David began the meeting at 7 p.m. They approved the agenda and discussed the minutes from the last meeting. Black asked if the letter had been sent to David M. Olson, canceling the lease agreement between him and the City of Effie for the contract for deed of the former Catholic Church. Knott affirmed that the letter had been sent. Stewart asked if Olson had turned the keys in, and was told that he had not. This item would be discussed later in the meeting when it came up on the agenda. The April 9 minutes were approved.

The Northwoods Saddle Club agreement was the first item on the agenda. The council had a copy of the draft agreement for the horse arena they are planning to build. David said that the council has not yet received a response from the Municipal Boundaries judge on the annexation. Stewart was wondering who wrote up the agreement and asked Greta Drewlow (who was in the audience) where they had gotten it from. She responded that they had gotten the original from the Northwoods Saddle Club in Embarrass and revised it so it was relevant to the Effie saddle club. David said that he would like to have the legal descriptionof the property added to the agreement. The council made the decision to accept the contract, with the property description added and contingent on the Municipal Boundaries annexation ruling.

At this point, Olson came into the meeting and turned in the key. David spoke to Olson and stated that Joe Zimmer had asked if the outside area at the property would be cleaned up. Olson said that there are some things in the yard that he would like to take, such as firewood and a lot of scrap metal, but he is working nine hours a day now, and if he had time he would clean it up. Stewart felt that someone from the council should go into the house and take a look at it. Holcomb wondered, if there was someone else who would be interested in buying the property, how long would they give Olson to clean it up? Stewart said that it has to be done right away. Olson said, “If I don’t have time, then I just can’t do it. I understand that I have passed my limit of time to get my stuff out of there.”

Stewart said, “But I see that Joe wants to clean it up. If he wants to pick it up and hang onto it, I don’t want it to be given to Joe because Joe picked it up, if it’s your stuff. If he wants it and you don’t have a problem with him taking it… it’s on here that Joe wants to clean up the premises but I want to go through the premises before anything else is done to that property. Because what I hear and what I know are two different things. I want you to be able to get your stuff out of there, but I also want the premises cleaned up to where it’s neat.”

The council decided to give Olson until May 21 to take whatever items outside of the building are his.

David brought up the next order of business, which was the back taxes owed on that property. The total amount of back taxes is $8,512. It was the understanding of some of the council members that Olson was paying the taxes, as that is what the contract for deed says. Krickhahn said that if the taxes aren’t paid, the city loses the property. At least 10 percent of the taxes must be paid by July 31.

Stewart said, “We can take care of it, but it goes on him [Olson]. We would have to take action.”

Krickhahn said, “So do we want to own it? Can we find a buyer for it?”

Milo Rahier, who was in the audience, spoke up and asked, “What if someone offered to buy it, outright, with cash, for $10,000, then you can pay off the taxes, and have whatever is left over? Otherwise you are going to be looking for someone to buy a house that has over $8,000 in back taxes owed on it.”

Krickhahn said, “Is that an offer?”

“How much do you want to sell it for? $10,000? That will pay off the taxes by July 31,” Rahier said.

“No,” said Stewart.

“I want to,” said Krickhahn.

“Why?” said Stewart.

“To get it out of our hair!” said both Krickhahn and Black. “He’s made an offer!”

“But he’s the first one, and we haven’t even put it out there yet,” Stewart said.

“I will write you a check for $10,000, and then you guys pay off the taxes and then it’s all clear. Is that how it would work?” Rahier said.

Stewart felt that this item needed to be tabled and discussed further. “We can’t just give it away,” he said. “He [Olson] was buying it for $25,000-$28,000.”

“Right now, I don’t think it’s worth $25,000,” said Black.

Stewart said that he has had two other people ask him about purchasing the property.

Krickhahn asked Rahier what his plans are for the property. He said that he would try to salvage as much as possible out of the house. If the floor in the sanctuary is able to be leveled, he would make that into a two-bedroom loft and tear the rest of it off and clean it up. He also

said that he wanted to park his semi truck next to the building. He is planning to eventually build a two-stall garage behind the building.

Stewart stated again that he felt it should be tabled until the council has the chance to go through the building. “I think we should be able to go through it and see what’s there, and not just throw it over to somebody,” he said.

Krickhahn voiced her concern about tabling it. “If we are just going to come back next month and have this same argument again, it’s not going to go anywhere,” she said. She suggested that, because Rahier came to the meeting with an offer, the council should take a look at that offer first. Secondly, she felt that the committee should get together and make a decision about it. “If we are just going to come back again, and we are going to talk about it again, it’s just going to get talked about, and talked about, and talked about. Nothing’s going to get done. And I am not going to sit on a council where we don’t do anything,” she said.

They talked about a committee that could assess the condition of the house, and then come back to the council with a recommendation as to what to do about the property. David said that a committee would have to be formed, and that only two council members can serve on that committee. They decided that Stewart and Krickhahn would be the committee. Based on that plan of action, a motion was passed to table it.

Next order of business was the pay increase that Waste Water Superintendent Zimmer has requested. This item had been tabled at the April 9 meeting. Zimmer, a salaried employee, requested the 20 percent increase because he was originally hired to work about five hours per week, but has been putting in more hours than that. Stewart felt that there is no way to be sure whether or not Zimmer is actually putting in more time, because Zimmer is also working for the City of Bigfork and works in Effie when he is not in Bigfork.

David asked the clerk if Zimmer turns in a time card. When she said that he doesn’t he asked if perhaps Zimmer could start doing so. Krickhahn pointed out that since Zimmer is a salaried employee, he technically doesn’t need a time card, because he is paid for working a certain amount of hours.

“One of the questions that I had,” said Stewart, “is that we budgeted for this much money for him to do the job. I can’t tell you when that thing is going to break down and when he’s going to have to come out to fix it.”

“When we started this job, other people were paid three times what we are paying him,” said David.

“But we are waiting for him to get his license, too. We are paying two people to do probably a one-man job,” said Stewart.

Black asked if this is the first time that he has asked for a raise, and it was confirmed that it is.

Stewart compared the situation with that of a state snowplow driver. He said that you can’t predict when it’s going to snow, but for what they get paid, they go out as many times as it snows. “They don’t get a raise because they have to go out extra times,” he said.

