Sups Corner, Page 2 • City of Watkins Fee Schedule, Page 4 • EV-W Holiday Tourney, Page 10
Watkins Christmas Play
- Page 3
Undefeated Start
- Page 9
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
QUICK HITS
EV-W to host
holiday tourney
www.evwvoice.com
Volume 3, No. 50
WATKINS SANTA DAYS
WATKINS
CITY COUNCIL
Santa Claus makes annual visit to Watkins…
The EV-W girls’ basketball team will host their
first-ever holiday basketball
tournament on Thursday,
Dec. 18, and Friday, Dec.
19, in the new Johnson-Peterson gym and the old auxiliary gym. Varsity games
will be held in the J-P gym,
with Mound Westonka
playing Sauk Rapids-Rice
on Thursday at 6 p.m. and
EV-W playing Maple Lake
at 8 p.m. The third-place
game will be held on Friday
at 6 p.m., with the championship game following.
(See the tournament
bracket on Page 10.)
By Laurie Schultz
Pageant
in Watkins
St. Anthony’s Catholic
Church ill hold a Christmas pageant on Saturday,
Dec. 20, during their 4 p.m.
Mass.
Band concert
on Monday
The EV-W Secondary
School will hold their winter
band concert on Monday,
Dec. 22, starting at 7:30
p.m. in the auxiliary gym.
The jazz ensemble, the junior band, and the senior
band will perform, along
with a number of soloists.
Photo by Laurie Schultz
One-year-old Natalie Ehresman (left) was not as thrilled as her big sister Lainey (right) to see Santa Claus on Saturday, Dec. 13,
at Watkins Santa Days. Kids had the chance to meet Santa, shop for presents for $1, and to ice skate during the event.
HOLIDAY TRAIN
Celebration draws huge crowd in Eden Valley…
Christmas
carols before
Mass
Post offices
close early
The post offices in Eden
Valley and Watkins will
close early – 12 noon – on
Wednesday, Dec. 24, and
Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Eden Valley Watkins
VOICE
Photos by Laurie Schultz
To a huge crowd estimated at 5,000 or more, the Minnesota acapella group Home Free performed on the Canadian Pacific
Holiday Train on Saturday, Dec. 13, in Eden Valley. Prior to the train’s arrival, the Eden Valley Citizens for Progress, formerly
the Healthy Communities Group, held a celebration at the Eden Valley Event Center (see below).
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
2
Sups Corner
2
Watkins Christmas Play
3
Birthday
4
Bulletin Board
4
Obituaries
4
Watkins Fee Schedule
4
Classifieds
5
Entertainment
6
Ag News
7
Fourth Grade Girls
7
Manannah News
7
Public Notices
7
Scoreboard
7-10
Boys Hockey
8
Girls Win CMC Tourneys 8
Boys Basketball
9
Girls Hockey
9
Weekly Schedule
9
Wrestling
9
Girls Basketball
10
The Watkins City Council
approved their 2015 levy and
budget during their meeting
on Thursday, Dec. 11.
The city’s 2015 property tax
levy will raise to $322,621 in
2015, an increase of $11,874
from 2014 estimates, or an
increase of 3.8 percent. In all,
in its general fund, Watkins
expects to receive $678,281 in
revenue in 2015, projecting a
positive bottom line of $3,603
against $674,678 in expected
spending in 2015.
In 2014, according to yearend estimates, Watkins spent
$833,712, with only $723,099 in
revenue, deficit spending
$110,613, the bulk of which
went to capital improvements
at the Watkins ballpark, necessary for the Clippers to host
the Class B/C amateur state
tourney in 2015.
In 2015, the various city
funds are expected to run in
the black except in the pool
fund – projected revenue of
$46,000 against projected
expenses of $71,582, requiring
a $25,582 general fund transfer
– and in the water fund – a
small deficit ($1,706) due to
extra maintenance, including
the water tower.
In Other Business…
Assumption
Catholic
Church in Eden Valley will
hold a Christmas pageant,
with caroling, on Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 6:20 p.m.
before their 7 p.m. Mass.
75¢
Property
taxes to
increase
3.8 percent
Mya Christiansen, 5, was completely mesmerized by the
train, watching with Mariah, 9, and Emily, 7, Wojtanowitz.
CP Rail presented $5,000 to the Eden Valley Food Shelf,
represented by Pat Arnold and Mayor Pete Korman (center).
The Kingery Family performed bluegrass music during the
pre-train celebration at the Eden Valley Event Center.
The CP Rail Holiday Train arrived in Eden Valley on Saturday,
Dec. 13, met by a huge crowd on the mild December night.
•The council approved a
policy for the prevention of
frozen water and sewer service lines. It states the City of
Watkins is responsible for the
water mains up to the curb
stop and property owners for
the water lines from the curb
stop to the house. The city is
responsible for the sewer
main line and property owners for the sewer lines from
the main to the house. The
homeowner is responsible for
hiring and paying a licensed
plumber or other firm capable of safely thawing their
service lines. Homeowners
shall contact city hall when
the line is open.
In the event that frost has
reached a depth that may
impact the water service
lines, the city will notify residents and make the following
recommendations: residents
will be requested to leave a
faucet running with a steady
stream (about the width of a
pencil); and to monitor water
temperature by keeping a
thermometer under the running faucet for about five minutes. If the temp drops to 40
degrees or below, the frost
may getting close to the service line, which may be a sign
to start a steady stream of
water.
And residents must notify
city hall as soon as they are
running the recommended
stream of water. The city will
make billing adjustments
according to the council’s
direction. In order to receive
an adjustment, the city must
be notified by the resident
that they are running their
water.
•The council approved a
new fee schedule for the city.
(See chart on Page 4.)
•The council approved the
City of Watkins winter newsletter. The newsletter includes
snow removal and parking
fines. No parking is allowed in
the Central Business District
on Central Avenue between
WATKINS CC – see page 3