Missi Roland... "These dogs are my family and they fit my personality"

Missi Roland of rural Mantorville has raised dogs as far back as her memory can reach. At age nine she won her first competitive obedience event and at 18 she was  showing dogs when friends were out partying.

"These dogs are my family and they fit my personality. I have trained and bred them all,"  said Missi. Her family consists of four male border collies, Tripp and Repo are 13, Glitch is 18 months and Syphon is six months. Glitch and Syphon are the nephews of the older two dogs.
Repo is probably the most well known because Missi brings him to the Kasson Public Library each Monday evening for "Read With Repo". Children will take turns reading as Repo calmly sits and listens and gives each reader his complete attention. "He loves kids and likes to greet everyone who comes into the library," said Missi.

The four collies make the perfect therapy dogs. Missi has taken them to several public places, from visiting care centers to performing tricks for elementary school children. As Missi has the dogs demonstrate tricks  each is eager to take a turn. Turn left, turn right, shake. When Missi calls out "police dog" one of the dogs clamps down lightly on her wrist.

Border Collies are best known for herding and given the opportunity they will herd the sheep and cattle on the farm. "They have tried to herd the horses, but they aren't very cooperative," said Missi.
What Missi loves about her dogs is that they are so non-judgmental. They are also a very good judge of character. "People could learn a good lesson from these dogs," added Missi.

Training and working with the dogs is ongoing. Because they are so intelligent Missi insists it does not take them long to catch on. Missi quickly admits she is competitive by nature and likes to win. Repo has amassed many awards and titles over the last 10 years. He is an AKC Utility Dog Excellent, he was an Obedience Trial Champion and has won numerous High In Trial awards. Arthritis is slowing Repo and is slowly losing his hearing so Missi has been working with him on sign language.
A favorite for the dogs is a sport called barn hunting. Live rats are placed in PVC pipe containers with holes so the dogs can't grab the rats.  The containers are hidden in the barn in a bale of straw or bedding.

The dog is on the clock and when it finds the container with the rat the handler hollers "Rat!". The dog will initially circle the container or will paw at it.

As the dogs improve in  barn hunting skills they advance to higher skill levels of hunting.  Missi said the dogs get very excited. The rats are unharmed and they are raised in cages with food and water.

Missi insists that barn hunting can bring out the competitive spirit of her Border Collies. "I'm always teaching them new things and they are eager to learn,"said Missi. Missi treats them like family and knows they thrive on physical and mental challenges.

City would need to spend $1.4 million to get pool up to code

In October the DCI had an article describing the condition of the Kasson municipal pool and options available. The city has been "Band-aiding" the pool for as long as possible and now they are to the point where the baby pool will not open at all next summer due to expensive repairs required to reach compliance.

  At a city council meeting in December  Mayor Tim Tjosaas gave the board a list of required repairs to bring the pool up to code. USA Aquatics gave an itemized request  with a subtotal of $1,160,000.  Add on  "soft costs" of $240,000 to the estimate and the total repair estimates come to $1.4 million.

  Due to the anticipated cost of repairs the city and park and recreation director Ron Unger have a plan in place to have a new pool at the present North Park site by the summer of 2013.

  The current pool has had a capacity of 202 since 1982.  To meet ADA handicap accessibility standards would be very expensive.

  Rick and Tom Schaffer from USAquatics will do a presentation on the proposed Kasson Aquatic Center Wednesday night. The plan for a new pool is a close match to the Stewartville plan with the exception the water park will be a separate pool from the pool/diving area. If one were to be shut down for health reasons chances are the other one could still be operational.

  Council member Lorraine Hopkins said the plan has a "wow" factor and "ouch" factor when considering the facility will be used only 13 weeks of the year. Council members Mike Marti and Sheldon Torkelson said they were undecided and commented they were willing to let the public decide.

  Council member Matt Nelson did say the current pool has lost an average of $55,000 over the last four years. He also suggested that sinking $1.4 million into the facility could be like throwing money away.

  "The biggest ouch would be spending $1.4 million for a fix," said Mayor Tim Tjosaas. "I hope it passes with flying colors. We need it."

