Semcac public transportation buses adopt new logo and name- Rolling Hills Transit

The Semcac public transportation bus system has been renamed, Rolling Hills Transit. A new logo will also begin to be dispersed in the area and displayed on the transit buses within the next few months.

The transportation department received a grant award contract from MnDOT and will be expanding their curb-to-curb bus services into the city of Stewartville, in addition to a new Semcac Dispatch Center housed in Kasson. Semcac’s Rolling Hills Transit system is currently in Dodge, Houston, Fillmore and rural Winona Counties. There also is a bus for seniors in Blooming Prairie.

Rolling Hills Transit Dispatch Center operates M-F, 8:00am – 4:30pm.  Call 1-800-528-7622 to schedule your curb-to-curb ride. 24 hour advance reservation requested. All buses are accessible for individuals with disabilities. Visit   www.semcac.org/services/transportation/ for additional information and regularly scheduled drop off locations. This transit system is available to anyone.

In addition to the new Rolling Hills Transit branding, there will also be a new, consistent fee schedule, making Rolling Hills Transit a very affordable way for anyone to ride! The following are the associated fare-based fees:

$1.50 per ride, one way
$3.00 per ride, one way- outside of city limits
$5.00 per ride, one way to Rochester
$1.75 Round Trip to Senior Dining

Temporary injunction once again halts school demolition

A temporary injunction filed by Griselda Cuomo and Linda Jervis has for a second time this year, third time overall, temporarily stopped the city from demolition of the former 1918 Kasson school. The injunction was filed in Dodge County District Court Friday, January 7.

Earlier this year Griselda Cuomo, Linda Jervis and Marlyn Schroeder filed a temporary injunction. Schroeder's name was not on the most recent injunction.

Two weeks ago Judge Joseph Wieners ruled in favor of the city of Kasson. In early May the plaintiffs filed a restraining order to block the city's plan for demolition. The city and plaintiffs also met in court to present their side to the judge.

According to the court document ruling in favor of the city the case was dismissed "for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The temporary injunction is hereby vacated."

Attorney for the plaintiffs, Anthony Moosbrugger, filed the second restraining order. Representing the city is Shelley Ryan from the firm of Hoff, Barry & Kozar in Eden Prairie. The firm represented the city back in 2007 and when the restraining order was filed in May.

At the city council meeting last Wednesday city administrator Randy Lenth announced they are moving forward with demolition pending the most recent restraining order that was filed. Remediation of hazardous materials is set to begin soon.

Lenth noted that an inspection of the building Thursday, June 6 showed the south roof and wall continue to deteriorate significantly. A rafter has failed and the weight of the roof appears to be a problem, according to the city administrator's report. There will be an engineering inspection to determine if the street needs to be barricaded to protect...TO READ THE FULL STORY PURCHASE THE DCI TODAY!!!!! MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, SUBSCRIPTION, ONLINE EDITION.

Letter to the editor: O'Brien Berge

Letter to the editor:

We the citizens and taxpayers of Kasson do not have to be faced with litigation over the Historic Old Kasson Public School building. All you have to do is call, write, or email your Mayor, City Council, City Administrator and City Planner and tell them you've had enough. No more of your tax money spent on this issue-including demolition costs, no more tax money spent toward any exorbitant library plans, no more tax money spent on ridiculous "storm shelter" structures and tell them to sell the property.

Today we as taxpayers will benefit financially from the sale, we will increase our tax base by thousands of dollars to have an entire city block paying property taxes and once the building is redesigned and is a functioning commercial entity, the neighborhood and community will be asking themselves, "Why was this so difficult?"

Kasson does not need a bigger library. "Story time" for tots, book clubs and free internet access are not where I want my dollars spent. I prefer my money being used to improve our streets & drainage system, used to incentivize new businesses, improvements to fire and police departments... Toddlers, babies and preschoolers are beautiful creatures, but we don't need a new library to accommodate them. As for K-M's teens and tweens, they hardly use their school libraries. If they desire to "hang out" that place better sell burgers and fries or play music.

KARE did not reject all architectural drawings, pians or studies designed to consider reuse of the school. KARE actually helped to fund the studies and agreed with most of the adaptive reuses recommended by the architects and historians involved.

