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Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Number 2 • Volume 134
Position open on Melrose Parks and Recreation Board
Council approves annual appointments ATKINSON TO TALK ABOUT SPACE MISSIONS BOOK AT MELROSE LIBRARY
BY CAROL MOORMAN | STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY CAROL Melrose researching policing options ... pg. 3 MOORMAN displays a plate of Hiltner happy to carry on legacyElaine ... pg.Wedel 7 freshly made Melrose City Council members, during the ‘A Team’ has first baby boy in 2017Jan. ... pg. 16 cookies and bars 7 in her Albany home. A Jan. 5 meeting, approved their annual appointGymnasts scoring with the bestplate ... pg. of 10 her baked goods will be
ments to commissions and boards, but one position remains open. The Parks and Recreation Board still needs one member from the community for a three-year term. According to city ordinance, the Parks and Recreation Board consists of seven members who may be residents of the city or the surrounding area. It includes two Melrose Area Development Authority members, one city council member and four community members. This board meets at least quarterly and at other times as necessary. Individuals interested in filling the position are encouraged to fill out an application available at the Melrose City Center, 225 First St., Melrose. If applications are received, the council may approve a board appointment during their monthly meeting Thursday, Jan. 19, at the city center. Appointments included the following: Acting mayor: Councilor Tony Klasen. Public Utilities Commission: Eric Seanger and council representative Mayor Joe Finken. Planning and Zoning Commission: Council representative Joelene Wieling. Melrose Area Development Authority: Jerome Duevel and council representative Travis Frieler. Parks and Recreation Board: Craig Schiffler and council representative Justin Frieler. Fire Relief Association: Council representative Justin Frieler. Melrose Housing and Redevelopment Authority: Council Representative Wieling. To start the 30-minute meeting, Mayor Finken and Councilor Travis Frieler were sworn in to new terms citywas administrator Winter. Commercial As thebysun starting toColleen rise Monday, Contractors Company workers from Melrose were inside the Lisa’s On Main building working on securing the west wall. PHOTO BY CAROL MOORMAN
pg. 6
auctioned off during the Holy Family School Snowball live auction Jan. 14 at Seven Dolors Catholic Church gathering space in Albany.
COMMUNITY COVERAGE 127 YEARS
400 Block update
Public input wanted regarding North Lake pedestrian trail Albany Park Board, council schedule Jan. 18 joint meeting
Sweet treat Wedel donates plate of homemade baked goods a month to Holy Family School auction BY CAROL MOORMAN STAFF WRITER
B
idders for the Holy Family School Snow Ball live auction Saturday, Jan. 14, are in for a real treat. One auction item will be one plate of homemade cookies or bars a month for a year made by Elaine Wedel, of Albany. The February plate of five to six dozen treats will be displayed among the many donated items at Seven Dolors Catholic Church gathering space, which will be auctioned off
during the event. “There are so many people who are generous with their time and talents,” she said. The eighth annual event includes a sit-down meal served in the school gym, connected to the church facility. Wedel has been donating to the Snowball auction since it started eight years ago and before that during the February school carnival. It is a good fit for her because she loves baking, from scratch, of course. Chances are that dates back to when she was a little girl and asked Santa
lady
Claus for an Easy Bake Oven. “Santa didn’t deliver though,” she said Jan. 6. “But the real thing is better anyway.” Her love for baking was fostered by her mother, Fronie Frie. “I was the youngest so I wasn’t needed outside in the barn, so I probably helped mom bake a lot,” she said. When she married Joe and they raised two children, Paul and Jill, her baking increased but not to the degree it is today.
Wedel page 3
BY TIM HENNAGIR | STAFF WRITER
A proposed pedestrian trail along the eastern boundary of North Lake alongside Highway 238 and suggested recreational amenities in North Park will be the focus of a special Albany meeting Jan. 18. City leaders and park board members will meet at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday in the council room at 400 Railroad Ave. to discuss ideas presented by Bryan Schiffler, Albany Chrysler Center dealer and owner. During the council’s Dec. 7, 2022, meeting, Schiffler said if a permit is submitted and approved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and other entities, the trail project would be privately funded by donations or in-kind services. City Engineer Jeremy Mathiasen told the council a meeting was held with the DNR to get a better understanding of what needs to be included in a public waters permit. Clerk/Administrator Tom Schneider stated in a follow-up email that a technical evaluation panel board for a pedestrian trail might consist of Stearns County Environmental Services, Stearns County Soil and Water, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the DNR. The Minnesota Department of Transportation wouldn’t be involved in wetland and protected water discussions, Schneider stated. He shared a Nov. 21, 2022, email from Nicola Blake-Bradley, a DNR area hydrologist in St. Cloud, and a June 27, 2022, summary report developed by Mathiasen. “The city will need to apply for a public waters permit,” Blake-Bradley stated. “It cannot come from the school district or concerned residents.”
North Lake page 3
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Lending a helping hand Helpful Husker wins Live United essay award BY HERMAN LENSING STAFF WRITER
Essays on helping brought a bit of focus on the Holdingford Public Schools fifth grade this year. On Dec. 20, 2022, representatives of United Way presented fifth grader Samuel Kunstleben with a $75 Scheels gift card in the library of the Holdingford elementary school. His entire class was there to see the presentation. His essay was one of 14 runners-up in the United Ways’ Live United Essay Contest. “We have been doing this about eight years,” said Alexis Lutgen director of financial stability at United Way Central Minnesota. “It was heart-warming to see
PHOTO BY HERMAN LENSING
United Way representatives Jill Lenzmeier (from left) and Alexis Lutgen gather with Samuel Kunstleben and his parents, Katrina and Ben Kunstleben, after he was named a Live United Essay Contest runner-up winner Dec. 20, 2022, in the library at Holdingford Public School in Holdingford. Samuel Kunstleben wrote about how he helps in the community and beyond.
the great things going on in our communities.” The contest was open to fifth graders in any school in Stearns, Benton and parts of Sherburne and Wright counties. Students were asked to
share, in writing, what they do to make a positive impact and help others in their community. Kunstleben’s entry was selected from 440 essays. “It probably took me
about two hours to write it,” said Kunstleben, the son of Ben and Katrina Kunstleben of rural Holdingford.
Kunstleben page 4
OBITUARY page 4 Jane M. Klein
PUBLIC NOTICES • Assumed Name - Unorthodox Moxie - pg. 8 • Albany Schools Regular Board Meeting, Jan. 4 - pg. 8 • Melrose Public School Proposed Construction Project Notice - pg. 4 • Holdingford Public School Minutes, Jan. 4 - pg. 8 • Stearns County Planning Commission Public Hearing - pg. 8 • City of Albany Ad for Bids - pg. 8
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