“But they are paid hourly,” said Krickhahn.

David said that the waste water job requires four hours from the operator and five hours from the inspector per week, for a total of nine hours. The city is paying two people.

Krickhahn said that she didn’t care if they had to pay 10 people, as long as they didn’t have to pay any more. It doesn’t matter to her if she pays someone $50 per hour, or two people $25 per hour to do the same job, as long as the work is getting done. She wondered what the

average rate is for this type of job and asked if perhaps they can try to find out. She said, “I think we need to make an informed decision– not that I want to table it – but I think Zimmer needs to be answered. I seriously do. This is an employee issue and employees can’t be motivated to work and do their job well if they are not being listened to.”

Stewart repeated that he can’t see a way to know if Zimmer is putting in 20 hours a month, or 25 hours a month, and that every week it could be different, depending on what is happening with the sewer system. He said

that perhaps if, for example, there is a real heavy rainy season, and Zimmer has to spend considerably more time on the job, the city could go ahead and compensate him for any extra overtime spent.

Both David and Krickhahn thought that would cost the city a lot more.

“I think it needs to be looked at closer,” said Stewart. “There is no way of saying whether he did or didn’t.”

“I think we will be in trouble if he quits,” said David. Krickhahn agreed with that.

Stewart pushed his chair back from the table, visibly upset. Krickhahn said to him, “So what are your thoughts – that it doesn’t matter if he quits?”

Stewart said, “It’s just that this is just like the house. You guys are always at an ‘either/or’ situation scenario, to where we either do it or we’re screwed. And I just don’t get that.”

“We have been screwed since we let him [Olson] move into that house, Tim,” said Black.

Stewart said “It always comes down to where we come into a meeting and no one has discussed it, but it’s all or nothing. I just feel that I am at the mercy of who works for us. Because we don’t have a choice.”

David said that it was about two months ago that Zimmer came to the council to ask for a raise.

Krickhahn said that is part of her problem. “It’s not that I feel that we have to make a decision immediately, but we take way too long to make a decision.”

“I am just trying to figure who is working for who here,” said Stewart.

“He’s working for us,” said Krickhahn.

Stewart said, “I feel like I am working for them. We either do what they want or we are at the mercy of everybody all the time. I don’t have a problem with him getting compensated for the work that he is doing. But we have already made a budget the first of the year. Where was he at the first of the year? I don’t negate the fact that Joe’s got to do his job. And it’s not an easy job. But this is what we set for the budget.”

“Right,” said Krickhahn. “But budgets sometimes have to be re-adjusted. But here is my point. We come to these meetings, and every meeting we say, ‘table it to the next meeting,’ and nobody does anything to make a better decision.”

“Because it always comes down to the fact that we don’t know what is coming up ahead of time,” said Stewart. “And it’s, ‘Here. This is what we have to figure it out.’ And you want me to make a decision right now on something that you didn’t give me time to go and investigate it to do any analysis.”

“But you were at the first meeting when Zimmer came and asked for the raise, right?” asked Krickhahn.

“Yes, but I am at the meeting at the same time,” said Stewart.

“You could have looked into it after that first meeting,” said David.

“You could have looked into it. She could have looked into it,” said Stewart. “We all could have looked into it, but no one else did, either, so that’s my point. I get no time to see if there is an alternative. Do we have one? Because every time I turn around, it looks like, well, the City of Effie, whatever we have, if we don’t bow down to whoever is working for us right now, we are screwed.”

“I don’t think he exactly meant it that way,” said Krickhahn.

Stewart said, “There’s monies that can be had that should have been had hundreds of times on other stuff, but yet that gets kicked in the side, and now here is this offer on the house, and if we don’t take it right now, nobody is going to buy it! We don’t know that. I have had two other people ask about it.”

Paula Powell, a resident who was in the audience, said, “So basically you are paying Zimmer a salary of $464 per month, for 5 hours per week, plus be on call for 24 hours a day. So asking for a 20 percent raise… you’ve got to think about what he’s worth, too. He’s close, and he knows the system and knows what he’s doing, and he is there, 24 hours a day.”

A motion was made by Holcomb to give the 20 percent raise to Zimmer.

Krickhahn suggested that they meet him half way and give him a 10 percent increase, and they could look into it a little more, and review it.

Holcomb revised her motion to give Zimmer a 10 percent pay increase, and the council would check into it more. Krickhahn seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.

The council passed the Resolution 1012-05, which approves the plans for the Streetscape, and the DOT would be doing all the inspection. The building demolition on the old REA building located next to the Effie Country Service was discussed next. The funding for this project will be paid for mostly by grants. The council approved the demolition, with a suggestion from Krickhahn to be certain that the time frame for the grant is met.

The RV park was next on the agenda. David said that he has not received any estimates on it yet. Powell spoke up from the audience again and said that there needs to be a committee formed for the RV park. She said that all the construction workers in town this summer will need a place to stay, so the RV park is a good idea to get open. David suggested to make a motion to form the committee and put up a flyer asking for interested people to be on it. David and Stewart both said that they would like to be on the committee, and Powell said that she would be on it also.

Krickhahn voiced her concern about the RV park, saying that she felt there needs to be some way to manage the process. She said, “The joke is ‘wait until rodeo weekend, and we can have the rodeo people up here.’ Well, we are also bringing those people into the city and sometimes we may not want some of those people here. I am talking about the drinking, the fights, the brawls, the attempted rapes, the run-overs, the people that end up in the emergency room that have been beaten. Remember, that is the element that we are inviting in, and is that what we want next to the ball park where we have the youngsters playing?”

“It comes down to the fact that we don’t have the police to come in and enforce the rules,” said Stewart.

“But this council has not been very open to having any type of enforcement in the city, so therefore, we will not have any way to enforce it,” said Krickhahn. “That is something that needs to be looked at in the plans for the RV park.”

The next order of business was the code of ethics for the council members. Krickhahn did some research on the internet and found a general code of ethics for council members and got one from a neighboring city council and is expecting a couple more. She said that she found that just about every city has a code of ethics. Some of things that the code addresses are how the council members conduct themselves during meetings, how they deal with the city people who come in and want to voice an opinion, what council members can do when they can’t agree on an issue at a meeting and it gets out of hand, and how they should govern themselves in the public. Krickhahn said that she will draft a code of ethics for the Effie council and bring it to the next meeting.