As for using a FEMA grant to construct a library-that almost sounds criminal. And proposing a "domed" structure? ... One that might resemble the Pantheon or Monticello, or to "even suggest that in 2013 you could construct a columnar entry facade" "just like the current building has," well that is ludicrous. And regarding "energy efficiency" in construction, the "greenest" building is the one that's already built. The previous mentioned studies make this point rather clearly.

If the City feels it needs a "storm shelter structure" the city (we the tax payers) owns many other properties, all suitable for such a structure.

KARE did not fail to find a reuse for the school. KARE's recommendations over the years include: putting the library and city offices in the building-the city council disapproved. KARE recommended selling the building for a reasonable price-the city council disapproved. KARE recommended a joint public/private project using a local developer-the city council disapproved. KARE has never offered to buy the school, KARE has no ownership in the building, which leaves the onus on the city.
Time has not caused any significant structural deterioration of the building. The interior damage caused by the copper thieves is unimportant because the majority of the inside of the building will be deconstructed to accommodate a retrofitted project, what makes this building unique in its structural integrity, lay-out design, outstanding craftsmanship overall, with emphasis on the exterior brick work specifically.

The reason to save this building has nothing to do with "emotional attachments." The reasons to reuse this building have yet again been explained.

The best reason to sell the old school to a private developer is that it will contribute a huge amount of commercial property taxes to our country, city & schools.

It the city keeps the property, demolishes the building, builds a new building, hires staff for the new building, heats the new building, and has running water and electricity in the new building - you will pay for all that and more. Do the math....

            Former president of KARE &
            Commercial taxpayer,
            Diane O'Brien Berge

Mayors Memo May 2013

What a roller coaster ride this spring has been!  We go from cleaning up a foot and a half of snow in early May to an almost a 100 degree record breaking day less than two weeks later.  Living in Minnesota certainly gives you the chance to see all seasons -- sometimes even in the same month!
As we continue to hope that spring is here to stay and summer is right around the corner, talk turns from weather to construction season!  We will be seeing a lot of activity which is going to be good for our community.  We will be finishing 16th Street and the Bridge.  Work will start on a Park & Ride facility on the south side of Highway 14.  We will also be putting down the second lift of blacktop out in the far northwest part of town along with fixing a few stretches of road south of Main Street. 

Work is scheduled to begin soon on the site of the old Folkestad’s Garage.  Plans are for the building to be gutted, cleaned up and renovated for use as a business incubator.  Interest has already been expressed in that building, so getting it cleaned up and re-used will be great for our community and the downtown area. 

Have you driven by the pool lately? Obviously, work has continued!  With the challenges of a long, wet winter/spring there are some delays with the pool work.  Please note that the contractors are doing everything they can to meet the open date.  The building is coming along nicely, and we are hoping for a nice stretch of dry weather enabling them to finish the pool and deck work.  The opening of the pool will be a great day!

Lastly, come on out for another “Meet the Mayor” meeting at Erdman’s deli from 8AM to 9AM on Saturday, June 1st.  I’ll look forward to hearing about what’s on your mind!

In your service,
Mayor Tim Tjosaas
mayor@cityofkasson.com

Time to Move On

I  sure do not want to beat a dead horse, but it's time to move on. I was excited and optimistic when Sherman Associates was pursuing the possibility of purchasing the former Kasson school and turning the building into senior housing units. They have the expertise for this and have done projects for millions more than what would have been spent here. Renovation is also one of their specialties.
In order for the project to work financially  they were counting on Section 42 housing credits to help fund the project. They requested $396,740 per year for 10 years for the Minnesota Housing tax Credit. They were not awarded the tax credits so the deal was canceled and the purchase agreement terminated.

To me, if a company as reputable as Sherman Associates is unable to make a project profitable without financial backing, I doubt there is another business/individual out there who can. It's time to move on.

This injunction is costing the taxpayers of Kasson. City attorney fees will  add up and the city will be right back to where they were in 2007 when the first injunction was filed.

The old school controversy has been a an emotional roller coaster. I was at an all time high for reuse when Sherman Associates was involved. When they terminated the agreement my emotions went the opposite direction. It's becoming tiresome writing about the subject. Bite the bullet and let's move on.

