MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETINGOF THE HILLS CITY COUNCILDECEMBER 20, 2004Mayor Jim Jellema called the special meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. with the following council members present: Jim Jellema, Linus Svoboda, Keith Elbers, and Ross Metzger. Absent: Dana Dahlquist. Employees present: Connie Wiertzema, City Clerk and Wayne Ward, City Maintenance.The purpose of this special meeting was to act on the City’s 2005 levy, and to discuss proposals for purchasing a new or used pickup.The Council reviewed seven proposals for the purchase of a pickup. Pending no other options are found by Jellema within the next day, a motion was made by Keith Elbers to purchase the 1988 GMC Sierra 2WD pickup at Papik Motors for $4,700. Motion seconded and carried. Motion by Svoboda, seconded by Elbers to certify the City’s 2005 property tax levy as $55,447.00. None opposed, motion carried. Motion by Metzger, seconded by Elbers to adjourn at 6:20 P.M.Connie J. WiertzemaCity Clerk(1-13)

Clarence De Kam, 84, Rock Valley, Iowa, died Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, at Valley Manor. He was the father of Judy De Noble, Hills.Services were Monday, Jan. 10, at First Christian Reformed Church in Rock Valley.Survivors include his wife, Jennie De Kam, Hull, Iowa; five children, Nelva (Pete) Pollema, Hull, Fran (Myron) Moss, Helen (Brad) DeVries, all of Sioux Center, Jim (Marj) De Kam, Rock Valley, and Judy (Marlin) De Noble, Hills; three sisters, Frances Boer, Catherine Groeneweg and Martena Kragt, all of Rock Valley; a sister-in-law, Carolyn De Kam, Rock Valley; and a brother-in-law, John Oostra, Michigan. Memorials may be directed to Rock Valley Christian School.Porter Funeral Home, Rock Valley, was in charge of arrangements.

Larry Dean Bakker, 49, Valley Springs, S.D., died Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005, at Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, S.D., after a long battle with cancer.Services were Wednesday, Jan. 12, at First Lutheran Church, Valley Springs. Burial was at Pleasant View Cemetery, Valley Springs. Larry Bakker was born to Gerrit and Arlene (VanHeerde) Bakker, on March 11, 1955, in Valley Springs. He grew up and received his education in Valley Springs. He married Cindy (Aljets) Blair on Oct. 5, 1979, in Sioux Falls. He worked for Souter & Sons Plastering & Drywall until poor health forced his retirement. Mr. Bakker attended First Lutheran Church in Valley Springs. He served as the mayor of Valley Springs for eight years, retiring in 2004. Survivors include his wife, Cindy Bakker, Valley Springs; four children, Christal Blair and fiancé, Rob Stamp, Kyle Blair, Larry "B.J." Bakker Jr., and Jarrad Bakker, all of Valley Springs; six grandchildren, Mason, Madison, MacKenzie, Caitlin, Zach and Daniel; four brothers, Ronald (Marlys) Bakker, Randy (Connie) Bakker, all of Brandon, S.D., Glen (Sharon) Bakker, Sioux Falls, and John Bakker, Virginia; two sisters, Carol (Mike) Wittwer, Texas, and Mari VanHeerde, Minnesota; his parents-in-law, Hank and Etoyle Aljets; and 11 brothers and sisters-in-law, Bill (Dianne) Mathers, Ginger (Jim) Breen Gwynn (Ken) Bodewitz, Jo (Dennis) Roozenboom, Shellee Aljets, and Brett (Merrily) Aljets.Mr. Bakker was preceded in death by his parents, Gerritt and Arlene Bakker. An online register book is available at www.georgeboom.comIn lieu of flowers, Mr. Bakker’s family requests that memorials take the form of donations to First Lutheran Church, Valley Springs.George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, was in charge of arrangements.