Holcomb suggested that Krickhahn bring a few drafts so the council has something to choose from.

Stewart said that was one of the reasons that they passed a resolution to accept Roberts Rule for Order because there is a code of ethics written into that. He said that the problem is getting people to follow them.

Krickhahn said that one of the codes that she had checked into has a section at the end that gives consequences for not following the code of ethics.

It was tabled until the next meeting when Krickhahn would bring the drafts.

The next item on the agenda was city ordinances. Krickhahn again spoke up and said that she had finally found a copy of the city ordinances that supposedly had come through the council, were tabled and then went out to council and never made it back. She said that she has been unable to open the file, which is on her computer, and said that she will work on getting it open in time for the next meeting.

Stewart said, “Well, we accepted them at one point when Bill was here.”

“It looks that way,” said Krickhahn, “but I can’t find where they were ever publicly recorded.”

Stewart said that it should be in the minutes. David said that changes in ordinances must be published in the newspaper. Krickhahn agreed, and said that she can’t find that they ever were printed in the paper. She is going to continue to try to open the computer file so the council can review them. Council tabled this issue until the next meeting.

Clay Pitzen was at the meeting. He had asked permission to clean up the steel that is behind the Effie Community Center. Stewart asked what is there. After a discussion of what might be there, Stewart decided that he had to go outside and look. Pitzen joined him. After further discussion, they gave him permission to take some of the items.

Rodeo Daze was discussed next. Black said that she is working on getting a committee together and she thinks they need to have more food vendors this year. Stewart asked if the committee is going to charge a vendor fee. Black said that there is always a vendor fee. Stewart said that he has never seen an amount that was collected. Black said that the money goes back into the rodeo fund.

“I am confused,” said Stewart. “The city gains money for the rodeo committee?”

“Yes,” said Black. “That’s where we [the rodeo committee] get our funding for the following year’s Rodeo Daze.”

“Then the city doesn’t have to pitch in as much for it,” said Holcomb.

“I am confused,” said Stewart, again. “The city gains money and then gives it to the rodeo committee?”

“It goes back into the bank for the Rodeo Daze,” repeated Black.

“Don’t we also give money to the rodeo committee?” asked Stewart.

“That’s another thing. Without the pull tab tax from the bar being shut down, we’re not going to have a lot of money,” said David. “That’s how we have been funding a lot of the kids’ games and fireworks.”

Stewart asked about the American Legion. American Legion member Dan Brinker was in the audience. “All of our work for the Rodeo Daze is volunteer,” he said.

“But doesn’t the American Legion pay for some of the stuff, like the Bouncy Castle?” Stewart asked.

“No,” said Black. “It comes out of the rodeo committee fund.”

Black said she would be putting up flyers asking for volunteers. She said that they have received some funding from the North Itasca Electric Round Up, and there would probably be more funds coming in as well.

The next topic that came up was the American Legion’s request for a four-day temporary liquor permit for rodeo weekend. They are planning to use their permit for a “beer garden” type of event to be held in the parking lot at Effie Country Service. “It isn’t for certain that we are going to do it,” said Brinker. “It hinges on whether or not Marshall [Oelmann] is going to open up the bar [Tavern on the Edge], and rumor has it that he might be going to open up.”

Both David and Stewart said that Oelmann is planning to open. “I talked to him right before the meeting,” said Stewart. “He said that he would know by next month whether or not he would be open for July, and he would know before our next meeting.”

Brinker said, “If he does open, then we won’t be doing it.” He explained to the council that if the bar does not open and the American Legion moves forward with their plans, that Effie Country Service will take care of the insurance, and the store employees will run the event. The American Legion will be the holders of the city-issued permit.

Stewart said that he would have to abstain at this point, due to conflict of interest.

David said that Clerk Knott is working on getting together a packet of the ordinances and the state statutes for Oelmann. “And from there, the council will have to decide if they are going to give him the license. That will probably be at the June meeting,” said David.

Stewart said, “When I talked to Marshall today, he planned on being open. But he can’t guarantee that, and being that the American Legion has to get their stuff in a month, I am going to have to abstain. I have dual interest in this.” When Krickhahn said that the American Legion is not asking for a vote tonight, Stewart said, “But I am the vice-commander of the American Legion so I am leaving this up to you guys. I am part of two processes on this, so I am going to leave it up to you. I have to abstain.”

Black verified with Brinker whether or not he was asking for approval at the meeting. He said he was not asking for approval, he was simply letting the council know that these plans were in the works.

Stewart repeated that he would have to abstain, and that later on, the other council members will have to make the decision concerning the American Legion request. Holcomb made the motion to table this until the next meeting, when Oelmann should have an answer. Stewart seconded the motion, then remembered that he is abstaining. Black then seconded the motion, and it was tabled.

Mowing was discussed. Eagle Custom Service has done the mowing in the past, and has already mowed once this year. David said that he told the mowing company not to mow over the sewer area because the council had talked about having Zimmer do it for half the cost. The council discussed what the cost of that section would be, because the mowing bill was just one amount. They debated about what half the cost would be. At one point, Stewart offered to mow the sewer area for $25. David said they would have to look back into the minutes from 2009 to find out what the broken down costs are.

Krickhahn made a motion that Zimmer can mow that area for half the price that Eagle Custom Service does it, and if half the price isn’t $25, then Stewart can do it for $25. It was seconded and passed. Eagle Custom Service will do the other mowing.

In other business, the council approved the bills, gave Powell $25 to purchase flowers for various pots around town; accepted the Mutual Aid Agreement with the Itasca County Sheriff’s Department; and tabled the potholes on Summit Avenue until the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.

This was done because this resolution was to change the order of business at the council meetings by allowing the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America at all of the future meetings following the Call to Order.

Council made and approved a motion to accept Resolution 2012-16 and immediately following that motion the Pledge was recited by all attending the meeting.

In other business listed on the council’s agenda for this meeting, the following items were approved with motions.