  Maggie Fitch, who is with Just Like Home Daycare, said the new facility would be a great benefit to the daycares. "We bring  50-60 kids up there a day in the summer," she said.

  Ron Unger said they get quite a few phone calls that something is not right with the pool. Also, city employee Lester Meyer is constantly up there "babying" the pool and doing some type of repair, added Unger.

  City administrator Randy Lenth asked the representatives from USAquatics about the possibility of installing solar panels on the facility. They said that was possible and would come up with a scheme.

  The tentative cost of a new pool is $2.8 million, consisting of 4,845 square feet of water surface with a bather capacity of 268 and the swimming pool will have 4,743 square feet of water surface with a bather capacity of 302 for a total capacity of 570.

  The amenities for the aquatic center include water slides, shallow water play elements, lap lanes, an aqua climb and out of water amenities such as shade areas, sunning areas, concessions, family change rooms and locker areas. There will also be an interactive play element in the recreational pool area.

  Wednesday night the council adopted a resolution calling for an election on $2.8 million in general obligation bonds to construct a new aquatic center. The special election will be Tuesday, April 3. More facts and figures as to tax impact will be available at a later date. If approved by voters tentative construction would be September of 2012.

A thank you to Mary

Letter to the Editor

A year ago the DCI ran a front page news article on how the library had cut the hours of Mary Kramer and closed the library on Saturdays because of “budget cuts”. At a special meeting of the Kasson Public Library Board on Oct. 21, 2011; the board voted to terminate Mary Kramer’s job as the circulation librarian that she has held for 20 years. The board did not even give Mary a verbal “thank you” for the years of dedicated work for our library and they did not allow those of us in attendance to speak and say “thank you” to her. So I am writing this letter to publicly say “thank you” to Mary Kramer for her skillful work in serving our community. She has helped countless people over the years with her knowledge of books and media that cannot be replaced. The library patrons have suffered a big loss of service by her dismissal.

I wonder how Kasson can afford a new larger library that will require more staff and a larger budget when we can’t afford Mary and we can’t be open on Saturdays.

            With deep sadness,
            Clint Patterson
            Past President
            Friends of the Kasson Library
   

DCI web site poll question

Last weeks poll had a great response, and wanted to share the results and comments.

Question: Would you be in favor of a referendum to take down the 1918 school in Kasson and replace it with a new public library?

A. Yes, that would be the best use of the space (34.6%)

B. No because I am not in favor of taking the school down (52.34%)

C. I'm tired of hearing about it. I don't care what they do. (13.08%)

Comments provided through the web poll:

Kelly     -
I love seeing the old elemenatry school still standing. Can't imagine Kasson without it. How sad it would be to see it missing.

Amy     -
SAVE THE SCHOOL! It has a lot potential...don't let the City of Kasson make the decision.

Sherry     -
HHmmm, I am pretty sure that there already WAS a referendum that we voted on to take down the school OR reuse the school - several years ago. Everyone was invited to vote at that time, there were no exclusions - all Kasson residents of voting age were asked to vote. The vote was in favor of tearing down the school that time. Would it do any good to have another vote?????

Kent     -
Sherry,
The Nov 2006 vote had nothing to do with tearing down the school. No where in the ballot language was the work Demolish used. The first vote was supposed to have occured in July 2006. The poorly worded language on that ballot, which did mention demolition, was deemed illegal by the MN attorney general!! Yes, an illegal ballot OKed by Kasson's city hall So a new ballot was formulated for Nov 2006. By that time the citizens were very confused. The entire process has been poorly managed by the city staff from 2006 until recently.

