Tyler Council approved creation of TIF district Monday, July 12

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

A new Tax Increment Finance District was formed during the Tyler City Council meeting Monday, July 12.
The district was formed following a public hearing at the city council meeting.

MLSPC Properties will be the first business to take advantage of the TIF district with a 6,000 square foot office facility along Highway 14.

Through the TIF district, the property taxes on a new or upgraded property will be set at its previous rate with any increase going into improvements.

The Tyler Lumber Company is another group that could utilize the TIF district formed Monday night.

The council agreed to hold a public hearing about a possible conditional use permit for Karen Meyer, who has requested to house one horse on her property on the east side of Tyler.

Meyer has been in front of the council a number of times over the last six months requesting the ability to house a horse on property she recently purchased.

The property has had horses on it in the past but rezoning from 2006 made it so the property could no longer have horses.

Meyer said only one neighbor objects to her having horses on the property. Meyer presented the council with signatures from all but that neighbor saying they would have no problem if a horse was housed on the land.

Mic VanDeVere was not on the council when the Meyer issue was last discussed.

VanDeVere said he would have no problem issuing a conditional use permit.

The rest of the council had previously maintained the position of the rezoned status.

The issue will be discussed at a public hearing during the next Tyler City Council meeting.

The Council voted to allow the Tyler Police Department to hand out administrative citations for people speeding in town and other infractions that would previous be given a standard ticket.

The administrative citation is for $60 and those given the citation will not have it count against the points on their license.

Police Chief John Spindler said the citations will cut down on the need for Tyler law enforcement officers to go to court as much for tickets.

The police department will have the discretion on when to hand out an administrative citation or to give a traditional ticket.

The Police Department and city are still working on how the policy will work.

City crews are still working on getting the baby pool to be usable.

Utilities superintendent Dean Beck said the construction on the baby pool is complete but they are working to make the water usable in the pool.

The council has issued the Æbleskiver Days committee a 3.2 temporary liquor license for Friday, July 23 through Sunday, July 25 as part of Æbleskiver Days.

The committee will be serving beer at the baseball fields during the weekend.

Two contested races in county election for November

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

Lincoln County has two contested races for the November election.

The County Commissioner for the Second District and the Sheriff are both contested races.

Larry Hansen, currently serving as commissioner for the Second District, which covers the Tyler area, is running against Gary Manson of Tyler.

Sheriff Jack Vizecky is going for re-election against John Spindler, who currently serves as Police Chief for the City of Tyler.

There are a total of 10 positions up for election this year, ranging from two County Commissioner seats, County Auditor, County Treasurer, County Recorder and County Attorney. Three soil and water supervisors are also up for election.

Curt Blumeyer is running unopposed for the Fourth District position on the county board.
Current county Auditor Kathy Schreurs,  Recorder Loretta Lundberg and Attorney  Glen Petersen are seeking re-election.

Deputy Treasurer Susan Paluch is the only candidate filed for the County Treasurer position.

Tyler City Council gets update on water project

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The water improvement project in Tyler is one step closer to breaking ground, but there is still more work to be done.
Bill Helget of Bolton & Menk, a consulting company working with the City of Tyler on its water tower project, presented the Tyler City Council with an update on the project during the council’s regular meeting Monday, June 7.

Helget said a letter has been received from Rural Development approving the new smaller size of the proposed water tower while asking for revisions to be included in the proposal.

Helget said a number of revisions were attached to the proposal and Rural Development has asked that they are included  in the proposal itself.

Helget said Rural Development advised reducing the bituminous to be cut back from 10-12 inches down to eight inches.

The council questioned if eight inches would be enough for this area.

The council asked if a fabric could be included in the proposal that Helget said would act much the same way two inches of bituminous would.

Helget said he would include it, but it wasn’t likely that portion would go through without the city paying for it.

Depending on how the funding goes through, Helget said the city could have funding by July or August but could have to wait until December for a third opportunity that would push the project back until 2011.

The Council voted to vacate the west 175 feet of Bradley Street between Johnson Street and Pine Street during a public hearing held during the meeting.

The Council also voted to vacate a portion of Ceder Street and the cul-de-sac.

The adjoining plot three will be rezoned half as commercial and half as residential in a 3-1 vote with Darrel Denney voting against it and Kurt Thomsen abstaining.

RTR School Board forms committee for new board member search

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

TYLER — The RTR School Board has formed a committee to seek a replacement for a vacancy left last month by former school board member Bill Clark.

