parents please instruct your children not to go there, it’s not a safe place to play in and they could get seriously injured.
Respectfully submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For April 2009
The rapid melting of the snow this past month over ran our main lift station and waste water treatment plant. With Minnesota Pollution Control’s reluctant permission we had to pump some raw sewage into the river. The big problem we have, when the ground gets saturated from a fast snow melt or hard rain, ground water seeps into our old sewer pipes and over runs the system. Maintenance had to shut down the Waste Water treatment plant because the water was washing the bacteria out of the plant. The bacteria are needed to break down the sewage, and washing it away is not good. Everything is back to normal and working well now. Replacing the old sewer mains next year should take care of this problem. A reminder to all home and business owners in the City, please do not run your sump pump water down the drain, pump the water out to your lawn!
We are working with Scott Lange, our City Engineer and U.S. Rural Development on the replacement of water, sewer lines and streets in the City. We are still in the planning stages of this project and probably will be most of this year. There is the possibility of getting funding to upgrade the South end of the City also; we will keep everyone posted as we progress with this project.
We had a few blocks fall off the arch in front of the City Center. Appears some water got behind them and when it froze broke the blocks loose. All other loose block on the arch has been removed and we have roped it off until we get the problem fixed. We were very fortunate that no one was injured when the bricks fell.
The Second Annual Lake Wobegon Marathon will start on May 9, at 7 a.m. This year the race will start at the High School Parking lot, go through Wentland’s addition and circle down to the trail and follow the trail through the covered bridge and all the way to St. Joseph. We have been told there will be more runners this year than last. If anyone wishes to run this marathon call the City Center and we will get you in touch with the organizers. We may need a few volunteers to block roads, if you could help us out please let us know.
Recently we purchased an aerial photo of our city. We asked the Industrial Technical class at the high school to make a frame for it. We want to publicly thank seniors, Jeremy Senart and Morgan Sand for doing a great job with this frame. The framed photo will soon be hung in Holdingford City Hall.
The annual Board of Equalization meeting will be Tuesday night, May 5th, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the City Center. This is the meeting to come to if you feel your property value has been set too high or too low.
Some other dates to remember; the annual Carmel Roll bike ride will be June 13. Applications for the ride can be picked up at local businesses.
The annual City Wide clean up day will be Saturday June 20th, 8 a.m. to noon by the old maintenance garage. This is a good time to get rid of unwanted stuff. . A list of acceptable items will be included in the May water report/utility billing.
Another reminder for those residents who do not have house numbers clearly displayed on your homes. This is a safety issue; if you would need fire/rescue/police help and do not have your house number clearly visible, it could take precious minutes away from your safety.
The branch/leaf/grass clipping pit the city has been using has now been permanently closed. May 1 is the first lawn debris pick up by Tom’s Refuse.
Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For March, 2009
We have received notice of our 2009 tax capacity rates from the County. Our rate went up this year from last year. Last year our rate was 69.038 percent, this year it increased to 70.502 percent. No, we did not raise the tax levy. Because of the present economic climate, the majority of the property in Holdingford went down in value. This causes the tax capacity rate to go up to collect the amount of taxes the City of Holdingford levied. By the way this levy amount has not changed since 2002. Even with the tax rate going up, the majority of property owners should not see an increase to the City portion of their property taxes.
As I wrote in January, the City of Holdingford has been trying to qualify for some of the economic stimulus money the federal government is providing to stimulate the economy, to repair some of the problems we have been having with our water distribution system. Good News! We have been given preliminary approval for a grant and loan package to replace all of the 1930s water and sewer lines in the city (with the exception of Main Street) as well as updating some of the equipment in the waste water treatment plant. Our engineering firm estimates this to be an approximate $4,019,000 project with $1,455,970 paid by grant and the remainder with a low interest loan. These are very rough estimates; we will have a better idea of true costs once the design engineering has been done which will take most of this year to complete. If all goes as planned, we will be calling for bids in early 2010 and start digging in April of 2010, and have the project completed in the fall of 2010. We will keep you informed as the project progresses.
We have received a letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce asking us to set up a complete count committee for the 2010 census. The idea of this committee is to help inform the public of the need to fill out the census accurately and send it in. Local Government Aid and project grant formula’s use population figures and mean incomes to determine the amount of dollars a city receives for the following ten years. We know of cities that did not get an accurate count in 2000 and consequently have lost thousands of dollars in State and Federal aid. So it’s very important we get an accurate count in 2010. I’m looking for some individuals or an organization who would like to get this count committee going and run with it. I have the information and would be willing to help you get started. Please call me at 746-2966 office or 746-2603 home or email me at mayor.eschmit@holdingfordmn.us Don’t make me beg!
We are going to remodel the bathrooms in the Municipal Liquor Store. We have approximately $30,000 of lottery profits saved up to do this much needed project. We hope to start in April and finish as fast as possible so as to not inconvenience the store patrons for too long. We will have portapotties set up while the project is in process.
The hydraulic pump in the snow plow truck gave up and died of old age. The cost of repair was a little better than $3500. I would like to publicly thank Holding Township for the one day use of their truck, while ours was being repaired, Thank-You!