Kathy     -
Reuse of the school can create a couple of positives for the community as a whole>
1.) Go green-reuse-recycle...what are we communicating to the younger generation. It is OK to tear down something that is historic, and able to reuse. That anything "old" is not good, productive. Even without a current plan in place to even reuse the area. (no vote for a new library has taken place or approved). What message about "when it gets old, just get rid of it, don't repair or try to help it along so it can survive into the next generation. The memories, the majestic of the building should be considered.
2.) Teamwork: A little team work between the city, KARE, and the community this could be used for the library, senior center, meals on wheels, a live theater production center, shops, and the list can go on and on. Teen center...something this community has needed for a long time. Get the youth involved. Teacher's, bring this question to your classes, what do the youth think of this school and ideas?
3.) Tax credits, grants, we can obtain both with the reuse of a historic building. Is the city interested in this? Ask your Mayor. Why not?
4.) Jobs for the community, new life to main street. Lets get the blood line back to our main street. Keeping this building going will help with this as a whole. Bring in people from out of town to visit the area. Make this an example of what a productive town we can be, by pulling together to help other's remain in this community to do the shopping. Make us the destination of other's, not our towns people leaving to go visit other towns of interest.


Kathy     -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasson_Public_School
Information on the school available for you...

Letter To the Editor: In response to Mayors Memo 7/27/2011

I was disappointed when reading the Mayor’s Memo from 7/27/2011 that Mayor Tjosaas chose to use his Memo space to, as I read it, attack the KARE organization. There are many great things going on around the town of Kasson. I feel that the Mayor’s Memo column should be informative for the residents of Kasson as well as impartial. If Mayor Tjosaas felt the need to personally defend himself, I feel a letter to the editor would have been much more appropriate.

I too have my own opinion regarding the reuse of the former Kasson elementary school. I have faithfully been following both sides of the issue; and in my estimation, it is a stately and extremely usable and useful building. One well worth saving.

I feel that in our society we are very quick to do away with anything “old”. I would love to see our community show pride in that building. I would love for our community to show our young citizens that just because something is old does not mean that it is useless. Many young people, certainly not all, are not being taught the value of doing with what you have. They are not being taught the value of “older is wiser”. This is true in many areas; buildings, literature, music, letter writing, titles (Mr. and Mrs.), etc. We want our children to respect their elders, but instead we show them that things that are old (elem. school) even if they are still useful are not necessary. A little elbow grease could make it good are new, but wouldn’t you like to have something brand new instead? Hello landfill, next stop Walmart.
Will saving the school cost more for the tax payer in the long run? I’m not sure. I feel the building will have many more money generating options than a single building built specifically for a library. I also have other reservations with a library specific building. With technology advancing at such a rapid pace (ex: the NOOK), will the public library be as much of an asset to a town in the future as it is today? I certainly hope that it will continue to be. My kids and I certainly enjoy using it. But with budget cuts and advancing technology, the question begs to be asked. What will the town do with a library specific building that may need to be downsized due to budget cuts? I am not being insensitive. I am being practical.

One last thing I would like to comment on in regards to the Mayor’s Memo: Mayor Tjosaas pointed out that he offered KARE half ownership in the building and all they would be responsible for was raising half of the remodeling expense. I feel that asking and expecting a citizens group to come up with 4 million dollars is not only outrageous but also intentionally setting them up for failure. Is the citizens group that is looking into the new swimming/aquatic center for Kasson going to be asked to fund half of the cost for the project?

I do not want to see this issue divide our town. I am proud to call Kasson my hometown. I want to see it survive and prosper. I want to see Main Street alive and utilized by its citizens. I want to see life come back to that beautiful “old” elementary school building.

Erica Gillis

Mayor's Memo: KARE

As I noted in my last Mayor Memo the “simulated conversations” taking place in the DCI in regards to the Old School need to be looked at objectively and within the context of the original document or conversation.  In last week’s edition of the DCI, KARE, has liberally taken my words out of context.
The letter and offer to partner with the City was refused by KARE.  I did reference a public-private partnership, however, KARE chose not to accept because, in their words, they did not want “ownership”.  So, I met with two of their board members and offered to remove all ownership from the offer AND it would have still allowed them to go and get all of the grant money and do all of the fundraising they could to save the building.  This was a simple 50/50 partnership in which the City would have had all of the risk.  We would have owned the building; we would have maintained the building.  We would be responsible for the building and its tenants.  All KARE was responsible for was to fund/raise 50% of the cost to remodel.  I did not feel this was unobtainable due to their repeated statements that grants and tax incentives are readily available.