LTE: Wastewater Treatment Plans

Letter to the Editor,

We are writing this letter in response to all the articles and talk of combining Kasson and Mantorville’s wastewater treatment plants. We feel strongly that if Kasson and Mantorville continue to be separate cities with their own taxes, mayors, and councils, each city should care, maintain and be responsible for their own city services, such as the water treatment plants. We are well aware of Kasson's need to upgrade our system and take responsibility for our town's growth and feel Mantorville should be responsible for theirs. There are many towns in our surrounding area that share schools but each continue to have their own services and tax. We feel, as citizens of Kasson, this should be voted on by the people just as other city improvements have.

                Thank you,
                Luke and Katie Ranvek

Mayors Memo: Kasson

At last week’s City Council meeting a resolution was discussed in regards to the Destination Medical Center proposal.  Essentially the discussion was around the importance of the Mayo Clinic not only to Rochester but to all of southeast Minnesota.  Right here in Kasson they are one of our largest employers.

A few weeks back we passed a resolution on the DMC showing support in general for the project.  On Wednesday the 10th we passed a resolution offering to provide assistance to the DMC project.  It is an offer only at this point as the State Legislature would need to enact our proposal. 

Since the Kasson Mayo facility was built back in the 70’s the property has been in a TIF, or Tax Increment Financing, District.  Essentially all of the taxes since then have been paid but then are rebated back to the Clinic to offset the infrastructure costs when the building was constructed.  This resolution that we passed would in many ways keep that general kind of financing plan in place.  We would dedicate the $35000 in taxes to be paid per year to the DMC for the next 20 years. 

What do we gain by this?  At the core we show we understand cooperation and that by working together with other communities and businesses all of southeast Minnesota can remain vibrant.  Potentially we gain infrastructure improvements.  Hopefully we gain the trust of those around us to show that we take seriously the vibrancy of our community and will find creative ways to ensure it.  It is safe to say that without the Mayo Clinic Kasson would not be the town that it is today. 

Furthermore, technically since the city has not received the benefit of the increased taxes since the clinic was built the cost to our budget is not the $35000 per year but is only roughly $2400.  I feel strongly that this is a wise and prudent investment.  

We don’t know where this will end up.  We do know though that this is potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage and act on a proposal that could transform our area for decades. 
If you have any questions about this please let me know.  Thank you.

In your service,
Mayor Tim Tjosaas
mayor@cityofkasson.com

Letter to the editor: People's Energy Coop

Letter To the Editor:

The Minnesota Legislature is considering several proposals that would negatively impact the members of People’s Energy Cooperative and cooperative members throughout the state.
Although we understand the Governor’s and Legislature’s desire to increase the amount of renewable energy used in Minnesota, on behalf of our 15,000 members, we must remind them that the state’s electric cooperatives are struggling with the cost of meeting the current renewable energy standard (RES), which was signed into law in 2007 and remains one of the nation’s most aggressive mandates. Any expansion of the RES would require electric cooperatives to add un-economic power generation we do not need at a time when our members can least afford it.

When it passed out of the House Energy Policy Committee, House File 956, the Omnibus Energy Bill, would require utilities to purchase 4 percent of their electricity from solar energy and establish a goal of up to 10 percent from solar energy. This amount would be on top of the 25 percent renewable energy utilities are already required to provide. The bill also includes a 1.33 percent annual assessment on all utility sales to fund solar energy subsidies; this assessment alone would require People’s to charge our members an additional $400,000 annually.

At a time when solar energy is more expensive than other types of electricity generation these two proposals could cost Minnesota utilities and ratepayers as much as $10 billion in capital costs and significantly raise monthly electric bills. We do not believe this is the best use of our members’ energy dollars.

Although supporters of these efforts to expand solar energy claim the mandates could create thousands of new jobs, they do not seem to consider the very real job losses we would face when electricity costs skyrocket and businesses choose to relocate or expand outside of Minnesota.
Please join us in contacting your legislative representatives and ask them to oppose these costly proposals. Although we support the continued development of cost competitive renewable energy resources, we oppose additional energy mandates or expansion of the state’s renewable energy standard.

