The Dassel Area Chamber of Commerce is considering erecting a sign advertising Dassel at the intersection of Highways 12 and 15.
City Administrator Myles McGrath distributed copies of a possible sign plan at the chamber meeting Tuesday at Jimmy’s Pizza in Dassel.
The proposed sign will be painted both sides with reflective paint, for north- and south-bound travelers. The 6-foot by 8-foot sign will promote Dassel services and tourism in the Dassel area.
The sign is estimated to cost $500 to $1,200, and will be funded by annual advertisements for local merchants.
The chamber also is considering a sign or plaque informing tourists at the Mushroom Building along Highway 12 about its past as a 1920 filling station.
Other advertising proposals considered were flyers inserted in publications in the west metro area, and direct mail advertisements.
Law enforcement statewide and nationwide are launching a “Click it or Ticket” enforcement preceding a “rash of deadly crashes over the last month that resulted in 22 vehicle occupant traffic deaths of which 15 of the motorists were not wearing seat belts,” according to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. A seat belt fine is $25, but can cost as much as $115 with administrative fees, the release said.
Enhanced patrols enforcing this will began May 19 and will go through Sunday, June 1. Last year, during a similar enforcement, nearly 8,500 seat belt citations were given.
By Roz Kohls
Staff Writer
Meeker County Memorial Hospital expansion project had a 1,000-yard concrete pour last Monday on the third deck of the addition at 612 S. Sibley Ave., Litchfield.
Approximately 100 trucks from Hutchinson, Willmar and New London delivered concrete during the day to the 75,000 square-foot addition. The concrete was pumped up to the third deck, where the patients’ new rooms will be in the $26.5 million project.
The existing hospital’s structural system has shallow floor-to-floor heights, not leaving much space for the mechanical, electrical and technology infrastructure, according to Ron Powell of BWBR Architects.
Also, hospital officials wanted all levels of the hospital addition to line up with the existing hospital for a seamless transition between the two parts, he said.
The 12-inch thick concrete flat slab structural system was selected to give the hospital maximum usable space above the ceiling system. The thick concrete also provides a deadening effect for sound penetrating the floor system. Good sound isolation is important for privacy concerns. Thick concrete helps with stress reduction, high building strength, and fire prevention, Powell added.
One yard of concrete weighs 2,800 pounds. So, the 1,000 yards poured last Monday weighed 1,400 tons, according to construction superintendent Brad Hackenmueller, contractor, JE Dunn Construction.
The project will include new areas for admission, gift shop, emergency room, radiology, surgery, outpatient services, inpatient rooms, patient care area, and a new weather-friendly main entrance to facilitate patient drop-offs.
Two Coach buses full of National Guard soldiers returning home Wednesday were welcomed home as they were escorted to their home base in Litchfield. Nearly 100 soldiers of the 849th Mobility Augmentation Company came through Cokato around 11:45 a.m. and escorted through town by the Cokato Fire Department. Meeker County Sheriff’s deputies met the buses near the high school were they were then escorted to Litchfield. Signs of the returning soldiers lined the roads from Howard Lake to Litchfield. Pictured are the employees of Paisley Consulting waiting for the soldiers to come through Cokato.
Thanks to generous contributions from the City of Darwin, Lions Club, and the Community Club, Darwin will soon be getting signs along Highway 12 entering the town. The signs will be done by Darwin Monument. It is yet to be determined when the signs will be up, but the ball is rolling on the project. Currently, the only signs signifying it’s a town is the “If you lived in Darwin, you’d be home now.”
The accident that took the life of a Maple Plain man recently (initially reported as from Plymouth by the State Patrol) south of Winsted was counted as one of nine deaths in 10 days that were attributed the lack of seat belt usage by the State Patrol, according to a report just released. Continue reading ‘McLeod accident is counted as one of 9 fatalities in 10 days’
Erik Haapala of Dassel and two others from the 7th Congressional District were elected delegates April 19 to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September.
The other two delegates are Nancy Haapoja of Redwood Falls and Gus Booth of Warroad. The alternate delegates are Michael Barrett of Browerville, Arles Cumpala of New York Mills and Brent Frazier of Pelican Rapids.
Glen Menze of Starbuck was endorsed by the Republicans at the 7th District Convention in Moorhead to go up against Democrat incumbent US Rep. Collin Peterson. Menze is an accountant and former farmer. This is Menze’s second run for Congress, having lost to Peterson in 2000.
Renovation work on the Gust Akerlund Studio foundation is underway, as noted at the Cokato City Council meeting last Monday.
Work began Wednesday, and will include the front half of the building put up on jacks facing Broadway. The whole building will not be jacked up, however, said Museum Director Mike Worcester.
Before the bracing, some initial work is necessary such as disconnecting the ventilation ducting in the crawl space.
The best case scenario is that the work can be done in one month’s time, Worcester noted.
Part of the venting cost was a surprise budget wise, but Worcester hopes it will be small in nature. Council Member Butch Amundsen expressed concern about the extra cost, and that the bid was too low.
Amundsen wanted to know if more surprises would come.
Worcester built in a personal visit from each bidder into the bidding process, and made extra precautions to make sure that bidders knew what they were walking into.
This work is being paid for with a matching grant by the state.
Neither of two drivers saw each other April 11 when their vehicles collided in downtown Dassel.
Kristin Carlson of Dassel was turning her 2001 Pontiac left out of the alley next to Wells Fargo Bank onto Third Street in Dassel.
At the same time, David Hendrickson of Dassel was backing his 1999 Ford out of a parking space on Third Street. It was snowing, so the snow might have obscured the drivers’ vision, said Meeker County Sheriff’s Captain Brad Lindgren.
The vehicles collided, but no one was injured. The vehicles sustained minor damage, according to the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office.
The are five applicants for Al Dunn’s position on the Dassel city council as of Wednesday. Dunn’s position is vacant because he moved out of Dassel. The applicants are Wayne Medcraft, Sam House, Deb Suchy, former Dassel chief of police Duane Benoit, and Mike Scanlon.
House attended the city council meeting April 7 and introduced himself to council members. He said he is related to the Pettit family in Howard Lake, and his wife is a nurse.