By Sara QuamThe Rock County Pool and Fitness Center again has the county involved in its operation. Tuesday county commissioners approved a previously tabled extension agreement, meaning they will continue in their joint powers agreement through March. Commissioner Ron Boyenga voted against the extension. The county had terminated that agreement effective Dec. 31, but wanted to extend it three months to allow time for negotiations to continue with the city of Luverne, the other owner of the facility. Commissioner Bob Jarchow said the board’s approval showed a degree of trust in the city. The county hasn’t seen a detailed Pool and Fitness Center budget but is still paying for three months of its funding, $14,210. Both the city and the county own and fund the Pool and Fitness Center, but the city of Luverne is in charge of management. Part of the ongoing city/county negotiations will be the more than $23,000 in purchases taken out of the capital improvement fund. County Board members maintain those are operational and maintenance expenses and should have been spent through the regular operating budget. The County Board said the contract outlines that once the operating budget exceeds its annual allotment, both county and city boards should approve expenses.In other business Tuesday, the board:
Passed a transient merchant ordinance. This covers businesses that set up operations in the county for a day and then leave.
Approved of adding a new financial worker to Family Services. Also, the department noted that it collected more than $1 million in child support for the first time last year.

By Lori EhdeClyde’s Chrome Plating opened its doors Dec. 13, and since then business has picked up steadily, according to owners Renee King and Chris Johnson, Luverne."We’re already booked through February," Johnson said Monday.The business is located in the former Nelson Automotive shop on West Main Street.He said their customers tend to be people involved in automotive restoration. Motorcycle and snowmobile restoration enthusiasts factor into their client lists."We’re getting off-the-street business, but we’re doing a lot with Twisted Chopper," Johnson said.King and Johnson had been in Luverne for almost a year before deciding several months ago to start their own business."I liked the town," King said. "It had a lot to offer."She and Johnson live in Luverne with her two children, Landon, 10, and Nathan, 4.They got the idea to start the business after noticing the need."There are very few places that do this kind of work," Johnson said. "It’s nasty work."The work involves chemical and electrical bonding of metal — nickel, chromium and copper — to automotive parts. That’s in addition to cleaning and polishing prep work, which is also dirty work."They say, ‘Just dip it,’ but there’s so much more to it than that," Johnson said. "It’s more of a chemistry and a science."The plating business has a reputation for polluting the environment, but Johnson said that comes from old plating methods.Today, he said, all the chemical and metal solutions are stored and recycled on site. "Nothing goes down the drain," he said. "We can’t afford to have it go down the drain."The degreasers and acids used in the preparation process are caught in a basin and reused and then hauled to the landfill for hazardous waste disposal."Even the air is run through fume scrubbers before it leaves the building," Johnson said.City Wastewater Treatment Supervisor Al Lais has been working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to be sure there are no pollutants from the business.Lais said the city’s wastewater treatment system of bio-chemically treating water wouldn’t be able to handle nickel and copper if it were to leak into the city’s waste water.King and Johnson said they welcome MPCA involvement, to put the city’s fears to rest.The big question everyone’s asking, though, is "Who is Clyde?" Clyde is their female house cat, who serves as the company mascot on the Main Street sign and on their business cards.Business hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

