In last week’s general election, incumbent Carl Wetzel and newcomers Chad Muchow and Susan Johnson-Schmitt were vying for two spots on Gaylord’s City Council.

Muchow was the top vote-getter as he garnered the support of 710 voters. Wetzel followed with 472 votes, two more than Johnson-Schmitt. There were 1,000 votes cast in the City of Gaylord out of a possible 1,260 registered voters.

According to the 2008 City Clerk Election Guide, a recount is not automatic but can be requested by the losing candidate. Johnson-Schmitt requested the recount last week. Because of the narrow margin in this case, the recount is being done at the expense of the City.

City Attorney Doug Nesvig reported that the hand recount will be administered by City Administrator Kevin McCann. City staff is also expected to assist in the recount. According to McCann, there would be an expense for the employee hours dedicated to the recount.

This is believed to be the first recount in a City of Gaylord election in several decades.

The recount will be held in the basement of the Sibley County Courthouse beginning at 9:00 a.m on Friday, November 14th. The recount is open to the public, Nesvig reported.

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Results from area municipal elections are as follows:

City of Arlington
Newcomers Jim Pederson and Bob Pichelmann received 624 and 617 votes respectively and were each elected to serve four-year terms on the Arlington City Council.

Also elected was incumbent John Griep. He received the support of 478 Arlington voters.

City of Green Isle
Three incumbents ran unopposed and were reelected to the Green Isle City Council. That group included Green Isle Mayor Randal Bruegger and council members Dale ZumBerge and Chuck White.

City of New Auburn
New Auburn residents elected incumbents Mike Hauan and Jim Stark to the town’s City Council. Stark was the top vote-getter with 135 votes. Hauan received the support of 84 voters, 13 more than challenger Craig Lowden.

Also reelected was New Auburn Mayor Roger Becker. He was running unopposed.

City of Winthrop
David Trebelhorn defeated Brent Roiger in the race for Mayor in the City of Winthrop. Trebelhorn received 407 votes while Roiger had the support of 221 Winthrop voters.

Elected to the Winthrop City Council were Edmund Pelletier, Peter Machaiek and Julie Longbrake. There were no challengers in these races.

Nesvig, who submitted his letter of resignation from the City Attorney position late last month, said he wants to “scale back” his workload. He told The Gaylord Hub on Monday that he will continue his private law practice in Gaylord.

In his letter of resignation, Nesvig said he was proud of his long association with the City (34 years). He said he will especially remember recent improvements made to the City such as the senior complex, the new library, the emergency services building and the Hahn Family Properties development.

According to the City’s Charter, the City Attorney position is an annual appointment made by the Mayor. Currently, a base fee of $24,000 per year is paid to the City Attorney.

Mayor Doug Quast told council members last week that the Sibley County Attorney’s office (Schauer Law Office) in Winthrop has offered to provide services for the same fee Nesvig was receiving.

City Council President Brenda Pautsch told fellow council members that the City should consider advertising the position. She said in the past the City has used requests for proposals when hiring an attorney.

Mayor Quast ended the discussion by saying more research will be done by the City before another attorney is appointed.

Last month, the Sibley County Board of Commissioners purchased the former Muck property, located adjacent to the Sibley County Highway Department garage in Gaylord. The property is located along Highway 19 west.

Offers for the house and garage, which are to be removed, will be considered at the November 25 county board meeting.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Decided to check into the cost of keeping electrical service to the larger garage on the former Muck property. This garage will be used by the Sheriff’s Office for “cold storage.”

• Approved drainage and utility easement on County Road 164 in Jessenland Township, on land owned by Bird Pond Properties, LLC. The work was completed by county employees. Drainage repair was needed to a centerline culvert and drain tile outlet.

• Will advertise for sealed bids for the 2009 fuel supply for Public Works. Bids will be opened Dec. 5 at 11 a.m.

• Approved a cash match amount of $15,000 ($5,000 annually for three years) for the Rush River Watershed Implementation Project continuation for years 2009, 2010, and 2011.

