By Rep. Paul Anderson
A town hall meeting focusing on irrigation and water use will be held on Wednesday of this week in Alexandria. Hosted by area legislators, the gathering will give irrigators a chance to tell how new large- water appropriation laws are affecting their ability to obtain permits for new wells. The DNR has been charged with coming up with sustainability criteria to insure that we don’t deplete our underground aquifers. There are currently four pilot areas around the state, including one in this area focusing on the Bonanza Valley. The DNR has conducted a series of meetings with area irrigators and other interested parties and are in the process of writing rules dealing with sustainability.
They will also be at this week’s meeting, along with Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, who’s currently serving as chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. this Wednesday, July 29, in the second floor community room of the Glenwood State Bank building at 2221 South Broadway in Alexandria.
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Attended a meeting in Fergus Falls last week pertaining to transportation needs in west central Minnesota. Hosted by the District 4 Transportation Advisory Committee, those attending heard updates from MnDOT personnel on their construction schedule for the next five years. A panel discussion was held on a program known as Safe Routes to School, in addition to hearing updates on the Complete Streets Program.
Of course, no meeting focusing on transportation would be complete without a discussion of funding issues, along with increasing the gas tax. A representative from the Association of Minnesota Counties gave an update on local funding, saying that of our state’s 87 counties, 15 are making use of a local option sales tax. Another 48 counties have adopted a “wheelage tax,” through which an additional fee is added when residents renew their license tabs.
Frustration was expressed by some that no additional funding was provided by this year’s legislature. The transportation bill was held up when there was no agreement on a gas tax increase, and it eventually became a casualty of late-session negotiations and was dropped. House Republicans were adamant in opposing any gas tax increase, while the DFL and Gov. Dayton supported a gross receipts sales tax on motor fuel with a base increase of at least 16 cents per gallon. That would be in addition to our current gas tax of 28.5 cents and would increase or decrease annually, depending on the price of fuel.
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Our farm finally received beneficial rains last week when just over an inch fell during the night on Thursday. In driving around the district, crops for the most part look very good. The corn, especially, has a dark green color and, in many places, abundant moisture to fill out and produce a good crop. Those who follow markets must also have that in mind as commodity prices in the past week have really taken a tumble. The mid-season crop scare of too much rain in the “I” states of Illinois and Indiana, along with Missouri, has subsided and analysts are predicting solid production once again.
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Things get really busy this weekend as four parades are on the schedule, along with the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre. Parades will be held Saturday in Garfield, Forada, and Albany, in addition to Greenwald on Sunday morning. It’s always fun to visit with folks at the fair and to take in the 4-H livestock auction scheduled for Friday evening.
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