By Sara QuamThe new Law Enforcement Study Committee met for the first time Monday to organize and set an agenda. The committee isn’t getting county government participation for now.Steve Perkins was elected chairman and Ed Elbers was elected vice-chair.Luverne City Administrator Greg LaFond attended part of the meeting. "It’s your committee to run and to come to the city with a recommendation on what we should do," LaFond said. "I do not want my biases to interfere. We are looking for a mechanism to provide fair funding of law enforcement with accountability."Former Luverne Police Chief Keith Aanenson approached the city about forming the committee.Aaneson said, "My main reason for bringing it up was to try to help the public entities who hadn’t been able to settle so far."Marlene DeSplinter said, "We need to work as a team and it won’t be difficult, I think."Without support from both the city and county, the committee said it would suspend "further deliberations."Getting from here to thereThe Luverne City Council and staff started questioning all its contract fees and joint agreements in order to save money.Law enforcement is a big expense for Luverne and the county — each expected to contribute $669,000.That includes dispatching costs, even though the city cancelled that agreement effective Dec. 31, 2004.The county rolled dispatching costs into law enforcement for 2005 in order to try to recoup money from the city’s cancelled dispatching agreement. The county said dispatching and record keeping are vital parts of providing law enforcement services and can’t be separated.The back-and-forth funding disputes have lasted more than a year. The city has been comparing its fees to other cities who contract for law enforcement or who provide their own service.City taxpayers contribute 18 percent of the county’s taxes. Rock County said the city can’t claim to have ownership over another taxing entity’s collection because all contract cities in the county pay both county and city taxes.Beyond that, the county says Luverne residents get more than half the services, so the charges are fair. The city is compiling what "services" entails. Ambulance runs between hospital and nursing home or funeral escorts, for example, are disputable. It says some services don’t generate reports in other parts of the county, but in Luverne they do, so the numbers are skewed.Also, the city wants to know what time of day or night and what days of the week are busiest for the department in the city. Those kinds of "accountability" issues are all on the table.Perkins said, "Certainly it’s a significant cause with some urgency."The city had set a goal for the committee to have some sort of recommendation on law enforcement by the end of February. Perkins said he thought it was important for the county to "buy in" to the concept of the committee. Otherwise, he said, their work won’t be worthwhile."Our own power is in our credibility, so it’s important that this group have credibility," Perkins said.The committee concurred and voted to invite the county to appoint members to the committee. As it stands, three of the 12 members live outside city limits.Committee member Mike Jarchow said, "We are all county residents, whether we live in the city of Luverne or not. Luverne is not an island."County reactionRock County Commissioners received the request from the law committee before their Tuesday morning meeting.Commissioners tabled action on endorsing the committee because they are waiting for payment on the existing law enforcement contract.According to the contract, the city has until Jan. 15 (Jan. 18 this year, because of a holiday and weekend) to pay its 2005 contract bill.The city has so far said it will send the county a partial payment.Commissioner Jane Wildung said, "We can negotiate for 2006 and beyond, but we are still under contract for 2005. … We haven’t been able to communicate so we’ve never had a starting point."Commissioners will wait to see if the new Luverne City Council (with three newly elected members) does anything different with law enforcement payment at its Jan. 11 meeting.Commissioner Chairman Ken Hoime said, "We have a contract and I think we need to stand firm by that."Wildung said that a committee discussing funding can’t simply look at numbers. "They are going to have to get into the services we provide. The service provider sets a price it costs him to do the service. That can’t negotiate what it actually costs us to do it."Commissioner Bob Jarchow said, "I think there’s a difference between joint powers and a contract."Joint powers means equal "ownership," while a contract is just a fee for service.Law Enforcement Study Committee member Mike Cox said county participation was important not only to verify numbers or budgets, but to provide history of combined law enforcement.Ed Elbers, committee member, said "Like any business contract, I think it’s good to review it periodically."Former Sheriff Ron McClure said, "Law enforcement is functioning well, but it’s a matter of getting the governments together at this point."

By Sara QuamLuverne has the bragging rights that it had more new housing last year than Pipestone and Worthington combined, 17 units. Luverne Economic Development Director Jill Wolf said, "It really helps the housing cycle progress. It frees up existing housing that’s more affordable to people in low to moderate incomes so they can become homeowners." She said empty-nesters and people from out of the area have inquired about city lot prices more recently, too. "It could mean that more people are moving here or will be moving here," Wolf said. Much of Luverne’s new construction was local people upgrading from their current homes. Luverne’s Chad McClure, co-owner of McClure Construction Inc., had a busy year with new construction. He worked on four projects in 2004 and said his clients see real estate as a solid investment. "Compared to other things, real estate has appreciated more," he said. "With the low interest rates, people who were thinking about building new six or 10 years from now are deciding to just do it." Matt Larson, owner of Real Estate Retrievers, said Luverne’s real estate market has been busier than in other cities, not just for new homes."I think the hospital project helps," Larson said. "The overall attitude toward the city of Luverne is that it’s proactive in getting new businesses and expanding existing businesses and people get a feeling of confidence that if they build a new home or invest money in a home, that they’ll be able to get that out again."Activity on city-owned lots The city of Luverne sold many of the lots which had new construction in 2004. Here is the breakdown:Veterans Addition — Two (Two are still for sale)Evergreen Addition — One (21 are still for sale)Evergreen II — Eight (21 are still for sale)Sybesma Addition — 10 (22 are still for sale)