• Awarded a bid to Chard Tiling and Excavating for $16,631 for the straightening and realignment project on CD#29 - Neil Dacey. Six bids were received. Commissioners were informed that the permit from the Corps of Engineers had not arrived as of Oct. 28, but that verbal confirmation was received that it would be granted.

• Appointed Bryce A.D. Ehrman as an assistant county attorney.

• Extended the seasonal/temporary days for John Peterson, a student intern in the Public Works Department.

• Approved advertising for two seasonal/temporary on-call snow plow drivers to fill in, in the absence of full-time staff.

Charges for skilled nursing visits will increase from $96 to $110. Therapy service charges will increase from $96 to $120 per visit.

Home health aide rates will increase from $37 to $42/hour, while homemaker services will change from $14 to $18/hour.

According to Reid, in 2008, Public Health has 28 clients on private pay, with seven paying on a sliding fee scale. All remaining clients pay the full fee charge, she said.

In other business, the County Board:

• Was informed that Public Health was awarded a $3,000 grant through the Minnesota Department of Health State Indoor Radon Grant. The grant period is from Oct. 1, 2008 - Sept. 30, 2009.

• Renewed contracts between Public Health and Minnesota New Country School, Henderson, for school nursing services and with Julie’s Helping Hands, Buffalo Lake, for personal care assistance services, RN supervision and homemaking services.

Last month Jones was charged with five counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. The relationship allegedly began in the fall of 2006 and ended in the spring of 2008.

Jones served as the girl’s school transportation director, occasional bus driver for sporting events, and was the juvenile’s superior during summer employment at the school in 2007.

Earlier this fall, the Sibley County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an ongoing sexual relationship between a school official and a teenager. This kicked off an investigation and in early October, Jones was put on paid suspension by the school board.

According to Assistant County Attorney Donald Lannoye, the purpose of the omnibus hearing is for the court to look at the state’s evidence to see if there is enough evidence to stand trial. If the court determines that there is probable cause, a settlement conference and a trial date will be set, Lannoye explained.

Evans, a junior setter for the Lady Wolverines, was one of 14 players named to the All-Conference team. Martens, a senior, received honorable mention.

EVANS
It was a breakout season for Evans who proved to be one of Sibley East’s most consistent players. She is also on pace to become the school record holder for set assists.

According to Sibley East head coach Chip Wolverton, Evans moved into second place in school history with 1,120 career set assists. She had more than 600 assists during the 2008 campaign, Wolverton reported. Tricia Uecker (2000-2002) holds the school record with 1,661 set assists.

Setting isn’t Evans’ only contribution to Sibley East’s offensive attack. Coach Wolverton said she also has the ability to use her left hand as an attacking weapon. Evans tallied 32 kills for the Wolverines this season.

Defense was also a strength for Evans who charted 76 digs.

“Erin uses her great athletic ability to get to passes wherever they are on the court,” coach Wolverton said. “She served as a co-captain this season and is well respected by all her teammates as a vocal and emotional leader.”

Evans, a two year starter for the Sibley East volleyballers, is now gearing up for the basketball season. She is the daughter of Kari Evans of Gaylord.

MARTENS
Ashley Martens capped a spectacular high school volleyball career by being among team leaders in several statistical categories this season.

Coach Wolverton said Martens has been the team’s co-captain and most important all-around player for the past two seasons. She is in each of Sibley East’s six serve rotations, and led the team in serve receive throughout much of the 2008 campaign, Wolverton explained.

Defensively, Martens finished the season with 220 digs. She had nearly 500 digs in her career.

On offense, Martens was second on the team with 163 kills. She was also an above 90% server with nearly 10% of her serves going for aces.

Like Evans, Martens is now preparing for the Sibley East basketball season. She is the daughter of Lori Martens and Kevin Martens.

Sharing “Most Valuable Player” honors in the MRC are Jordan’s Brittany Chambers and Belle Plaine’s Chelsea Fogarty.

Chambers, a standout spiker for the Jaguars, led her team to a second state championship in three seasons. The senior holds both individual season and career records at Jordan in areas of kills, ace serves, digs and serve receive.

