County approves sheriff’s union request

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners met on Jan. 21 to discuss a number of topics. Pictured from left are County Attorney Glen Petersen, Mic VanDeVere, Jack Vizecky, Board Chair Joe Drietz, Corey Sik, Rick Hamer and County Auditor/Treasurer Deb Vierhuf.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 21. All board members were present with Board Chair Joe Drietz presiding over the meeting.
At the Jan. 7 regular meeting, the committee appointments discussion and action were tabled. The discussion reopened at this meeting. The board members are comfortable with the previous appointments and opted to keep them the same as before for 2020.
Michele VanDyke of the Lincoln County Extension Office requested that Jodi Otto be appointed as the new Extension Committee member to begin a new term. Her request was granted…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

County board elects Drietz as chairperson

Lincoln County Sheriff Chad Meester spoke to the county board about joining the Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday, Jan. 7 for their first meeting of the new decade. Commissioners Rick Hamer and Corey Sik were absent from the meeting.
The meeting opened with election of the chair and vice-chair. Commissioner Joe Drietz was elected board chair and Commissioner Mic VanDeVere was elected as vice-chair.
Because it was the first meeting of the year, several annual resolutions, decisions and appointments were approved, including the following:
The 2020 mileage rate was set at $0.57 per mile…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

34 years of service

Sheriff Chad Meester with Guy Harding, who retired from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department after more than 30 years in law enforcement.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
After more than 30 years of service, Guy Harding retired from law enforcement at the end of 2019. During his years, he served communities in both England and the United States, ending up as a Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff until his retirement.
Harding began serving in law enforcement in England, his native land, beginning in 1985. He worked as an officer there for 15 years before he moved to the United States in 1999. Before entering law enforcement, Harding spent 12 years as a paramedic in a large city. Harding and his wife moved to Lincoln County in 2000.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

City council pledges help in cleaning ditch on west side of town

Pictured from left are City Attorney Glen Petersen, City Administrator Stephanie LaBrune, Mayor Joan Jagt, and Councilpersons Cricket Raschke, Scott Dressen, Kenny Jensen and Tim Sanderson.

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

 
City Administrator Stephanie LaBrune reported that she had received a request from Tom Gladis of Gladis Trucking for the city to help pay to clean out a ditch behind his business property. An estimate of $4,000 had been obtained from T.E. Underground of Tyler to do the work. Gladis was requesting $1,000 from the City of Tyler.
“He’s having issues with water backup onto his property and wants to get [the ditch] cleaned out,” LaBrune told the council. “He would like to get it done this winter. He has been working with [Buffalo Ridge Concrete], DeZeeuws and will be talking to the school also.”

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

VSO reports increase in number of county veterans signed up

The Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force gave a presentation at the county board meeting. The presentation explained who the task force serves and what they do for the counties they serve. Members of the task force who were present were, from left, Chris Dybevick from Nobles County, Edison Dengler from Pipestone County, Mike Hamann from Pipestone County and Commander Chris Lewis from Murray County.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meet­ing on Tuesday, Dec. 17. All commissioners were pres­ent.
County VSO John Hov­land gave the board an up­date. According to Hovland, he continues to work with new veterans and veteran widows to get benefits set up for them. Since he began a year ago, he has helped 10 veterans become ser­vice-connected at various levels. He was recently told by the Lincoln County As­sessor’s office that more veterans have signed up for the tax exclusion in the last year than in the five years previous. The tax exclusion benefit is open to veterans who receive at least a 70% disability benefit.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Lincoln County farmer re-elected chair of Soy Transportation coalition

Joel Schruers

Lincoln County farmer Joel Schreurs was among the officers reelected to the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) as the organization plotted its 2020 strategy at its an­nual meeting on Dec. 2-3 in Merida, Mexico.
“Transportation affects agriculture more than any other sector, as everything is related to transporta­tion, especially in rural Minnesota,” Schreurs told Soybean Business Maga­zine in a recent feature on the STC. “From the larger picture with the inland waterway systems to local roads and bridges, we use all aspects of the transpor­tation system to get the supplies we need and de­liver the products others want.”

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Worth appointed to the Governor’s Council on Biofuels

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

 
Bob Worth, local farmer, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) Director and Lake Benton Mayor, was recently given another title and responsibility. Governor Tim Walz recently appointed Worth to the Governor’s Council on Biofuels, where he will represent the soybean growers of southwest Minnesota.
In September, Governor Walz established the Governor’s Council on Biofuels by Executive Order 19-35. According to the order, the council consists of 15 members, appointed by the governor “representing agriculture, the biofuels industry, transportation, environmental and conservation interests, and other relevant stakeholders.”…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Hesse family announced as Conservation Farmers of the Year for 2019

At the Dec. 3 County Board meeting, Lauren Mellenthin and Chad Meester presented information on the Towards Zero Deaths initiative in Lincoln and Pipestone Counties.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners met for their regular meet­ing on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. Commissioner Corey Sik was absent from the meeting, due to a schedul­ing conflict.
Lincoln County Sheriff Chad Meester and Lincoln Pipestone County Safe Roads Coalition Coordi­nator Lauren Mellenthin spoke to the board con­cerning the Towards Zero Deaths initiative. The co­alition received a grant from the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, which works to prevent fatal and serious injury traffic crashes…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

Final county tax levy set at 1% increase

A crowd of Lincoln County taxpayers were on hand to speak to the county board at the Dec. 3 Truth in Taxation hearing concerning the 2020 tax levy. The county approved increasing the levy by 1% for the 2020 tax year.

By Shelly Finzen
lbvjeditor@gmail.com

The Lincoln County Truth in Taxation (TnT) meeting was held on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. at the Lincoln County Courthouse. According to the Minnesota House Research Department, “TnT was enacted with a goal of improving ac­countability by focus­ing taxpayers on the relationship between budget decisions and property taxes, and pro­viding taxpayers with a greater opportunity to become involved in the local government bud­geting process.” County landowners partici­pated in the meeting to discuss the proposed 3% levy increase and to learn what the final levy would be.

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.

City council approves levy, discusses burn site

Lyle Lamote of Lamote Tree Service spoke to the council about reconsidering the closure of the burn site for the winter.

By Mark Wilmes
tributeeditor@gmail.com

 
Lyle Lamote of Lamote Tree Service was on hand at Monday evening’s regular meeting of the Tyler City Council to ask that the decision to close the burn site for the winter be revisited. In the past, a $50 fee allowed tree removal businesses the privilege of getting a key to use outside of city office hours to access the burn site.
“I just wanted to voice my concerns,” Lamote told the council. “It is a benefit to the people of Tyler. For instance, last weekend we dodged an ice storm. Where would those branches have gone?”
Mayor Joan Jagt explained that the city crew had requested the change in policy…

For the full story, read this week’s Tyler Tribute.