During its regular school board meeting Monday, May 17 the RTR School Board appointed Stephanie Cordes, Paul Erickson and Pat O’Toole to the committee that will bring a recommendation for a person to fill the vacant seat on the board.

Erickson said the position will need to be filled by a Tyler resident.

Erickson said the opportunity to serve on the board through this vacancy could be a good opportunity for someone interested in later running for the board.

“This person can serve and see if they want to file for election when the term is up,” said Erickson.

The board said the committee will meet in the next few weeks to discuss how it will move forward in the process.

Superintendent Bruce Houck recommended each board member talk with someone who might be interested in serving in order to find a number of good candidates.

During the meeting Houck informed the board of a State Legislative decision that will hold back 57 percent of state funding to districts over a two year period.

Houck said in addition to the 27 percent held back from the last school year, an additional 30 percent is expected to be held back this year.

A house located on farm property purchased by the school near the high school in Tyler is ready to be demolished, Houck said.

He said the district is waiting for the Fire Department to schedule a time for a controlled burn of the building.
The board voted to accept $2,030 in donations from 10 donors.

RTR School Board vacancy discussed at special meeting

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The RTR School Board is seeking legal advice on how it should work toward replacing former school board member Bill Clark.

During a special meeting Tuesday, May 4, the RTR board accepted the resignation of Clark and asked Superintendent Bruce Houck to contact the Minnesota School Board Association to get legal advice on how it should move forward in replacing Clark.

Clark submitted his letter of resignation to the board in late April.

Clark had previously served as the treasurer for the school board and the board voted Stephanie Cordes of Tyler to serve as treasurer.

During the special meeting the board approved a $.30 pay increase to its support staff salary.

School board chairman Paul Erickson said the board appreciates the hard work the school districts staff puts in.

“Our support staff is well appreciated,” said Erickson. “I hope this pay increase helps.”

In addition to the staff pay increase, the board also discussed the asbestos removal for the Ruthton school building.

The school board accepted a bid of $43,182 from Twell Environmental of Brooklyn Park for asbestos removal projects in the district including removal from the boiler room, hallway and gym lobby at the Ruthton School and a house located on land the district purchased near the school in Tyler.

The district received four bids with Twell Environmental coming in as the lowest bidder.

The land purchased near the Tyler school will be used for ag projects.

School board accepts resignation of board member Bill Clark

The RTR School Board is seeking legal advice on how it should work towards replacing former school board member Bill Clark.

During a special meeting Tuesday, May 4, the RTR board accepted the resignation of Clark and asked Superintendent Bruce Houck to contact the Minnesota School Board Association to get legal advice on how it should move forward in replacing Clark.

Clark submitted his letter of resignation to the board in late April.

Clark had previously served as the treasurer for the school board and the board voted Stephanie Cordes of Tyler to serve as treasurer.

Tyler council discusses small cities grant

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

Vince Robinson of DSI in Ivanhoe told the Tyler City Council Monday night it received grant money for 13 residential properties and five commercial properties through the 2010 small cities grant.

The City of Tyler applied for the funding along with Arco with the help of DSI.

Robinson said a letter will be sent out to those who pre-applied for funding.

Poultry proposal

Karen Meyer and Dick Herrick are in the processes of purchasing property within the city limits.

Meyer and Herrick made the request to the board for a conditional use permit that would allow them to house poultry on the property within city limits.

Meyer said they would limit the number of chickens on their property and would keep them housed so they wouldn’t get out.

The council previously denied their request for a conditional use permit that would allow them to house horses on the property.

The property had previously been zoned to allow horses but was re-zoned a few years ago.

The council maintained their position from the decision last year and said it was not interested in issuing conditional use permits that would allow farm animals within city limits.

Dangerous dogs

The Tyler Police Department informed the council Monday Night it was going to have a dog destroyed that was deemed to be dangerous.

The dog has been involved in a number of incidents where people or other animals were harmed.

RTR School Board votes on seven non-renewal positions

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

RUSSELL — Because of looming budget issues the RTR School Board voted not to renew seven positions for the next school year during a board meeting Monday, April 19.

The positions included a council or, one long term substitute, one early childhood and special education position and four RTI positions.

Superintendent Bruce Houck said the RTI positions were funded through grants and if the grant dollars come through for the next school year the positions could be called back.

Houck said each of the positions could be called back if the budget works out.

The board decisions comes as the district is working on its 2010-2011 school year budget.