•Acceptance of the items in Working Foreman Bradley Marlette’s report that did not require separate motions of approval. This list included a reminder to the council that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN/DOT) will be working on Hwy. 6 in 2016. Plans need to be made to get any work done in that area on utilities that will need to be done in the near future while the street is dug up. Those projects will be much more expensive if work is done after MN/DOT road work is completed, as then the road will have to be dug up again and then repair work to the highway will have to be a city expense. “The City Hall roof is leaking,” said Marlette. He had obtained a $500 quote for repair from Joe Gareri. Council told Marlette to go ahead with the repairs. Richard Harwood had been in contact with Marlette about his yard water flow problems. Harwood attended the council meeting to find out what could be done. There was a long discussion on this problem before the final decision was made to have the city provide a culvert, as per standard procedure, and it would be up to Harwood to install it. The city would not be able to provide any of the labor, but Marlette will be allowed to provide any helpful hints he knew of to correct this problem. Marlette wanted to know if the council wanted to open the Deer/Moose Lake Park. It was decided to open the park by Memorial Weekend, contingent upon the Deer River Police Department’s ability to be able to open and close the gate. “The Deer River High School Industrial Arts class,” said Marlette, “under the direction of Mike Newton will be making the letters for the City Hall building.”

•Permitting Marlette to proceed with the temporary repairs on cracked streets to extend their life. “There is a total of 1,733 feet of these cracks and three patch areas that need to be done,” said Marlette. “The total cost will come to about $13,000.” Deer River City Clerk Victor Williams and Marlette reviewed Marlette’s budget and found that there are funds in place for these repairs.” “These are basic maintenance repairs that have to be done,” said Clerk Williams.

•To have Marlette order the yellow protective covering for the top of the fence around the southside Deer River Lions/City of Deer River Park. “We have received a lot of complimentary comments on the new fencing there,” said Marlette.

•Approving the purchase of the JAZee, as per Marlette’s recommendation, to replace the 12-year-old mower now in use. The new mower will be a Country Clipper JAZee Pro model 2760, 27 H.P. with 60-inch deck at the cost of $5,846.05, with no charge for delivery.

•Approving up to $1,500 for the cost of Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping of the city utility lines and connections. This motion adds $1,000 to the $500 previously approved. “It just makes sense to do that work now,” said Marlette, “when we are doing the locates and marking them for Paul Bunyan Communications.”

•Allowing Marlette to contact Express Employment to see about hiring a part-time person, for up to 30 shifts, to keep up with the mowing. “This will give us the flexibility we need,” said Marlette, “so that Steve Williams and Jason Lundquist can be learning more about the duties that I have been handling.”

•Allowing a city resident to make weekly payments of $75 on the past due $400 water/sewer bill while the city allows the water to remain on. The resident will be charged the $100 shut-off fee, as Marlette had gone to shut the water off on May 14 but left it on while the resident appealed her case to the council, and she will have to keep her current bill paid on time while catching up the past due bill.

•Approving the request from Deer River Police Chief Tamara Apitz to have Murray Ward inspect the residence at 410 3rd Ave. S.E. “This house has been foreclosed on,” said Apitz, “and is vacant at this time. I have received reports that the floor is rotting and unsafe to walk upon. There are also reports of a shifting chimney that is leaving a gap in the roof causing rainfall to enter the interior of the house.”

•Approving signatures on the Master Services Agreement with Minnesota Power, an operating division of ALLETE, Inc., for the provision and installation of a 60-foot Class 2 Pole for the Deer River City emergency siren at the cost of $4,450.

•To acknowledge the council’s need to prepare a resolution concerning the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued GASB Statement No. 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions.

•Resolution 2012-17 accepting the $2,000 donation from the Deer River Lions Club to the City of Deer River that is to be applied towards the purchase of the fence for the southside Lions Club/City of Deer River Park.

•Allowing Mayor John O’Brien’s signature on the Deer River Lions Club application/permit for the display of fireworks by Zambelli Fireworks during the Deer River Lions Club Wild Rice Festival celebration.

•Payment of the bills listed on the April 26 ($8,233.36), April 30 ($7,742.96), May 10 ($19,752.38) and May 14 ($8,524) Council Approval Report except for the holdout of the billing from the Law Office of Shaw & Shaw until the bill concerning the Deer River License Bureau is correctly billed. This motion included the payment of the two City Hall payrolls for April 30 ($9,927.85) and May 14 ($9,519.33) and mayor and the council payroll for May 14 of $890.48.

•Changing the 6 p.m., Monday May 28 meeting to 6 p.m., Tuesday May 29 because of the Memorial Day holiday.

•In separate motions the minutes from:

(1) The regular April 23 meeting.

(2) The special April 24 meeting for the purpose of the face-to-face interviewing of the four final applicants, Mark Box, Robin Pederson, Karin Elhard and Sonja Olson, in consideration for clerk treasurer trainee position. Council had agreed on the seven questions to ask them and points were awarded for the answers. After this process was done scores were added up and Council made a motion to offer the clerk treasurer trainee position to Box. “He has accepted the position,” said O’Brien.

(3) The May 7 public hearing for the purpose of the Board of Equalization review. The only residents in attendance were Keith Matson and Gordon Herrgard.

City Attorney Andrew Shaw was not in attendance at the council meeting. But, he had been in contact with council members. Shaw is still working on matters to see what needs to be done to get the Deer River License Bureau reopened.

“Documents have been coming in,” said Clerk Williams. “There are some stipulations that we see the reasoning for compliance with and there are others that we disagree with. There are five or six items that we need to do.”

One of the items, staying closed until October, seems to be a bit unreasonable to the council. “We want to work towards avoiding a public hearing,” said O’Brien, “and getting open before October. Right now, we are working towards getting everything in order so that we can make a decision on whether or not to reopen the license bureau.”

Neither Shaw nor the council have heard anything back from the Radio Group so nothing can be done to move forward on the signing of the agreement. Councilman Steve Geving said, “This needs to be settled. It has dragged on long enough.”

During the session, a new graduated penalty scale was discussed for cities in this situation. Currently, the penalty is the loss of an entire payment even if the paperwork is one day late. While this change didn’t make it into law, a number of cities have been forgiven their penalty if their paperwork is submitted by June 30 of this year.