We have been notified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency that the City of Holdingford has been awarded the Minnesota Wastewater Treatment Facility Operational Award for the period of October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008. Good job Jerry and Jeremy!
The Municipal Liquor Store will host a 500 card tournament Saturday evening March 14, with the band Corridor playing afterwards and the Fire Department will have its annual breakfast Sunday, March 15.
Kathy O’Hara who is in charge of reservations for the City Community Center is now also in charge of renting the Veteran’s Park shelter. She can be reached at (320) 293-6687 to set up reservations or answer any questions about renting either of these facilities.
The City Clerks office will be closed March 18-20, and I will not be in my office Monday, March 30.
Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For February, 2009
The Holding In Partnership (H.I.P.) committee is in the process of putting together its plans and grant requests for the 2009 fiscal year. As of right now, H.I.P. has three active subcommittees, Economic Development, Pedals to Petals Garden Club, and the Holdingford Area Historical Society. If any citizen of the City of Holdingford, or Holding Township would like to be a part of one or all these committees or just want information about the committees please call the City Center at 746-2966 or e-mail me at mayor.eschmit@holdingfordmn.us . Also, if you see a need in the City and or township, and would like to put a committee together to address this need, now would be the time to bring it to the H.I.P executive committee meeting and talk to us about it. The executive committee meets at 6:30 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the City Center. If it’s a worthwhile project we will submit a grant request for it.
The Governor put forth his budget proposal for the next biennium. In his proposal the City of Holdingford Local Government Aid would be cut approximately $21,000 in 2009 and $44,000 in 2010. This is just the Governors proposal, the Legislature has not debated it yet, plus there will be another budget forecast in March which will probably show the State deficit to be much larger than the 4.8 billion now forecasted. We probably won’t know until the end of this year’s legislative session in May, as to the true amount our Local Government Aid will be cut for the biennium. We will complete the sidewalk and the Liquor Store bathroom projects we started last year, but will wait until the Legislature finishes its session before we start any new projects this year or next to be on the safe side. Remember, as always, raising taxes is not an option!
We have reached an agreement with New Core Wireless to lease space on top of the City water tower for their antennas. New Core will pay the City $1000 per month plus the cost of electricity, to install and maintain four antennas plus related equipment on the tower. They will pay the City a $500 option fee which will give them one year to check out and set up their equipment, and start making lease payments as soon as they are up and running. They have stated they would like to be operating as soon as possible, hopefully by early spring. New Core is using our tower along with many other local community water towers to build a cell phone network in the area.
The Holdingford Lioness Club will be sponsoring a talent show Sunday February, 15 with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the High School Little Theater. Come and enjoy the great local talent we have in the area. Bring along a food item for the Food Shelf and save $1 off the ticket price!
Respectfully Submitted by Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor’s Report For January 09
On behalf of the citizens for the City of Holdingford, I would like to welcome Sue Marstein as a new member of the Holdingford City Council. Incumbent Kim Ebnet and Sue were each elected to a four-year term on the council. They will represent the City well, congratulations Kim and Sue!
Congratulations to Kristen Storm for being the Holdingford Commercial Club’s January Area Citizen of the month. Superintendent John Hass nominated her for her tireless volunteer efforts at Holdingford Elementary School. As an example, Superintendent Hass credits Kristen with going above and beyond at the school book fair where she helped schedule volunteers, helped with the set up and sales, and even stayed after to help clean up. The commercial club is looking for other citizens in the Holdingford area who go above and beyond in the community. If you know a person that fits this profile, please pick up a Holdingford Citizen of the month nomination form at one of our local businesses and fill it out.
Because the City of Holdingford has a population of less than a 1000, the Governor did not cut our 2008 Local Government Aid. We probably won’t know until the end of this year’s legislative session as to how much of the promised aid we will get for 2009. The problem is, we must have our tax levy certified to the County by September 15 for the following year, and at the time we did our budget for 2009, the State was not talking deficit, so we budgeted the full promised amount.
We are in the process of trying to get a grant to improve our water distribution system. We have two major problems in the system we need to address. First of all, because the water from our wells needs to go through a series of small old mains to get to the water tower, keeping equal chlorine distribution throughout the city is a problem. Secondly, we have some 4” water mains that should be replaced because they do not adequately provide enough water pressure for fire fighting. The goal is to run a 10” water main from the well to a 10” main under County Road 17, taking a route that will eliminate as much of the 4” main as we can. We are exploring several grant possibilities, in the hope of qualifying for one that will help us out.
Being this is the beginning of the year, I would like to remind the citizens of Holdingford of City dates and times. Regular City Council meetings are the second Monday of the month, at 7 p.m. City office hours are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Mayor’s office hours are Monday night 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. All City offices will be closed on legal holidays.
Also, the clerk’s office will be closed, Thursday, January 29.
Respectfully Submitted By Mayor Ernie Schmit
Top of Page
Mayor's Reports 2009 Mayor's
Reports 2008
Mayor Reports 2007
Mayor Reports 2006