Sincerely,
Elaine J Garry, President & CEO
People’s Energy Cooperative
1775 Lake Shady Ave. S, Oronoco, MN 55960
(507)367-7000

Nuff Said!

It’s been a long winter, at least by recent standards.  Shoveling every other day, warming up the car to get going, it’s all getting old.  That darn groundhog said spring was just around the corner.  Looks like a pretty big corner!

There are ways to round this corner, to make this corner time fly.  We pretend and envision, we prepare for that corner to turn.  It’s a bit a of mind warming we have to do.  I like to do these mind warming things.

One good thing is Tackle Box Night in the kitchen.  Any fisherman’s tackle box gets tangled and disorganized during the fishing season.  A night in the kitchen with this tackle box mess is pretty fine.  Hmmm… these wax worms have seen their better days, well they’re dead moths now.  Toss ‘em!  Sure got a bunch of hooks and leaders.  They start out in plastic bags, organized by size.  Then they escape as used.  Tuck ‘em back where they belong.

And in this mess, I find the lures from days gone by, like the Dare-devil spoons I got from my Dad’s tackle box.  They got hit by many a Northern Pike, the ones that made it back into the boat.  There’s a couple Rapalas, the wooden minnow that dances across the surface.  In this mess, I also find… the church key.  It’s a bottle opener and opens cans, too.   Mine has ‘Pabst Blue Ribbon’ engraved upon it.  Probably older than me!  It’s good to have a couple bottles of beer, ones with a top that cannot be twisted off, along for a day of fishing.

I have fishing stringers, stringers to gather your catch, in this tackle box.  Most times they are not real strained.  A good picture will have a stringer full of the day’s catch.

Tackle box night is best done with friends, who also long for ‘The Opener’.  We can all tell our fishing tales.  Boy, do we have big fish in our tales!

So the tales of fishing, while organizing our tackle boxes, will help us turn the corner to spring.  And then, the new tales begin.
Nuff said!

by Mark Sannes

KARE wants former school back on market; Council moves ahead with demolition

Several representatives from KARE (Kasson Alliance for Restoration) were on hand at the Kasson City Council meeting Wednesday night to question why there is such a rush to demolish the building.
Kathy O’Malley, who marketed the building for Counselor Realty and worked with Sherman Associates diligently to attempt to get a reuse for the building, said there are a couple of interested people working to put something together so the building can be saved. Aaron Thompson and Trevor Westrom, are attempting to put together a business plan to have offices go into the former school.
KARE member Bruce Prescher asked, “Why is there such a rush to demolish the building again?” O’Malley added that the building was taken off the market, indicating there is no effort to want to sell the building. Since there is no “For Sale” sign on the property Prescher said he believes the city is sending the community mixed messages. He then added, “Kasson is so unfriendly to development”.
Mayor Tim Tjosaas said even though there is not a “For Sale” sign in front of the building the city would be glad to listen to other offers. “There is an idea. No offers,” said the mayor. “We have seen no business plan, no financials. How much more time do we waste?”

The Counselor Realtor pointed out the 90-plus letters of support by residents who were in favor of the Sherman Associates project. Copies were given to each council member. O’Malley encouraged the council to read the letters of support for reusing the building. She added that this was the most letters Sherman Associates had  received in support of a rehabilitation project they had proposed. “Those letters are the voice of Kasson,” added O’Malley.

If the 90 plus letters of support, 69 were from Kasson area residents. A council member said he did not believe 90 people could be the voice of Kasson.

Council member Matt Nelson said what he hears from many of the neighbors around the school is, “When are you going to take this eyesore down?”

There was talk of an injunction/lawsuit being filed to delay the demolition.  The mayor then commented, “So thank you for threatening a lawsuit.”

From what the council heard early last year when entering into a purchase agreement with Sherman Associates, they were the best in the business. If they could not make something work nobody could.
The council did make a recommendation to approve the salvage of items from the school by non-profits. Members of the Dodge County Historical Society were in the building a week ago Saturday looking around.

There is believed to be pieces of woodwork, flooring and period doors that could be salvaged. The items can be salvaged at no cost by the non-profits, but these items can’t be resold. What is left can be salvaged or sold by the contractor that wins the demolition bid.
Items are to be salvaged by February, 2013. The pre-bid demolition meeting for contractors will be in March.