Palace has ‘Happy Holidays’Luverne’s Palace Theatre had a very good Christmas.Over the holiday weekends the Palace Theatre hosted several elementary school classes from the area as well as area patrons to show almost 1800 people the movie "Polar Express."The following weekend 440 area residents came out to see "National Treasure" starring Nicolas Cage."National Treasure" was number one at the box office for three consecutive weeks prior to showing at the Palace.Because of the recent increase in attendance, more movies are going to be shown at the Palace in the near future.Instead of showing movies only the first weekend of the month, the theatre group is trying to book "Meet the Fockers" for the weekend of Jan. 14-16 and "Oceans 12" for January 21-23."Oceans 12" has been booked, but "Meet the Fockers" has been so popular that the other theatres are trying to hold on to their copies as long as they can. Bringing the movie to the Palace is still up in the air.The next few months will also be busy for the Palace.On Feb. 4-6, the Catholic Youth Group will sponsor "The Incredibles" as a fund-raiser, and on April 2 the Talismen will hold a teaser concert to let you know about the six concerts the 60’s group will be giving at the Palace this summer.Green Earth Players have also scheduled their performance of "Arsenic and Old Lace" in April.A concert by the South Dakota Symphony had been scheduled for April in the Palace, but that performance has been moved to the Luverne High School Little Theater because of better access to risers, the band shell and other items.The appearance by the Symphony is being organized as a joint fund-raiser for both the Blue Mound Area Theatre, operators of the Palace, and the Luverne Music Boosters.KPCO acquires broadcast rights to Minnesota high school tournamentsSioux Falls based Central Plains Media, Channel 9 on Mediacom, recently announced they have acquired exclusive distribution rights for the Minnesota high school hockey and basketball tournaments in the Sioux Falls, Fargo and Rapid City areas.The agreement covers a four-year period.According to Chuck Poppen, Central Plains Media Chief, the organization will likely exercise an option to extend the rights beyond the first four years.The Sioux Falls region includes Rock, Nobles, Pipestone, Murray and Lincoln counties in Minnesota.In Luverne KCPO is broadcast on Channel 9 with Mediacom.The four tournaments scheduled are:
State Girls Hockey Tournament, Feb. 17 – 19.
State Boys Hockey Tournament, March 2 – 5.
State Girls Basketball Tournament, March 9 – 12.
State Boys Basketball Tournament, March 16 – 19.Coverage of the four tournaments will total 44 games.Other high school tournaments the station will be covering include the Minnesota high school football playoffs in November.Winter Carnival set for Jan. 22Roughly 150 local families are preparing to host the 25th annual Luverne Music Boosters Winter Carnival.With a wide variety of games and activities, the Carnival Committee promotes the event each year as the cure for cabin fever.This year the Winter Carnival will be held Saturday, Jan. 22, in the Luverne High School gym. The raffles, cake walks and carnival games will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

All-Hazard Mitigation Planning to help create safe, sustainable communitiesFloods, earthquakes, and tornados are all functions of the natural environment and only become hazardous when they threaten our "built" environment with destruction. Each year federal, state, and local governments, in addition to individuals, response to and recovery from natural disasters with billions of dollars in damage. Lives are lost or devastated, property is demolished or devalued, and the economic viability of communities is impacted for years to come. There are many techniques that, over time, have proven effective in reducing or eliminating the long-term effects of natural disaster. Such "mitigation" techniques, when undertaken before the next flood, earthquake, or tornado hits might lessen the likelihood that a natural hazard could become a disaster. It is important that community planning incorporates hazard mitigation in order to make a community a safer place to live and work. Community planning creates a more viable and sustainable environment for future generations. As a result of the disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, FEMA now requires that in order to be eligible for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds, a local unit of government (County, city, or township) needs to have a multi-hazard plan in place. FEMA has provided part of the funding necessary to complete the plans.Starting in the fall of 2004, Rock County with the assistance of the Southwest Regional Development Commission (SRDC), will be completing an all-hazard mitigation plan that meets the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. All cities and townships are eligible to participate in the County plan instead of completing one on their own. The process to write, review, and submit the plan should take one year to complete.It is the goal of the County to involve a variety of people to ensure that key interests and issues are not forgotten and increase the chance for permanent solutions. A task force has been assembled that represents all participating entities (County, city, and townships) and to guide the planning process. Approximately two public meetings will be held to solicit information, ideas, planning process. Approximately two public meetings will be held to solicit information, ideas, and comments from the general public. Press releases will provide periodic updates. The first public meeting for the All-Hazard Mitigation Plan will take place on January 18th at 8:30 a.m. at the Rock County Family Services Agency located at 2 Roundwind Road. The main task of the meeting is to identify all past and potential hazards. Input from the public is extremely important and encouraged. If you cannot attend this meeting, but would like to be involved, or if you have any questions, please contact Kym Christiansen at the SRDC, at 507-836-8547, ext. 107 or kym@swrdc.org.(1-6-2005, 1-13)