So why would they refuse to work with us?  Even after ownership was removed upon their concerns, why did they not wish to work with us? Why would those board representatives state they would gladly take my proposal back to the KARE Board but never get back to me with the results of their meeting?  Could it be that even though they continue to state that there are all of these grants available that even they understand there is a competitive market for them?  That $100,000 grants sound great and some may be higher but many are much less?  And that even at $100,000 each they would need 39 grants to cover their 50% of the partnership. Just think about that - 39 grants at $100K each.  Does that sound so simple and easily obtainable?  Furthermore, I find it interesting that KARE rarely mentions the cost to remodel the building from the Lauber study – $7 million to $8.2 million depending on year in which the project would begin. (The cost rises each year.) You don’t see Flo or Jo “chatting” about that.  On another note, I need to point out that the City Council never approved the Lauber study.  We simply received the report from the consultants at their presentation.  From the City Council perspective there are issues that the study did not address adequately.

I personally find it interesting that in the five years or so since the failed referendum, both the city and I have often asked KARE to come up with a plan, find a development partner, work on creative financing, basically do something to show us they actually want to do the work needed to save the building. All the fancy drawings and articles in the paper unfortunately do not do anything to forward their stated goal of saving the building -- it only distracts from the larger tasks at hand.  Such as, what is best for the community as a whole?  How long do we wish to continue “chatting” and delaying the work needed to turn that almost perfect setting into a larger and fully functional library? 
So, residents of Kasson – how long do we wish to continue debating this issue as we watch the costs to do anything with that area rise? 

While “Flo & Jo” may be “entertaining”, I encourage you as responsible residents to research the facts.  As always feel free to contact myself or City Hall if you have questions.

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

Letter to the editor: library location

Letter To the Editor:

I know there have been some misunderstandings and confusion about the library and the old elementary school in Kasson, and I would like to do my part in clearing them up. As a note, I am neither a member of the library building committee, nor a member of the KARE organization, but a member of the Kasson-Mantorville community and a library employee and I have some understanding of the discussions that are going around regarding the future of the library.

First, we do need a larger library. We have a smaller facility than communities half our size and we have been making the best of a building that was designated as a “temporary location” nearly 20 years ago. Our shelves of books and movies are overflowing, and we have to withdraw perfectly good items simply because we don’t have room for them. Last year we had over 600 kids sign up for our summer-long reading program, and often had 60+ kids come for storytime. There was barely room for them to all sit. We have to limit or scale back planned events both for kids and adults simply because we don’t have space for them.

The City of Kasson selected the site of the old elementary school as a perfect spot for a larger library. It is centrally located and has enough space for both a building and for parking. The library building committee has been meeting with an architect for months to discuss different options for such a facility, including using the old school as it stands or constructing a new facility.

The old school is a nice-looking building from the exterior. But, as any building that has stood vacant for years, has problems. The interior is growing mold. It is full of asbestos, and water leaks have caused the floors to buckle. It has been used for police training, and garbage has been left inside.

The other issue with the school is that it does not have an ideal floor plan for a library. There are three separate parts to the school, and two levels. This means an elevator would need to be installed (at additional cost) and the hiring of more staff to keep an eye on each section of the building. Though we do need a larger facility, a city of Kasson’s size does not have the funds to rehabilitate a building in poor condition, plus maintain it with utilities and extra staffing.

The library building committee is continuing to work through the process of presenting to the city their recommendation for a library facility. One option would be to reclaim and use elements of the old school in a new building. Another option would be to use green building techniques to minimize the financial impact on our community and the carbon impact on our world. Again, this is an ongoing process, so nothing final has been decided.

Personally, as a library lover, a reader, and a parent (as well as an employee), I would rather have the city of Kasson create a new, larger, functional library that mimics and pays homage to the historic school, rather than spend more dollars in trying to rehab a nice-looking, but asbestos-filled, functionally awkward building that will end up costing the taxpayers more in the end.

Ingvild Herfindahl