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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
COLUMN
Column from Representative Anderson
Fluid and fast-changing may best describe action surrounding the stadium proposal for the Minnesota Vikings. What seemed like a dead-end last week turned into a more positive outlook just the next day. Following an evening meeting attended by a group of House and Senate members trying to get the stadium proposal moving again, plans emerged to hold public hearings on the proposal and come forth with a funding plan and, hopefully, a special session sometime in December.
Yes, there is a cost to the state of holding a special session ranging in the $20,000 per day area. However, if this gets put off too long and any potential construction gets pushed back as well, cost estimates call for a $47 million increase in stadium costs for each year the completion date gets pushed back. Current plans call for stadium completion in time for the 2015 season, and Mortenson Construction has said that timeline can still be met, although we are right on the cusp of moving the date back another year.
The latest proposal calls for a domed stadium without a retractable roof. The cost estimate is just over $1 billion, with the Vikings picking up about 40 percent of the total, in addition to being responsible for any cost over-runs. The original plan called for the state to pay $300 million and Ramsey County $350 million, although the county’s ability to come up with that amount has been lost due to the Governor saying there would be no increased sales tax allowed to help fund the proposal. At this time, it appears some sort of gaming revenue is the only way to come up with the major portion of the state and county funding.
Fall harvest is nearly wrapped up around the area. Yields were down some from previous years, although the dry fall helped reduce the drying expense of the corn crop. Too many drowned-out spots in fields, along with damage from wind storms earlier this summer, took the top off corn yields. Commodity prices are still strong, although they have backed off from earlier highs in the seven-dollar range.
My son Luke takes vacation from his job at the Monticello nuclear power plant during this time of year to come home and lend a hand. He runs the combine and bow hunts for deer (not necessarily in that order), and makes the job go so much quicker. We haven’t seen many pheasants this fall, as last winter’s heavy snow and the wet spring hurt their numbers. Canadian geese are still abundant as our dry and open fall has kept birds around longer. Water levels of area lakes and sloughs are dropping because we’ve been below average on precipitation since August. Reports from southern Minnesota indicate the ground is too dry for the application of fall ammonia fertilizer because the ground won’t seal up properly to keep the anhydrous form of nitrogen from escaping. Fertilizer prices are extremely high and farmers are careful about not letting any escape and be wasted.
As you read this, deer hunting season will be in full swing and Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away. May you have a safe hunt and enjoy what so far has been beautiful fall weather.
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