LGA is an important state program that helps local cities pay for police and firefighters, street maintenance and highways, and economic development. It was designed to help cities that have greater needs than what they could reasonably cover in property taxes. These dollars are critical to ensure that no matter where you happen to live in Minnesota, the quality of services will remain basically constant.

Trout was one of 46 youth selected from numerous qualified applicants from across the country. She was required to complete an extensive application, which included the submission of transcripts, an essay about the Second Amendment, a personal statement, and letters of personal recommendation.

Trout is an honor student and a member of band, choir, National Honor Society, the DROBA Robotics team, FCCLA and student council, and is also on the WarEagle track and field team. She has also been involved with 4-H for seven years as a member of the Deer River Northern Stars 4-H Club and is an active youth leader and member of the Itasca County 4-H Shooting Sports team. Her interests include shooting sports, farming, photography, and volunteering in the community.

Trout is a member of the 2012 MN Air Rifle Team and will be competing at the 4-H National Shooting Sports Competition in Grand Island, Neb. the week before leaving for Washington, D.C. She was also chosen as one of Deer River’s representatives by the American Legion to attend Girls’ State Leadership Conference at Bethel and will attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy later this summer as well.

Trout knew that sending in her application was a long shot but wrote in her personal statement “I try my hardest not only to excel in school but also in my involvement with my extracurricular activities and in 4-H. I also have a deep love for American history and to be able to attend Y.E.S. would be a wonderful firsthand experience to learn about vital pieces of history. If selected, I believe I would be able to bring back information to share with my peers, family, and my community and also find a way to incorporate it into educating youth.”

Members of the 2012 Y.E.S. class will participate in individual speeches and debates, tour the NRA headquarters, museum, and shooting range, visit the monuments and memorials, tour the nation’s capital and Quantico Marine Corps Base, participate in a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and much more. The week will end with an awards banquet and dinner at NRA Headquarters where the participants will be eligible for college scholarships.

The National Rifle Association launched Y.E.S. in 1996 in an effort to encourage America’s youth to become active and knowledgeable citizens at both national and local levels. All funding for the program is provided by The NRA Foundation through monies raised by Friends of the NRA. Friends of NRA is a grassroots, fund-raising program organized by local volunteers. Since the program’s inception in 1993, Friends of NRA has funded thousands of local projects that include youth education efforts, firearm training, and wildlife conservation projects.

This thought is one that was stressed during the May 15 special event at the Deer River High School that the public was invited to attend to get some hands-on experience with technology tools that some of the students in the Independent School District (ISD) 317 are currently working with in their classrooms.

Individuals and families attending this event were welcomed by ISD Superintendent Matt Grose who introduced John Kinsey and Paul Musegades. They work in the kindergarten through 12 education field for Apple, who is partnering with the Deer River district in their advancing use of technology in the schools.

“We want to use this opportunity to talk to community members about what is going on in our schools and what we are looking forward to,” said Grose.

Grose went on to talk about the vision of improving students’ skills and achievement set out for the schools in this district. “We will be talking to you about expanded learning time. We think that some of the tools, like the one you will see tonight, will help us achieve our goals.”

The learning process in the schools today is very much different than it was in years past. Grose illustrated this point by talking about one of the classrooms that was learning from blogs.

“They are conversations that can happen between anybody, anywhere in the world,” said Grose. “Homework used to be written on paper, handed in to the teacher, and then graded. The teacher was the only one who would see it. With the blogging process, youngsters can interact online with anyone they want or they can stay within the confines of their classmates.”

Research used to be done in the libraries by going through books to find the needed information. Now that information can all be found online, enhanced by having multiple sources of information, plus the availability of graphics and then it can be shared around the world. “This gives our students creative powers unknown before,” said Grose.

Musegades did most of the speaking for the Deer River’s Apple partner representatives. He begin talking about iPads, how simple they were to operate and how they worked as a tool in education. Kinsey passed out iPads to everyone attending the meeting.

“Kids today want to know why school is not the way their lives are,” said Musegades, “they want that connection that they have in their private life. Before, they would go to school and have to turn off all of their electronic communication devices. That’s not the world that they are living in today.”

Musegades went on to talk about teaching, using his own experience as a teacher to illustrate the point he wanted to get across to those at this meeting. First, he had the knowledge from college, then he soon learned that it wasn’t enough to be knowledgeable about the subject being taught.

“Teachers have to know how to teach,” said Musegades, “how to adjust their learning style to how the students learn. That worked for a long time, then technology came along and we found out that we have more to learn.”

Technology was put to use, but it was soon discovered that there was a difference in the classrooms and schools as to how much this advanced the students’ learning.

“The technology was used for substitution,” said Musegades. “For example, say a student wrote a paper on an iPad, instead of writing it out by hand. That is substitution. Then, the use of a spell checker to make sure everything is correct is good, but that is just augmentation. But, if the teacher and the student have an iPad, the student can email that paper directly to the teacher, who then can correct it and email it back to the student. As long as the paper stays in its original format, the student can add color, graphics and sound to their work with the use of the different programs on the iPad. The student can then not only share this information with their teacher and classmates, but they can share this enriched information on the web with others around the world. There is no limit. That’s what teachers want to be looking at, to give their students the best education in learning and creativity that is possible.”

With that, the adults and students attending this meeting were instructed on the simple steps to operate an iPad and visited several of the sites to see what this technology could offer to students and adults alike in the gathering of information and learning experiences.

The programs went from a very simple game to help younger students learn fractions in a fun way to having bookshelves of textbooks that could be read, heard or viewed. “Having an iPad is certainly easier for the older students than carrying from 30 to 40 pounds of books around all day,” said Musegades.

Volunteers have been busy getting this plot of land ready for all levels of gardeners who want to plant fresh produce for eating or flowers.

“This year there weren’t any trucks or tractors getting stuck,” said Janet Christensen. “The weather has been much better for getting everything ready.”

The land for this garden was donated by John Krantz. Rice hulls, sand and dirt were donated and brought in to be mixed in with the predominately heavy clay soil to lighten it up. Rotor tilling was to be done on May 16 to have the garden spaces ready for planting.

