Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Legislative News and Views - Rep. Nels Pierson (R)

Back to profile

Legislative Update (April 10, 2015)

Friday, April 10, 2015

Dear friends and neighbors,

Over the legislative break, I had the opportunity to attend the township board meetings for Salem and Quincy Townships. These meetings are important to me to help me know what is going on throughout Olmsted County. At the Quincy Township meeting we talked about one of the stories that had inspired me as I was running for this seat back in 2014. During one of the Quincy Township meetings last year, a supervisor was giving the road report. After he finished, the Chair asked him, “Are the Johnson’s doing okay with the regrading of the road?” The supervisor without hesitation replied, “Yep! They’re waving at me again.” I told this story dozens of times as I campaigned because I feel our state and federal government has gone away from that – this ability to connect to the people, to know what their concerns are and understand how they feel, but more importantly to demonstrate that they care about their neighbors. It is my goal to emulate this function of local township government during my time in office.

Speaking of our community, many of you have reached out to me to share your thoughts on proposed legislation to create a statewide buffer zone mandate. While I understand that Olmsted County has already instituted a 50 foot buffer zone for the entire county, I am interested in hearing from you about the impacts that statewide legislation could have on your farms. Please join me and Senator Carla Nelson this Saturday, April 11th from 4:00-5:30pm at Dover-Eyota High School (615 South Avenue SW, Eyota, MN 55934) to further discuss implementation of buffer zone mandates and the differences between Olmsted County’s policy and the Governor’s proposal.

Finally, it is truly an honor to have the opportunity to recognize exceptional members of our community. In the Agriculture Finance committee, we recognized my dear friend and agricultural industry advocate Dan Hoffman as a Leader in Agriculture. Congratulations, Dan, on your years of work in the agriculture industry!

I believe it is vital that we instill a heart for public service in our community’s youngest members. Thank you to my two children, Sonja and Nels IV, for joining me and the Rochester Rotary as we volunteered at the local Channel One Food Shelf over the Legislative Break. I continue to work on legislation to bring nutritious foods, such as fresh dairy milk, to our local food shelves.

Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts on the issues that come up before committee and on the House floor. You can reach me via phone at (651) 296-2208 or via email at rep.nels.pierson@house.mn.

Have a great weekend,

Nels