By Sara Strong
The Luverne City Council voted on its new districts based on 2000 census figures Tuesday.
The city is divided into two wards, and further into precincts. Tom Martius and Keith Erickson represent the north ward on the City Council, and Dave Hauge and Jim Kirchhofer represent the south ward. Mayor Glen Gust represents the entire city.
The polling place for all wards is at the Luverne Middle School gymnasium.
Population breakdown
North Ward: 2,283
South Ward: 2,334
NE Precinct: 1,784
NW Precinct: 499
SE Precinct: 1,806
SW Precinct: 528
The council passed this version of the districts, because it kept most neighborhoods together and the map had as many straight lines as possible to keep the population numbers within guidelines.
The council estimated that the city will see more growth in the north half of town, so it allowed for that in its north-south dividing line.
The county will use precincts as part of its process for drawing district lines.
Fire damage fund
The council defeated a resolution that would have allowed the city to hold 25 percent of an individual's insurance claim after a fire. The city would hold that settlement money in an escrow account and return it to property owners after the fire damage was repaired or removed.
State law allows this to be done as a way to prevent taxpayers from having to pay for the city to clean up property damaged in fires if it is neglected long enough to become tax forfeited.
The issue was tabled at a previous council meeting, and council members got negative feedback on the ordinance from citizens.
The council reasoned that intercepting insurance claims stepped too far into the private business of citizens.