“We have plots for 25 people ready this year,” said Christensen. “Each of the plots is about 16 X 18.” They are laid out in such a manner that there is a wide walkway between the plots to each of them except for the very middle one.

The donated fencing is up all around the garden plots to help keep the deer out. To make sure of that, electric wire fencing will be strung at the top of this fence.

There were about 12 or so individuals who had indicated interest in using a plot for planting last year when weather caused the cancellation of plans for this garden space in 2011. “They are still interested in getting a plot,” said Christensen.

“The plots will be ready for planting by Memorial Weekend,” continued Christensen, “and some crops, like spinach, potatoes and onions can be planted before then.”

There have been a good number of volunteers who have put in their time to get the Community Garden in shape and ready for the 2012 planting season.

“Some individuals can only do so much or can only offer a limited amount of time,” said Christensen, “but their help has been invaluable. It also helps that there is a core group of volunteers who have kept things going.”

This group includes Christensen, her husband Marty, Jim Peterson, Greg Swanson, Rollie Church, Jim Tarbell, Bob Baker and Pastor Dwight Rudquist. “I hope I didn’t leave anyone out,” said Christensen.

Rudquist is still interested in getting in a pumpkin patch for the kids.

Christensen plans on using one of the plots to plant tomatoes. “I do have garden space at home,” said Christensen, “that I will use for growing what I need, but I thought that I would plant some tomatoes here to donate to individuals, food shelf, community cafe or some organization. If we run out of plots for this year I will let someone else have my plot.”

The plots are small enough to be manageable for first-time gardeners. And, if someone wants some garden space, but does not want an entire plot they can share a plot with others.

“That way it’s not such a scary start,” said Christensen. “We don’t want to see new gardeners get discouraged during their first try at gardening.”

The plots will have to be weeded and watered by the gardeners. They will be able to use water from the church.

“There is more space that we can make into garden plots,” said Christensen, “if the interest in having a space is indicated this year. It is a low area and will have to be built up like this one was, but that can be done.”

J. Christensen at (218) 246-8266 and Peterson at (218) 246-2316 are the go-to individuals for arranging for a plot or for any additional questions gardeners might have about the Deer River Community Garden.

Chair Brad Box called the room to order for the flag pledge, and once the directors approved their agenda, Anne Koetz and Heather Schjenken talked about the Prevention and Intervention Grant. Schjenken was wearing “The Movement” T-shirt.

“This first year is about assessing and capacity building. We’re not prohibitionists, we’re trying to delay and reduce,” said Goetz. One thing they’ve already done was to provide two server trainings to 49 local area bartenders.

They reported high interest among the students. “Project Northland” is a prevention curriculum being integrated into some of the grade levels, and they expect it to be going full-bore by next year.

They have selected four students to go to a conference in Nashville, and 40 to 50 kids will be able to go to Quadna, with expenses paid. This is important for the leadership training among the young people.

They completed a community survey of 1,000 random households and learned that both the community’s and students’ perception of kids’ drug and alcohol use is that it is greater than it really is. The grant will help address that perception gap.

Lee Pederson asked if this experience “will cut down on some of the stuff from your previous work experience.” (Goetz used to work at the county level.) Her answer was yes, that was why she took this job. “I wanted to start further upstream.”

The board expressed their thanks to the women for their efforts.

Students Allen Huju and Sophie Pehrson were newcomers on the blood drive team, but they told the board about the North Memorial blood drives they have participated in. Students donated 1,061 units in 31 drives, and the school received an award on May 2 for this accomplishment.

The Deer River DROBA encore was also this evening. The machine whirred along over the carpet, and showed the audience how it picked up balls to shoot baskets.

The students discussed the challenges they faced in putting the thing together from boxes of disparate parts, the difficulties in re-assembling when it was wrong, the passing of inspections, the constantly changing obstacles from having to play in alliances of three teams during competition.

There are hundreds of wires, connections, parts, programmed pneumatics, and everything must meet strict specifications.

The team’s mentor, Randy Caton, again spoke of how this project really belonged to the students. “They know how the robot works, because they made it. “

Director Pederson often asks questions related to motivation, and he asked the students what they took from this. Kevin Drotts said, “Things aren’t always hopeless.” That remark drew a big laugh.

Kelsey Box answered, “We all learned how to work together.” Emily Trout said, “The longer we stayed into the night, the more we got done.” Sophie Pehrson responded, “I can actually do something that’s awesome!”

The Brazilian exchange student on the team, Joao Pioli, said, “The group work – we made a robot!” Allen Huju said, “It gets you ready for the real world – more experience.”

The students showed a video of their robot in action with others on the floor of the competition arena. Especially considering that many of the other teams had years more experience, that they had a great deal more money to work with (in terms of having a traveling team of 70 members, for example, and hundreds of cheer leaders), this rookie team from Deer River did indeed do an awesome job.

Two members from the Blandin Foundation were in the audience, and they again received thanks and recognition from both the students and the school board for their $5,000 financial contribution that made everything possible.

The next set of guests at the board meeting demonstrated that there is talent in the younger grades of the high school, as well. Social studies teacher Lynn Smith-Evans accompanied her 8th grade State History Day team members, who presented their project, “Dressed to Compress.” The display board is shaped like a corset.

This team was Deer River’s first junior high group to make it to state. Once again, Deer River was competing against older, more experienced and wealthier contestants.

Emma Shaw, Torie Monroe and Haylee McCarroll made some connections between women’s undergarments and the feminist movement. They discovered that opportunities and choices changed as the undergarments evolved.

Now came the regular business for the board. Members approved the minutes of last month’s meeting, as well as the emergency meeting that was held on April 19. The board accepted the verbal resignation of Josh Solem at that meeting.

The payroll for April was approved, The consent agenda included the resignation of Jason Thurm, the withdrawal of Russ Bouchie’s request to retire in June (he will stay on to help during the summer), and the approval of nine returning teacher contracts and nine new hires.

They acted on the second reading of Policy 509 regarding special education enrollment. The motion to adopt it carried.

A new policy required by the Minnesota Department of Education (#807) is necessary to get health and safety funding. It received its first reading, so no action was taken.