Part of the budget will rely on funding from the state that Houck said is in question.

The State Legislature is currently discussing holding back funding to schools and local government in order to balance the state budget, Houck said.

Members of the board expressed concern over eliminating the council position.

Pat O’Toole said he believes the council position is important to have in the district.

O’Toole voted against the non-renewal for the council position in a 6-1 vote.

Houck said the district will have a better idea of where its budget will stand in July after the legislature makes its decision.

Houck said if the State continues to hold back funding the district will be forced to borrow money to cover its budget.

If funding doesn’t come through Houck said the district might need to look at going to the voters for a levy in November.

The RTR High School is discussing swapping two of its afternoon periods to ensure students involved in after school activities don’t miss too many classes, High School principal Pam Bush said.

The school board approved the purchase of new computer equipment through grant money and funds providing through a settlement with Microsoft. Houck said the funding doesn’t come out of the general fund and is specific to technology purchases.

Tyler approved for Small Cities Development grant

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

The City of Tyler was informed this week it has been approved for a Small Cities Development Grant.

The city applied for the grant last year in conjunction with the City of Arco with the help of DSI in Ivanhoe.

Tyler City Administrator Dan Tolsma said while the city has been approved, it is still unclear how many homes and businesses will be included in the grant.

“DSI was informed that we were awarded the grant,” said Tolsma. “We’re still waiting on the final letter from the state which will detail exactly how many residential houses and commercial buildings we’ll get to include in the program.”

The grant follows a meeting held last year to find out how much interest there was in the grant in Tyler and Arco.

The grant money will be distributed to home owners and commercial properties for improvements.

VanDeVere sworn in as council member

By Robert Wolfington
tributeeditor@gmail.com

Mic VanDeVere was sworn in to serve on the Tyler City Council until the November election, filling a vacancy left by Diane Clark, who resigned last month. - Photo by Robert Wolfington

Mic VanDeVere was sworn in as a Tyler City Council member during the regular city council meeting Monday, April 5.

VanDeVere was selected to fill the position left by Diane Clark, who resigned from the council in March.

VanDeVere is a city employee, working in the utilities department. He will be filling the committee assignments Clark had, with the exception of the personnel committee, because he is a city employee.

VanDeVere will serve out the remainder of the council seat term that is up in November.

Water project hearing

Bill Helget of Bolton & Menk presented the council with an update on the 2010-2012 proposed water system improvements for the City of Tyler.

Helget said the project would be funded with the help of a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant.

He said the project is expected to cost about $7 million to complete.

The city is currently waiting for a commitment letter from the USDA for the project.

Helget said the city’s water system is due for an upgrade, with the majority of the system dating back to the 1930s.

Helget said existing water mains in the city are under sized compared to what the state requires today.

The city has experienced a number of issues with its water system in recent years.

Helget said 19 water breaks have been reported in the city since 2006.

In addition to upgrades to the water main system, a new water tower would be installed through the project.

Helget said the existing water tower is smaller than what the Minnesota Department of Health currently recommends.

The proposed water tower would hold 150,000 gallons of water.

Helget presented the council with a number of maps, including one that demonstrates what he said are deficient areas for utilizing water while fighting fires.

Helget said the upgrades to the system would be a higher water pressure throughout the city.

A majority of the water main improvements would be located in the northern and southwestern portions of Tyler.

The proposed upgrades would also include new radio read meters throughout the city, Helget said.

The project is expected to move forward once the commitment letter is received, Helget said.

Additional Club House contribution

The council voted to approve an additional $20,000 for the Tyler Golf Club House.

The council said the additional funds are intended to help with the completion of the building.

VanDeVere said he isn’t interested in seeing the city interfere with the golf board, but he would like to see the Tyler City Council participate in the Tyler Golf Club board meetings.

He said it wouldn’t have to be a council member sitting on the golf board, but he would like to see the City Council informed on how the club is doing.

City Attorney Glen Petersen said he would talk with the golf board about how it would like to approach the city council’s involvement in golf board meetings.

City Administrator Dan Tolsma said he would be willing to work with the golf board.

Swimming pool

The council voted to move forward with upgrading the baby pool at the Tyler city pool because it is not up to code.

Dean Beck said an estimate he got last year put the upgrades at around $14,000.

Tolsma said the money was included in the new budget.

Utilities building

In a 4-1 vote the council agreed to move forward with a utilities building that would house utility equipment and other city storage.

Councilman Darrel Denney voted against the project.

The city will look for quotes on the project.