Letter to the editor: Giving Thanks

Letter to The Editor

Kasson Citizens,

This is the season for Thanks Giving.  Let’s take a moment to give thanks.
The DCI recently reported (11/24/2010, City of Kasson Looking to Trim Budget) that the City of Kasson’s budget shortfall continues.  Mayor Tjosaas has also mentioned the issue in numerous Mayor’s Memos.   The citizens of Kasson are thankful for the City Council maintaining vigilance on this issue and for continuing to take appropriate actions to streamline city government and eliminate unnecessary spending.

The council’s decision to not demolish the historic 1918 school and instead partner with the Kasson Alliance for Restoration (KARE) to fund the Historic Properties Reuse Study saved the taxpayers nearly $250,000 (over one quarter of a million dollars).   Kasson’s citizens are thankful that the City Council entered into a partnership with KARE (www.KassonAlliance.org) related to reusing the historic 1918 Kasson Public School.  In addition Kasson’s citizens are thankful that the City Council did not add millions of tons of demolition material and an important and irreplaceable historic Kasson icon to a landfill.

Thank you to John Lauber’s team for conducting a very thorough analysis of the historic school and for presenting many viable reuse options and funding mechanisms to the City Council and Kasson’s taxpayers (http://kassonschoolreuse.net/).

Thank you to KARE’s volunteers for cleaning the inside of the historic school and to Pennie Eisenbeis for organizing the community education class that installed attractive window facades on the school.

Thank you to KARE for paying 100 percent of the cost to install downspouts on the school to funnel water away from the foundation (as recommended by Lauber’s team).

Thank you to the City Council for recently adopting Mr. Lauber’s recommendation to not pile snow on the school’s playground thus eliminating that water source in addition to the ugly eye sore it presented to the surrounding community.

Thank you to the Minnesota Historical Society for voting unanimously to nominate the school to the National Register of Historic Places and for the National Park Service for placing the school on the registry in Dec. 2007.

Thank you to KARE’s members and supporting businesses for continuing to be an advocate for Kasson’s history and therefore its future.

And finally thank you to Kasson’s citizens for voting overwhelmingly (58% of you) in April 2010, in the council-supported survey, to adaptively reuse the historic school.  Your vision and support will insure that the school building continues to serve Kasson and the surrounding area’s present and future generations.

Happy Holidays,
Kenton Spading