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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
NEWS COLUMN
INSIDE LOOK AT NEW ALBANY PLANT
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
The huge new building you may have noticed just south of the freeway in Albany was the site of an open house last week. Wells Concrete Products is still putting the finishing touches on its facility, and what an impressive structure it is! Located on 80 acres on the south edge of town, the operation is expected to employ up to 200 workers when in full production.
The building is huge. More than 188,000 square feet make up the total building area. That’s equivalent to four complete football fields. The main plant, where concrete walls are formed and poured, is more than 500 feet long.
Plant manager and company vice president Paul Nelson, who led our tour group, estimated that construction is about 95-percent complete. Concrete poured so far in the facility’s construction is approximately 20,000 yards, which equates to a single file line of ready mix trucks more than nine miles long.
Nelson told me after our tour that the interstate highway was a big consideration when company officials were deciding where to locate the new plant. He said, “We looked at around 20 sites, but this location here in Albany was the best overall fit for us.”
Company officials tried to have as many local businesses as possible work on the project. They provided a two-page hand-out listing all the contractors and suppliers, and many were from Stearns County and nearly all were from Minnesota.
Wells Concrete also has plants in Wells, Minn., and Grand Forks, N.D.
Although our summer weather has caused area farm crops to be maturing behind schedule, it certainly has made for comfortable conditions. Some areas seem to have enough moisture to finish their crops, while others are still on the dry side.
We took in the Stearns County Fair last week, and the fairgrounds seemed to be a magnet for rain showers. Around noon Thursday, it started pouring although blue skies could be seen on either side of the rain cloud. I called home to my wife and she reported sitting outside with the sun shining brightly. It rained several more times that day in Sauk Centre. The fair went well, with a highlight being the 4-H auction Friday afternoon. The Pope and Kandiyohi county fairs were both held this past week.
A constituent called last week with a question pertaining to the federal Cash for Clunkers program. It seems that the license tabs on the vehicle he wanted to trade in had expired on March 31. He went in April 1 and purchased new tabs, but found out that he was disqualified from the program because his tabs had expired. I contacted Congressman Collin Peterson’s office and was told that each state determined license eligibility for the program. Then I called a deputy registrar’s office and was informed that state statute says tabs are to be purchased in the month they expire, after which residents have ten days to display the new tabs. So, yes, technically they would have expired at midnight even though they were purchased the following day.
Evidently others had the same problem because an announcement from Sen. Amy Klobuchar last week said program guidelines were being changed to allow Minnesotans in that situation to now qualify for the Clunker program.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his new office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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