Chambers was a varsity volleyballer for five seasons.

Fogarty has also been a five year volleyball starter. This is the senior’s fourth season on the all-conference team.

An all-state selection, Fogarty surpassed the 2,000 career kill mark this season.

Jordan’s Colleen Chambers was named the “Coach of the Year” in the MRC. Chambers led the Jaguars to another conference championship. Jordan went on to win its third Class AA state championship in three seasons.

All-Conference
Erin Evans - Sibley East
Chelsea Fogarty - Belle Plaine
Sam Johnson - Belle Plaine
Megan Kuntuzos - Holy Family
Brittany Chambers - Jordan
Leah Dietel - Jordan
Michelle O’Malley - Jordan
Emilee Gutzmer - Jordan
Brianne Berger - Le Sueur-Hend.
Shelly Blaschko - Le Sueur-Hend.
Kaitlyn Braun - Le Sueur-Hend.
Allie Struble - Mayer Lutheran
Dana Vosejpka - Monty-Lonsdale
Mackenzie Wolter - Norwood YA

Honorable Mention
Ashley Martens - Sibley East
Katie Otto - Belle Plaine
Kenzie Healy - Holy Family
Kelsey Chambers - Jordan
Morgan Meger - Le Sueur-Hend.
Emily Schrupp - Mayer Lutheran
Jillian Turek - Monty-Lonsdale
Megan Shanahan - Norwood YA

One of the top reports from the Gaylord area came from hunters afield near Altnow’s Lake which is located north and east of town. Several bucks were bagged around the lake and there were numerous doe sightings. For the second year in-a-row, Sibley East eighth-grader Kyle Goetsch shot a buck near Altnow’s.

Also shooting dandy bucks were McKoy and Caden Rodning. McKoy bagged an eight-pointer in northern Minnesota while Caden shot a 12-point buck in a woods south of Gaylord. The two boys are the grandsons of Gerald and Elna Rodning of rural Gaylord.

Shooting a buck on his first hunt was Beau Swenson. He shot a four-pointer while hunting with his dad Greg near Mille Lacs lake. Other area hunters afield near Mille Lacs reported little success and said deer sightings were few and far between.

Hunting in the Henderson hills appeared to be similar to last season. It was another successful season for Gaylord’s Bill Walsh who bagged a buck near Henderson. The Walsh party also tagged a doe and said the hunt was “similar to last year.”

Reports from big game registration stations in the area indicated that the deer harvest was slightly better than in recent seasons.

True Value in Henderson reported that 85 deer had been registered as of noon on Tuesday. According to La Donna Bender of True Value, the store had registered 53 bucks and 32 does so far this season. That is four more than last year at this time but a large decline from the number of deer registered in 2006.

As of Tuesday noon, Cenex in Arlington registered nearly 90 from the firearms season. A majority of those deer registered were bucks. Cenex had also registered 12 deer bagged by bow-and-arrow hunters. In previous years, Cenex in Arlington averaged registering approximately 50 deer following the opening weekend of the firearms season.

Casey’s convenience store is Gaylord’s lone big game registration station. A report from Casey’s was not available when this edition of The Gaylord Hub went to press.

There was a bit of everything in Minnesota during the opening weekend of the firearms season. Near Duluth, two hunters waited only a few minutes to track a doe they had shot. When they caught up with the deer, part of it had been torn away by two hungry cougars.

There were three hunting accidents reported in the state. A 25-year old man from Crosby, MN died Sunday after he accidentally shot himself. He was hunting north of Crosslake.

A Brainerd-area man was injured after he accidentally shot himself in the foot. And, a juvenile fell out of a tree stand at approximately 11:30 a.m. on Sunday while hunting north of Hackensack. He was taken by ambulance to the Brainerd hospital.

The area’s new 9-day firearms season continues this week. It will come to a close on Sunday evening.

HIGH ISLAND CREEK
WATERSHED DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Published Nov. 13, 2008

For more information on the Plan, please contact Matthew Johnson at (320)235-8504 Ext.231.

Published Nov. 13, 2008