Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Swift County Monitor-News

Page 5

Advisory boards need volunteers

Benson needs citizens willing to serve their community

A few good citizens willing to give as little as one hour a month to make the City of Benson a better place to live and work, ensure its economic vitality, and make it a more attractive community are being sought. They are needed to ll vacancies on the citys boards and commissions, vacancies that in some case have existed for months. Bensons boards and commissions keep an eye on a wide variety of city operations, taking citizen input and making recommendations for improvements to the city council. For the ve-member Benson City Council to keep on top of all that is going on in the community and all that needs to be done, and how it should be done, is a daunting task. Yes, it does have a staff of professionals that oversee the dayto-day operations of the city headed by City Manager Robert Wolngton. But that staff doesnt have the time or authority to make all the decisions necessary to keep the community growing, operating efciently, and continually improving. That is why the city council and the administration rely on the input of the people in the community willing to advise it on everything from economic development, to the parks, to the cemetery, to the airport, to general city planning. But over the years, it seems as if it has been harder and harder to get people to volunteer their time. Currently, there are four city boards or commissions short members. In all, nine volunteers are needed. Bensons Economic Development Authority (EDA) is short one member, the park board has four vacancies, the tourism board three and the cemetery committee one. EDA The citys EDA is a key advisory body to the council on Bensons future growth and prosperity. It has more than $1 million in funds to work with in helping businesses expand or locate in the community. Bensons Mayor Paul Kittelson serves on the EDA as well as Council Member Mike Fugleberg. The council also appoints ve citizens from the community to the authority for three-year terms. The EDA meets the third Thursday of each month at noon. Meetings generally last an hour or less. Tourism board The Benson Area Tourism Board makes recommendations to the city council on the promotion of the Benson area as a tourist destination and convention site. It also decides and allocates where funds should be spent to promote events such as the Pioneerland Band Festival and Kid Day. It considers expenditures for brochures, CDs and other promotional materials about the community. It can also support advertising for the Benson Golf Club. The tourism board operates with a budget of $20,000 to $24,000 annually with revenues generated by the citys lodging tax. However, $10,400 of that budget goes to the Benson Area Chamber of Commerce for administrative fees. The city of Benson also takes about $1,200 for administrative fees. The Benson Area Tourism Board meets the fourth Wednesday every other month. Cemetery Committee The Cemetery Committee advises and assists the city council and city staff in the administration, maintenance and improvement of the Benson City Cemetery. It meets as needed in the city council chambers at city hall. In 2000, the cemetery committee oversaw the production of a book, which lists all the people buried in the city cemetery who were early residents of the Benson area. It has also produced maps of the cemetery showing the burial site of all those interred. The cemetery committee meets quarterly. Park Board The Park Board acts as an advisory body to the city council by making recommendations to the council on issues associated with city parks, playgrounds, the swimming pool, skating rinks, and other related functions. It was heavily involved with the planning of the citys new outdoor aquatic center. It meets quarterly on the second Monday in February, May, August and November at noon in the city council chambers at city hall. Benson EDA One Vacancy Paul Estenson Jon Buyck Leroy Noreen Dr. Rick Horecka Paul Kittelson, mayor, Mike Fugleberg, city council Park Board Four vacancies Sally Jones Wendy Munsterman Gary Landmark city council Paul Kittelson mayor Benson Tourism Board Three vacancies Sandy Hill Sheila Dokken Sally Jones Chamber manager Cemetery One Vacancy Jim Hilleren Jack Evenson Fr. William Sprigler Don Plackner To serve on one of these boards or commissions, stop by City Hall or call 320-843-4775. You must be a resident of the city.

Not wearing your seatbelt is a guaranteed ticket...

are not wearing your seatbelt, Bensons Acting Chief of Police Paul Larson said Monday, expect a ticket. The zero tolerance enforcement on seatbelts is part of the national and state Click It or Ticket effort. Seatbelts are proven to reduce the chance of death or serious injury in an accident. We are out there with the common goal of safety, Larson said. Safety is paramount. For years, not wearing a seatbelt was a secondary trafc offense. In other words, you couldnt be stopped for simply not wearing one. You had to be stopped for speeding, running a stop sign, crossing the centerline, or some other primary offense. But in 2009, not wearing a seatbelt became a primary trafc law violation. All ages get ticketed for not wearing seatbelts, Larson said, it isnt just young drivers who fail to buckle-up. Drivers in Benson are more likely to get a ticket when you also commit multiple offenses, Larson said. Speeding and running a stoplight will likely get you a ticket as well as failing to stop at a stop sign and going through the intersection while a pedestrian is walking through it. The severity of the offense also comes into play, he explained. If you are going 75 in a 55 you are likely to get a ticket, Larson said. There is a little bit of discretion on the part of the ofcer on whether or not a ticket is issued, Larson said. Every stop is something different. If you have been given a warning, or maybe two, and you are stopped a third time, you can most likely expect a ticket. However, a persons long-term driving record doesnt necessarily come into play when he considers whether to issue a ticket or a warning, Larson said. If the person had a number of speeding tickets when he or she were young, but then matured and stopped speeding, he said would not hold those earlier offenses against the driver. I dont think any ofcer would, he added. Speeding is the most frequent reason why drivers get pulled over in Benson, Larson said. Stepped up law enforcement on trafc

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violations started in 2002 in an effort to reduce the number of trafc accidents in the city. In 2001, the city had documented 119 accidents. Bensons City Council also looked at what it could do to make the streets of the community safer. It added new stop signs throughout the city and information was put out regularly about pedestrian safety. School crossing and pedestrian signs have been added. The city also bought a movable trafc sign that records a drivers speed. It ashes your speed if you are over the speed limit. The number of trafc accidents in Benson fell to 58 in 2011, but were up by four in 2012 to 62.

