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2803 Clearwater Rd. • St. Cloud, MN Wednesday, May 17, 2023
Number 20 • Volume 134
Residents voice concerns about vehicle-related noise disturbances
ATKINSON TO TALK ABOUT SPACE MISSIONS BOOK AT MELROSE LIBRARY
Melrose researching policing options ... pg. 3 Idea of Holdingford Hiltner happy to carry on legacy ... pg. 7 neighborhood watch brought up ‘A Team’ has first baby boy in 2017 ... pg. 16
pg. 6
BY HERMAN LENSING | STAFF WRITER Gymnasts scoring with the best ... pg. 10
Concerns about disturbances caused by racing engines and squealing tires were voiced to the Holdingford City Council by Lisa and Amber Perez during the May 8 monthly meeting at Holdingford City Hall in Holdingford. The Perezes said the problem seems to be growing especially at night and wondered what action the city could take. The city has a noise ordinance, but as Mayor Eric Berscheid observed, if there is not a law enforcement officer present, it is tough to enforce it. The city contracts with the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement in the city. It was suggested asking the SCSO to increase patrolling of the area. Other suggestions included writing down license plate numbers and reminding the community about noise ordinances in the city. The councilors have heard similar concerns from other residents. Councilor Tim Winter wondered if the city should consider establishing a neighborhood watch. The council also listened to other concerns, including from Sandy Skwira about her constantly clogged sewer line, which she has discussed with the council in the past. The problem stems from an incorrectly installed connection from her property to the sewer line. “We know it should not have been put in that way, but why is it (the problem) happening now,” Berscheid asked. Skwira said the joint has shifted. She has had the line cleaned four times in the past three months. She asked for the city to help with repairing the problem. Thesun council did not to takerise anyMonday, action promising As the was starting Commercial assistance, but Berscheid indicated the city is open Contractors Company workers from Melrose were into doing so. side “The the Lisa’s On Main building working on securing city policy is we don’t usually touch it, but the west PHOTO that BY CAROL MOORMAN there haswall. been some discussion we should possibly pay for part of it,” he said. “Perhaps just repairing the fitting.” The council asked Skwira to get the cost estimate needed for that repair and come back to the council with it. No action was taken by the council on a request by Rick Solinger to plug a culvert to his property on Riverbank Lane. He said there are problems with water backing on to his property.
400 Block update
Concerns page 3
Avon chicken-keeping ordinance loses council traction Proposed code change moved to June 5 meeting agenda BY TIM HENNAGIR | STAFF WRITER
Avon city leaders are not giving a proposed chicken ordinance much incubation time. Last month, the Avon Planning Commission heard public testimony regarding the possible change in city code. Minutes from the commission’s April 18 meeting were accepted by the Avon City Council May 1. No action was taken, but chicken-related discussion continued. City administrator and clerk Jodi Austing-Traut said issues involving fencing, screening, permitting and enforcement needed resolution prior to enactment of the ordinance. Rather than the council acting on a proposed ordinance as suggested by commissioners in their April 18 minutes, she recommended city staff continue its research. Councilor Katie Reiling asked about the ordinance during a consent agenda review. “You are just receiving those minutes,” Austing-Traut said. “You aren’t taking action on them. Zoning administrator Amy Pease and I are still working through this. Neither of us thinks it’s incredibly pressing.”
Chickens page 3
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Back in the boat
leaned forward, like I alJensen appreciates support after ways“Ido, and put my hand on the front seat because it’s a bass life-threatening pancreatic injury boat and the front is a casting BY CAROL MOORMAN | STAFF WRITER
L
ike other walleye fishing openers, John “JJ” Jensen launched his boat May 13 eager to catch fish. This Melrose man did it with a new appreciation for his favorite pastime. On Oct. 21, 2022, he suffered a life-threatening injury to his pancreas during a boat-related incident, and he is grateful to be alive, appreciating the medical care he received and support from family and friends.
“Now, this is a memory, not a good memory,” he said May 9 sitting in the kitchen with wife Pam. Inserting humor into what was a serious situation, this retired Melrose police chief recalls the “scene of the crime.” It was a nice October day, and he was calling it a day after fishing near their Otter Tail County cabin. He lifted the trolling motor out of the water, something he has done hundreds of times.
platform. I grabbed the handle to lift up the trolling motor. The front seat swiveled and my hand went forward and so did I, and I wasn’t able to catch myself and landed with my full weight on the head of the trolling motor,” he explained. He felt some discomfort, but nothing he couldn’t deal with. “At the time it seemed so insignificant I didn’t even tell Pam,” he said.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
John Jensen, on May 11, gets ready for the May 13 walleye fishing opener at his and wife Pam’s cabin in Otter Tail County. The boat and trolling motor were involved in an Oct. 21, 2022, incident that caused a lifethreatening injury to this Melrose’s man’s pancreas.
Jensen page 3
Albany North Park
improvements enter next phase Wetland inspection, tennis-pickleball facility move ahead BY TIM HENNAGIR STAFF WRITER
Albany’s largest city park has entered a long-discussed transformation. Brush and dead tree removal in North Park is winding down after two months. Excavation work started on a new six-court pickleball and tennis facility that’s scheduled for completion by mid-July, along with a pedestrian trail and boardwalk along the northern shoreline of North Lake or south of the Jaycee shelter. A fenced dog park is also scheduled for completion by mid-summer. City leaders and a group of volunteers have spent the better part of three months defining those improvements via a phased planning process.
PHOTO BY TIM HENNAGIR
Tennis and pickleball court excavation work is underway in Albany’s North Park May 10. City leaders recently approved a final design for six-court facility near the Jaycee shelter that will repurpose this 50-year-old slab of concrete.
Interaction between Albany City Council, the Albany Park Board, Bryan Schiffler, and a group identified as Friends of the North Park has been contentious at times. That friction showed signs of finally easing after a May 3 council North Park
PUBLIC NOTICES Mortgage Foreclosure Postponement .................................... pg. 8 Albany Area Schools Reg. Minutes, May 10 ............................ pg. 7 City of Avon Ord. No. 231 ........................................................ pg. 8 Millwood Township Advertisement for Bid............................. pg. 6 Millwood Township Meeting Notice ....................................... pg. 6
update. Council members GRAPHIC COURTESY CITY OF ALBANY/STEARNS COUNTY concurred in accepting the results of a recently com- Stearns County Environmental delineates the area pleted Stearns County Services within the yellow line as the Environmental Services approximate wetland boundary wetland site inspection. in Albany’s North Park. City
North Park page 5
leaders May 3 accepting the results of a recent wetland inspection.
BIRTHS page 3 Quinn Everly Lubarski Parker Michael Schwieters Everett Isidore Wiechman
OBITUARIES page 4 June M. Domine Rita I. Solarz Donald E. Walz
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