City purchases Holy Trinity land

By Sara QuamThe city of Luverne took another step Tuesday to get the Fire Hall expansion underway. The council members voted Tuesday to purchase Holy Trinity Episcopal Church property east of the church for $21,000, the appraised value.People at the Southwest Mental Health Center can still park there during the day.Buffalo Days changesThe Luverne Chamber of Commerce Director Dave Smith requested the City Council allow a portion of Main Street to be closed the Friday of Buffalo Days for the Friday night cruise-in, June 2. In the past the cruise-in was at private businesses, but to allow more vehicles to participate and to not inconvenience any business customers, Smith said the Main Street option makes sense. He said, "What it is, is a great evening to show off Main Street. It’s a move to get more things into the downtown community."He said businesses are encouraged to have longer store hours, and the Chamber is making arrangements for food, music and seating to accommodate the crowd.He said he would like to organize a poker "walk" among the downtown businesses to encourage shopping as people are looking at the collector cars.In other business Tuesday the council:
Passed fire protection contracts with county townships.The total expense paid by townships is based on the number of sections served. The 2006 amount per section is $406.96, changed from $374.23 last year.The total amount townships contribute is 25 percent of the fire protection budget annually.
Amended the contract between the city and Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., the engineering firm working on the Luverne runway project.The amended amount is for $39,800 for additional work on the Environmental Assessment for a new 3,500-foot runway.
The Federal Aviation Administration will pay for 95 percent of the city’s cost of the environmental assessment work, which will leave the city paying $1,900.Once the assessment is complete, the new runway could be completed in three to five years.