A resolution to commit $200,000 of the general funds to equipment and technology expenditures passed unanimously.

Carol Risberg commented on the revised FY12 and preliminary FY13 budgets: “We’re holding our own.” The board approved the budgets.

A transportation item had been added to the regular agenda. A two-year contract agreement with Nor-Tran with the option of an additional two years was reached during negotiations held recently.

Brad Box had been part of that discussion, and he expressed his appreciation of Nor-Tran. “They came to the table wanting to be our provider . . . They do a great job for us.”

Principal Amy Galatz reminded the board of the King School pow wow on May 17, the field trips across the next couple of weeks, and the all-school assembly and celebration on May 21 to recognize good citizenship, good attendance, the wellness walking challenge and all the pride paws the kids have earned.

The fifth graders will go up to the high school on the last day of school as part of their transition.

Galatz also commented on all the new hires coming on board next year. The interviewing process has been a lot of work, but she is excited.

She asked the board to approve a local literacy plan for pre-K through 5. Superintendent Matt Grose praised the fact that this local plan embraces the pre-school level all the way through grade five, not just to third grade. The board approved the plan.

High School Principal Lisa Cooney announced they’d completed the master schedule for next year, including great use of the telepresence room. Moreover, Deer River is now only about four classes shy of being able to offer the AA degree via telepresence.

She announced that the formal approval for Ramp Up for Readiness has been given. This is a guidance program embedded into the curriculum.

U. S. News and World Report awarded Deer River High School the district’s first bronze medal ranking for academic achievement, one of only 4,800 schools in the nation. This award was based on data from 2009 –2010.

Four of seven positions for next year have been filled. The math position was filled by a Deer River citizen, Liza Wishard, and she will be working with the robotics team, too.

The scholarship banquet was held May 14, and Cooney asked people to thank the local community for putting money into the pockets of Deer River graduates.

Activities Director Brent Schimek said the lettermen’s banquet is on May 23. The fall sports have already had their organizational meetings. There are several coaching openings for next year. They need to have annual approval of the resolution for the Minnesota State High School League membership renewal. The motion for that renewal was approved.

There was a meeting about approval of 6th grade extra curricular activities with the junior high. They would have to be non-contact sports, have no pony league or feeder system and would cause no financial hardship to the district. This will become part of the handbook, so it didn’t need approval.

He then discussed the need for lettering in robotics, as it is a recognized high school league activity. The motion for approval was made and carried.

Mark Schjenken gave the Nor-Tran report. He expressed his appreciation for the new contract. “It’s been great working with you guys!”

Kathy Pierce gave the out-of-school programming update. She and Jim Miller took three students to a big national service learning conference in Minneapolis last month. Students Tayler Braford and Zyon Wickre reported on the seminars they attended with Mikey Scott. They learned about matters as diverse as child soldiers in Africa and texting while driving.

Miller reported that the summer learning academy still has one substitute position to fill.

Russ Bouchie gave the summary of buildings and grounds activities. The radon testing was completed, an exhaust system was put in the King School tunnels, the fencing near the U-Save has been removed, the football field is ready to be top dressed, and they are scrubbing the hallways.

Pederson thanked the principals for all their work in the hiring process.

Superintendent Matt Grose concluded the meeting. The last strategic planning session continued to identify priorities; the district tech group continues to meet; the teacher evaluation group is polishing their list of expectations.

The community convening on May 24 was even recognized in the Star-Tribune. He met with the new University of Minnesota president, and the Itasca Area Schools Consortium made the news on Minnesota Public Radio.

The next regular meeting of the school board is 6 p.m. on June 11 in the media center of the high school.

“I had let the puppies out as usual for their morning run,” said Jean, “and I was having coffee when I looked out to see where they were at. They were sitting at the bottom of the hill, looking up. They had not even done their jobs yet.”

She couldn’t figure out why the dogs were acting so strangely, then, looking up on the hill, she discovered the reason. “There was an eagle sitting there, looking at them and not moving away.”

Jean quickly called her puppies in as two of them were of a small breed and she did not want the eagle to grab them and take off.

Time went on, and still the eagle did not go anywhere. “I contacted my neighbors to let them know about the eagle because I wanted to show it to them,” said Jean. The neighbor told her that the bird looked like the eagle that had been sitting on his dock the day before.

Word of the eagle at the Ortloffs’ quickly spread around the neighborhood. “Before I knew it,” said Jean, “just about everyone was coming over to see it. One of the ladies that came over wanted to go feed the eagle some fish. I told her not to do it, because I did not think that was a good idea. But, when I wasn’t looking she tossed a few fish near it. The eagle did come up to the fish and took a couple of bites. It seemed to be able to get up on its feet, but it couldn’t walk very well.”

The Ortloffs decided that they had better call the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as there definitely seemed to be something wrong with the eagle.

“I’ve been an eagle watcher for years,” said Jean. “If I’m doing dishes or anything else and see an eagle, I will quit what I am doing to watch them. They are an awesome sight.

“DNR Conservation Officer Mike Fairbanks answered this call,” continued Jean. “He walked right up to the bird and covered it with a towel. It didn’t fight him or anything.”

Dave told Fairbanks that he could use the garage to examine the bird to see what obvious signs of injury could be spotted.

The most obvious injury at this close up range was the eye on one side, the beak and on the head above the injured eye. Blood could be seen at those locations.

“Fairbanks said it looked like the eagle had gotten caught in wire,” said Jean. “At first it seemed as though the wings were okay, but Dave pointed out the ruffling around one of the wings. That too might have gotten caught in the wire.”

Dave, who was helping Fairbanks examine the eagle, had stretched out one of its wings. He said, “The tip of its wing went way past my shoulder.”

A closer examination of the bird revealed that Dave’s suggestion of an injured wing could possibly be true. The eagle also could not stand up because one of its feet was badly damaged.

Fairbanks did have one theory on the eagle’s problems. “The eagle had seemed disoriented,” said Dave. “Fairbanks thought that it might possibly have lead or blood poisoning.”

“I asked Fairbanks what would happen to the eagle,” said Jean. “He said that it would probably be taken to the raptor center in Garrison (the Wild & Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Center) to see if it could be nursed back to health. If not, it would be put to use in a manner that would best benefit the public’s education of eagles.”

