News

Swift County offices based in the courthouse will be moving to the Lewis Drug building on Atlantic Avenue downtown Benson the week of June 26-30. The move takes place ahead of a $4.5 million renovation of the courthouse that could last into early 2018.

The move will include 30 staff people working in the Swift County Land Records, Auditor, Assessor, Administrator, Emergency Management, Treasurer, Veteran Services, Extension, Housing & Redevelopment Authority, Information Technology, and Rural Development Authority’s (RDA) offices.

Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Dave Mennis and court staff will be moving to space in the basement of the Swift County Law Enforcement Center.

In what should become the first of many significant grants awarded in the community in the coming years by the Robert Sonsteng Foundation, Swift County-Benson Health Services will be receiving $500,000.

The grant, which will be given out in $50,000 increments over the next 10 years, was announced at the hospital’s governing board meeting Monday night. The grant funds will go toward the hospital’s assisted living and memory care facility with construction on the facility likely starting this summer.

Robert Sonsteng was a bachelor farmer who lived on a farm just over the Swift County line north of Benson in Pope County. He attended Benson Public Schools, and after serving in the military, returned home to farm with his brother and parents. After his parents passed away, Murien and Robert Sonsteng continued to live in the family home, neither ever having married. Upon Murien’s death, Robert Sonsteng lived on his own on the family homestead.

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher

Swift County Monitor-News

Employees of Benson Power, LLC, were notified Tuesday that the company owners are in negotiations with Xcel Energy for sale of the plant.

With that announcement a process is being put in place that could lead to the power plant shutting down by the summer of 2018. Its shutdown would mean the loss of 45 jobs at the plant as well as up to another 100 jobs at businesses that support the operation of the biomass facility.

Benson Power generates 55 megawatts of power by burning turkey litter and wood chips to generate steam that powers the plant’s turbines.

Benson Power is currently owned by a group of East Coast investors including major insurance companies Prudential, Hartford, John Hancock, Nationwide, Beneficial, and CRT Capitol Group.

Starting in May and lasting into the late summer the City of Benson will see significant street and sidewalk work affecting vehicle traffic flow, pedestrian walkways, and parking availability – especially in the north half of the city’s downtown.

A comprehensive road and sidewalk project will affect all three highways that go through the community – Minnesota Highway 29, Minnesota Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 12.

Construction on Benson’s roads and sidewalks will take place in two phases. First, starting in the first half of May, work will begin on the sidewalk upgrades to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)

Each April the City of Benson’s Board of Equalization (the city council) conducts a public hearing at which property owners in Benson can come and talk about their taxes.

Swift County Assessor Wayne Knutson and Swift County Appraiser Darla Schwendemann spent the good part of the afternoon and early evening in the city council chambers prepared to go over assessments with homeowners and business owners. The city council sets aside an hour to hear complaints or appeals along with recommendations on any changes from Knutson and Schwendemann.

But at Monday night’s meeting no one showed up. With a light agenda, the council meeting got underway with the opening of the public hearing and then proceeded on to other business. That took just over 20 minutes. So for the next 40 minutes the council was required to stick around until the published time of 6:30 p.m. for end of the public hearing arrived.

Pictured are members of the Benson High School choir, who took part in last week’s six-day choir trip to New York City.  Immediately after waving goodbye in the picture above, the students boarded buses at about noon, Friday, April 7.  They didn’t return again until 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 12.  Over 70 students, and nine adult chaperones took part in the trip.  “The entire trip was a success and so people many contributed to its success; the students, the chaperones, the tour guides, and the bus drivers,” BHS choir director Shelly Mikkelson said.  “Highlights included the Empire State Building, Central Park, a Broadway workshop and Broadway musical, “Come From Away”, the 911 Memorial, Radio City Music Hall, and the Spirit Dinner Cruise.”

Did you know the Swift County Monitor-News prints photos like this one?

Give us the date, page and subject of the photo and we will print it on archival quality photo paper. Makes a great gift!


Warmer than average temperatures throughout the month of March meant some early ice-out dates on area lakes. The ice on Lake Minnewaska officially was off March 30, 16 days ahead of the average ice off date of April 15.

Artichoke Lake at Swift County’s western border went off April 1, seven days ahead of the average ice off date of April 8. Norway Lake in Kandiyohi County saw the ice go off March 24, 15 days earlier than the average of April 8.

Early ice out dates in the state are the result of a very mild winter. The January to March period saw temperatures 7.5 degrees above average.

February 2017 went down as the second warmest on record for the Benson area and one of the warmest in the history of the State of Minnesota. Five record high temperatures were broken during the month and three high low temperatures were either tied or broken....

More Buffer Law Options Available for Minnesota Landowners

Six alternative practices offer flexibility for landowners to meet water quality improvement goals
 

Implementation of Minnesota’s buffer law is well underway, and landowners around the state are making good progress ahead of the first compliance date set for Nov. 1.

To help landowners figure out the most effective way to comply with the buffer law, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) released another set of tools last week to help soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) and landowners identify alternative options. 

The Common Alternative Practices guidance provides water quality solutions for common situations where practices other than buffers may make sense.

Less than six months after winning his second two-year term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, District 17A Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, has announced that he will seek his party’s endorsement to run for Congress in 2018.

Miller, 51, said last week that he will see the 7th District U.S. House seat held by conservative Democratic Collin Peterson since 1991. Peterson, 72, who is from Detroit Lakes, has not yet said whether he will seek a 15th term in Congress or retire.

If Miller gets the Republican endorsement to run for the 7th District seat next year, he would be giving up his state House seat. District 17A is made up of Swift and Chippewa counties, most of Renville County, and the four southwestern Kandiyohi County townships of Edwards, Holland, Roseland and Lake Lillian.

Before going on its Easter break, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved a bill that calls for the state to either buy or lease the 1,600-bed Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton.

However, passage of the bill in the Republican-controlled House doesn’t mean it will eventually be approved. It now goes to a conference committee between members of the House and state Senate – which is also controlled by Republicans.

However, even if the bill comes out of the Legislature it still has to get signed by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. So far, Dayton has not favored the state’s purchase or lease of the privately-owned prison.

CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America, is the owner of the prison. It has sat empty since February 2010. CoreCivic does keep a maintenance staff at the prison to keep it ready to use and has made significant investments in improvements over the past seven years.