Dear Neighbor,
Week in review! Monday I attended the Aitkin City Council meeting. The council is working on a variety of projects including the early stages of extending the city limits to include property the Aitkin School District has purchased. That property will likely become the district’s home for the entire K12 campus sometime in the future.
Tuesday found me at the 7-County Senior Federation gathering at the Shamrock Township Hall near McGregor. It was a great opportunity to hear firsthand the challenges our seniors face here in rural Minnesota. An important part of that network is the community volunteer group “Area Neighbors Giving Elderly Live-in Services,” better known as the ANGELS, operating out of McGregor. They play a very important role in assisting seniors as they age in place. Thank you for this important work.
Wednesday I was in the Brainerd/Baxter area attending the Utilities Investors luncheon where Minnesota Power provided an informative briefing on how Minnesota utility companies work to provide stable reasonably priced energy in rural Minnesota.
Later I joined Sen. Ruud and Rep. Heintzeman for a legislative briefing with the Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC) board of director’s. CTC is a local cooperative that provides communication services including broadband in our region. They are currently completing a major expansion of fiber optic based broadband service in the Aitkin area in partnership with Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative and the Minnesota Office of Broadband.
Later Wednesday, I was privileged to participate in a Habitat for Humanity ground-breaking ceremony for a new home to be constructed in Aitkin. Working together, there is no limit to the good things our communities can accomplish.
Thursday included a legislative working session and panel discussion. In addition to Sen. Ruud and myself, we were joined by staff from U.S. Rep. Nolan, U.S. Sen. Klobuchar and U.S. Sen. Smith’s office. Thank you to the Chamber, Aitkin Growth, Riverwood Health Center and American Peat Technologies for organizing this event.
Later in the day I visited with members of the Cuyuna Area Chamber at a “Business after Hours” event hosted by the Deerwood Bank and the Rolling Hills Golf Course at Deerwood.
Today I am off to a Northern Counties Land Use Coordinating Board meeting up at Northome. This group of county officials deal with issues unique to our part of Minnesota which relies heavily on forestry, mining and tourism as our primary economic base. Please be safe this weekend.
Sincerely,
Dale