Fairbanks did not directly take the eagle to the raptor center. He dropped it off at the DNR Regional Office in Grand Rapids. He said, “I am not sure if it was taken to the facility in Garrison or if it was taken to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center. The eagle might have been injured for some time as it had not eaten in a while. It didn’t have much meat on its breast bone, but the wings did seem to be okay.”

The Ortloffs have lived in the Marcell area for about four years. “We have seen lots of eagles close to where we live,” said Jean, “but we have never had one stay around like that one did. I had thought that when a wild animal or bird is injured like that it is best not to try and feed it. And, I was right. Fairbanks told us that an injured bird or animal burns up more energy trying to eat when it is hurt than it gets in value from the food. I just want to let others know that if they come across an injured animal or bird it is not a good idea to feed it. They might think that they are helping it out, like the lady who was at our place did, but in reality they aren’t. Don’t do it. Call in the experts to handle the situation like we did. That is the kinder solution.”

100 Years Ago—Wm. Sanger of Mankato, a new settler, arrives to make home at Jessie Junction. A picture show of Yellowstone National Park will be shown at the Methodist Church. Admission is 10 cents. A baseball team is organized in Deer River. Carl Reithner is the manager and Otto King was elected secretary-treasurer.

90 Years Ago—Thirteen to graduate from Deer River High School: Hattie Anderson, Olive Carlson, Lillian Dunn, William Dunn, Clara Johnson, Kathleen Keenan, Donald McCallum, Eleanor Moran, Bernice Mostoller, Nels Olson, Clyde Parker, John Prazak and Frances Warner.

80 Years Ago—Deer River RFD Rt. 1 will now qualify for daily delivery rather than tri-weekly. Deaths: Peter Doty, former local Justice of the Peace, dies at Lake Julia Sanatarium. He came to Deer River in 1917; and Mrs. S.D. Patrick who came to Deer River about 40 years ago when her husband worked as a surveyor and estimator for Itasca Lumber Co. She later moved to Grand Rapids.

70 Years Ago—Heavy snowfall – about four inches fell in Deer River on May 13. Al Forsman, who has been employed in an undertaking establishment in Albert Lea, came to visit in this area berore he is called for army service. Carl Shogren Sr. home near Popple River in Kinghurst township burned to the ground. Father Joseph Hughes, Duluth, visited his parents Mr. and Mrs. F.J. Hughes.

60 Years Ago—Inger Indians baseball team is reorganized. James Jackson is manager, David Cloud is captain and coach. Deaths: Mrs. William Osufsen dies while enroute to Deer River from Vero Beach, Fla. Mr. and Mrs. Osufson came to Max Township from North Dakota in 1911. They built Anchor Inn resort in 1920.

50 Years Ago—Oral polio vaccine clinic is set in Deer River and Bigfork. Movies at Park Theatre in Bigfork: “Tammy and the Bachelor” with Debbie Reynolds; Rogers & Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song.” Movie at Lyceum in Deer River: Jerry Lewis in “The Errand Boy.” Karyl Krantz of Deer River receives nursing cap at Gustavus Adolphus college.

40 Years Ago—Mrs. Helen Carrigan, Effie, retires as first and second grade teacher at Effie after 35 years of teaching in District #318. Bigfork Lions honor athletes. Cheerleader Laurie Holsman, Vince Holsman, Dale Scholl, Lex Jenson, Ron Dauenbaugh were given special awards when 23 athletes, three cheerleaders and seven coaches were honored. Ty Bischoff Sr., a member of the 1933 Bigfork team, was the oldest letterwinner present. Thirty-nine will graduate at Bigfork this year.

30 Years Ago—Deer River High School graduates: Adam Alexander, Jody Anderson, Jathon Bebeau, Frank Bowstring, Polly Boyer, Coleen Braford, Dale Cartwright, Juanita Chilson, Gary Daigle, John Daigle, Duane Danis, Laurie DeWitt, Pam Doty, Robin Edgeton, Greg Ellis, Addie Erickson, Darryl Evans, Julie Figgins, Renae Gielen, Sherry Giles (co-valedictorian), Sherry Godfrey;

Michelle Grife, Edith Grossell, Tom Gullickson, Sheldon Hallett, Rita Harper, Shellie Hjelden, Sandra Hope, Troy House, Lisa Howard, Doug Huju, Melly Humble, Kathy Isaacs, Mary Jarvi, Mary Jerry, Donna Kamann, Tony Larson, Mark Licke, Karen Lind (co-valedicturoian), Tammy Lubbers, Ken Mackley, Tammy Mann;

Rod Martin, Sue Mattila, Dan McClure, Theresa Mielzarek, Lynette Miller, Joel Moede, Mary Moore, Richard Niemela, Michael Olesen, Phillip Olson, Bob Ott, Chuck Peck, Philip Preen, Jo Puddicombe, Leah Ramos, Jason Reed, Kathy Riedl, John Risberg, Daniel Roth, Scott Roth;

Amy Rutanen, Alex Schaaf, Scott Schjenken, Theresa Schultz, Bobbie Jo Serfling, Rick Serfling, Wade Serfling, Ann Shearen, Sharlene Shears, Andrew Soliday, Wanda Stangland, Chuck Storlie, Valerie Sweedman, Deanna Tendrup, David Trudel, Chuck Warr, Jeff Wilson, Jody Windt, Ken Wood and Danny Zieman.

20 Years Ago—Local men memorialized on Vietnam Memorial in Duluth. Dennis Smith of Deer River and Norris Brenden of Talmoon died in the Vietnam War. King Elementary student Chris Alger is awaiting a liver transplant. For the first time in 40 years Deer River’s Lions Club swimming program will be in “dry dock” this summer due to facility conflicts and complications which are causing problems in scheduling. This does not mean the Lions are giving up the swimming program permanently.

10 Years Ago—Deer River Warrior girls track team wins North Conference title. Amanda Huotari is this year’s Region 7A Triple A (Academics, Arts and Athletics) award winner from Sub Section 28. She shares this honor with Dennis Holsman of Hill City. Lael Anderson and Lisa Stangler receive leadership awards from University of North Dakota.