Benson school year now extends into rst week of June...

windchills for a couple days and we have had more wind this year, he said. When school was called off Jan. 31, the high that day was a minus 2 degrees with a low of minus 15 degrees. But winds gusting to over 30 to 35 mph dropped the wind chills to a dangerous minus 40 below zero. February 18-19 students missed two days of school, but not a ake of snow fell. Rather, winds raging at 30 to 50 mph out of the northwest created a ground blizzard that made travel on country roads nearly impossible. At the time, there was 15 inches of snow on the ground in the area. February 19 also saw a high of just a minus 6 degrees with windchills reaching 35 below zero. Sitting in town, looking out the window, it may not seem that bad, certainly not bad enough to call school off. But venture out in the country a ways and a driver quickly realizes why the busses arent running. What people dont sometimes understand, Westrum said of the decision to close school. They can drive around in their cars in town and maybe even not have much trouble with a four-wheel drive pickup in the country. But a bus is a different vehicle, he said. Where you nd the most snow on the country roads is by the groves and that is where they have to stop because that is where peoples homes are. Many times they also have to turn around. It is that stopping and turning around at places that can really be difcult. That is when they often times get stuck. There are also areas along country roads where drifts build up during the winter. With each winter storm, the drift grows and is plowed back to the side of the road piling the snow bank higher. When the next snowfall comes,

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combined with wind, an even deeper drift forms across the road. These roads quickly become impassable.

Spring arrived early Wednesday morning

Spring arrived at 6:02 a.m. Wednesday, but you would almost think it was Decembers winter solstice instead. Monday a winter storm brought winds gusting to nearly 45 mph and 3.5 inches of snow, shutting down many state schools including Benson and KMS. Tuesday and Wednesday were both forecast to see lows below zero. If they do, the area will have seen 38 days on which the temperature has fallen below zero. Last winter there were only 14 days on which the temperature fell below zero. An average winter sees 31 days with below zero temperatures. There is still 16 inches of snow on the ground with very few places where black dirt or shorter grasses show through. Last winter at this time all the snow was long gone as the area saw highs reaching 81 degrees March 18, 2012. So far, Marchs highest temperature has been 36 degrees and some forecasters are saying we wont hit 50 this month. Through the rst 18 days of the month, temperatures are averaging nearly 7 degree below normal. Highs have averaged just 28.7 degrees and lows 11.7 degrees. Those are temperatures more typical of the middle February, not March. The spring or vernal equinox comes when the sun is above the equator and on its way northward. It is a time when the day and night are of nearly equal length around much of the world. The date on which we are closest to exactly 12 hours of sunlight in western Minnesota was actually March 17. The sun rose at 7:32 and set at 7:31 on St. Patricks Day. Wednesday the sun rose at 7:25 and sets at 7:35 making for a day that is 12 hours and 10 minutes long. The days are steadily getting longer with two to three minutes of sunlight added each day. We will see more sunlight each day until June 21, the longest day of the year, when the sun rises at 5:34 a.m. and sets at 9:14 p.m. After that, the days will gradually begin to shorten. Date March 17 March 20 April 20 June 21 Dec. 21 Sunrise 7:32 7:31 7:25 7:35 6:29 8:15 5:34 9:14 7:59 4:43 Sunset Sunlight 12 hours 1 minute 12 hours 10 minutes 13 hours 46 minutes 15 hours 40 minutes 8 hours 44 minutes

Revised tax plan...

Rather than seeking a balanced approach to the states budget decit, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce appears to be aligning itself with tea party radicals. According to Chamber President David Olson, the Minnesota Chamber will not support a tax increase of any kind to erase the states projected budget decit. Without a tax increase of any kind, more spending cuts are the only budget balancing alternative left to state policymakers. Translation: larger class sizes, higher tuition, a deterioration in transportation and other public infrastructure, reduced investment in Minnesotas workforce, and a continuation of other deleterious trends of the kind seen all too often over the last decade. Good luck creating a thriving business climate under those

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conditions. State and local taxes per dollar of income for middleincome households are 27 percent greater than what is paid by the wealthiest Minnesotans. This lack of tax fairness reduces the purchasing power of middle income families, thereby stiing business growth and job creation. This is a far greater threat to Minnesotas long-term economic health than is a modest 2 percent tax rate increase on Minnesotas wealthiest households. The Dayton fourth tier income tax proposal offers the only chance during the current legislative session for making progress in reducing the regressivity of Minnesota state and local taxes. For the sake of budget stability, adequate public investments, and a more fair tax system, the fourth tier income tax plan must become law in 2013.

REMINDER
The 75th Annual Meeting of Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light and Power Association Montevideo, Minnesota, will be held on

**Check with your gas company for furnace rebates. Check with your power company for heat pump rebates.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

at Prairies Edge Casino Convention Center. Breakfast buffet and registration begin at 8:30 a.m. 3-20-1c Meeting begins at 10:30 a.m.

GROSSMAN'S
200 13th Street South, Benson, 843-4848
PLUMBING HEATING COOLING

See Grossmans for your ANNUAL FURNACE CHECKUP!