1. education
2. school

Fire Prevention, Page 2 • Watkins City Council, Page 3 • Volleyball Wins, Page 9
Homecoming
- Page 3
Football Heartbreaker
- Page 10
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
www.evwvoice.com
Volume 3, No. 41
QUICK HITS
SCHOOL BOARD
Residents to see
$13.85 savings
for every $100K
in property value
Benefit for
Lisa Heinen
in Watkins
A benefit will be held for
Lisa Heinen at the Watkins
Village Hall on Sunday,
Oct. 19, from 8 a.m. to 12
noon to raise funds to help
cover medical expenses.
Heinen has been diagnosed with a rare cancer.
French toast, sausage,
eggs, hashbrowns, coffee, juice, and milk will be
served with costs of $7
for adults, $5 for children
(ages 5-12), and free for
children under age four.
There will also be a silent
auction, Pampered Chef
items, and a bake sale.
Bake sale and silent
auction items can be
dropped off at Ervin and
Lisa Heinen’s house (171
Meeker Avenue North,
Watkins) or Lloyd and Lou
Ley’s (331 Meeker Avenue
North, Watkins). Call Jodi
Heinen (612-251-5906)
with questions. Donations
to the Heinens can also
be made at Farmer’s State
Bank in Watkins.
IMPACT
hosting Family
Fun night
EV-W IMPACT will host
a Family Fun and Funky
Dance night at the Eden
Valley-Watkins Elementary
School in Eden Valley on
Thursday, Oct. 23, from
5 to 6:30 p.m. The free
event will include a meal,
limbo contest, Zumba, and
disco dancing. Register by
emailing impact@eagles.
evw.k12.mn.us by Monday,
Oct. 13.
New hours
for post office
in October
The Eden Valley Post Office started new hours on
Saturday, Oct. 4. They are
8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2
to 4:15 p.m. Mondays thru
Fridays and 10 to 11 a.m.
on Saturdays.
Levy
change
means
savings
to taxpayers
By Michael Jacobson
Photo by Laurie Schultz
The second phase of the Highway 22 construction in Eden Valley is nearly complete, and the detour around town was lifted on
Friday, Oct. 10. Only a few punchlist items remain to be done, as the two-year project comes to a close.
EDEN VALLEY CITY COUNCIL
Detour ends! Highway 22 opens to traffic
After two years
construction of
Highway 22 in
Eden Valley done
By Laurie Schultz
The detour of Highway 22,
thru Eden Valley, ended on
Friday, Oct. 10. With the exception of some repairs and loose
ends remaining on a punch
list, the Highway 22 reconstruction project is complete.
Last year, the contractor,
Kuechle Underground of
Kimball, began the $3.07 million project with Highway 55
(to Stearns Avenue) and
Central Avenue East (from
Highway 22 to Brooks Street).
The project had a late start,
and due to the dewatering process and weather conditions
they were unable to meet the
Nov. 1 deadline.
This year, construction
resumed with Highway 22
from Stearns
Avenue to
Hutcheson Avenue East;
Cossairt Avenue East from
Highway 22 to the east alley;
Coleman Avenue East from
Highway 22 to Brooks Street;
and McCarthy Avenue West.
Due to busy work schedules,
the contractors were unable to
complete the project before the
tentative deadline of Aug. 1.
Councilor Mark Kern questioned city engineer Kent
Louwagie when penalties will
be discussed due to the project
not being completed on time at
the city council meeting on
Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Louwagie stated the con-
tractors are aware of the
repairs remaining on the
punch list and five percent of
every payment made to the
contractor throughout the
project was retained until all
work is complete and
approved. Penalties will also
be taken out of the remaining
percentage, he said.
Kern expressed he was
extremely disappointed that
the contractors dismissed the
youth in this town by not getting the crosswalks painted
before school began. “I’m
appalled how some of the sidewalks turned out and the damage that was done to some of
the businesses along State
Street,” said Kern.
Kern requested the council
receive a copy of the contractor’s punch list.
In the project, new water
main and water services,
curbs, sidewalks, street lights,
and street signs were installed;
topsoil and turf was replaced
where needed; and new trees
were planted. As part of the
project, the Canadian Pacific
Railroad also replaced the railroad crossing in downtown
Eden Valley.
The council approved a pay
request of $197,214.83 to
Kuechle Underground for
work on the Highway 22 project, with Kern opposing the
payment.
In Other Business…
•Dr. Perry Burrows-Lemke,
owner of Eden Valley
Veterinary Clinic, presented
the problem of stray cats and
dogs in Eden Valley to the
council and requested the
EV COUNCIL – see page 5
LUNAR ECLIPSE
‘Blood Moon’ appears in October sky…
75¢
In Other Business…
Eden Valley Watkins
VOICE
103 Stearns Ave. E.,
P.O. Box 7,
Eden Valley, MN 55329
Phone: 320-453-8642
Fax: 320-243-4492
www.evwvoice.com
• Copyright 2014 •
Index
Blotter
Fire Prevention
Manannah News
Homecoming 2014
Watkins City Council
Support Staff Honored
Sups Corner
Bench Dedication
FFA Fall Invite
Letters to the Editor
Bulletin Board
Community
Classifieds
Entertainment
Scoreboard
Public Notices
Football Contest
EV-W Football Salute
EV-W taxpayers will save
$13.85 per $100,000 in house
value due to a reclassification
of the school district’s operating levy.
Superintendent
Mark
Messman, along with business manager Cathy Wuertz,
explained the change to the
school board on Wednesday,
Oct. 8. Due to new legislation,
the levy generated by school
district – which comes to
$803.74 per pupil unit – can be
reclassified…the first $300 in
Tier 1, the next $460 in Tier 2,
and the remaining $43.74 in
Tier 3.
As a result of increased
state aid, due to these tier
changes, EV-W taxpayers will
see $13.85 in savings for
households per $100,000 in
property
value,
they
explained.
The legislation change
came after lobbying from
rural school disricts to get
these tier options for all school
districts, not just the largest
or those in the metro area.
“It’s
minimal,”
said
Messman of the savings, “but
it’s in the best interest of our
taxpayers. We’re not going to
get any more money, but taxes
will go down due to more aid
from the state.”
The EV-W levy, passed in
2009 at $700 with an inflationary factor, is now $803.74. It is
set to expire in 2016. Messman
told the board that the district
might want to seek a renewal
of this levy from district residents in 2015.
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Photo submitted by Randy Hanson
A “blood moon” graced the skies on Wednesday, Oct. 8, as a lunar eclipse was visible for most of North America. Randy
Hanson of Eden Valley captured a picture of the blood-red moon last week.
•The board reviewed the latest testing results and
Multiple
Measurement
Ratings, released by the
Minnesota Department of
Education
in
October.
Messman said the district was
pleased by EV-W Elementary
being named Celebration
Eligible for the third straight
year. EV-W Secondary also
had great scores, he noted, but
is not eligible for state recognition because it does not
receive any Title I aid.
The district was also
pleased with the reduction in
the literacy achievement gap
in its free-and-reduced lunch
subgroup. To address this
widening gap (17.4 percent),
in the MMR action plan, the
district had teachers, regardless of subject area, focus on
language and comprehension,
especially at the start of class.
This year, that achievement
gap dropped to 9.9 percent,
with EV-W still having several
years to reach their goal of 8.7
percent.“We’re pleased with
some of the progress we’ve
made in the literacy,” said
Messman.
SCHOOL – see page 4