When Barb Berghorst was hired to run Luverne’s city finances in 1991, she was asked to plan long-range purchases and help with budget forecasting.
“We wanted everyone to anticipate what they’ll need over the next five years, and I put that all on a big spread sheet,” she said.
“It all had to fit in and be financially feasible. … I listened. I planned. I calculated. And I worked with everybody.”
As Berghorst retires 30 years later, she said she’s proud to have accomplished those goals with city leaders who supported the mission.
“The most important thing finance has done in the city operation over 30 years is long-range planning and being prepared,” she said.
 
Teamwork
She said it took solid relationships among city departments and good city leadership, which she said Administrator John Call has provided over his past 17 years.
“All the department heads meet every week, and we talk about projects. Every project that we work on has input from everybody,” Berghorst said.
“For example, when we work on a street project, you have to know about all the utilities, water, sewer and electric. You have to know if they need to be upgraded while you’re working on a street. … And everything touches the money.”
She said that’s why frequent communication is so important.
“I believe passionately that we’re all here to work together,” Berghorst said.
“Everybody makes a difference. and if we all are focused on the future and the goals, we will figure it out.”
 
Money saved, bond ratings improved, awards earned
Along the way, this approach saved taxpayers money.
“You can’t have your tax levy go up and down and up and down,” Berghorst said. “The goal is to keep it as flat and stable as you can.”
The planning formula turned out to be good for Luverne’s bond rating, which rose six pegs from a BBB to AA minus during her tenure.
“That’s a big deal for interest rates and it’s a big deal to the rating agencies because they know you’re financially sound,” she said.
This didn’t go unnoticed by her peers in state government, which awarded the city of Luverne with Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 27 years straight. (Berghorst didn’t apply during her first three years.)
She said the award was a reflection of the city’s goals.
“That’s what I was asked to do when I was hired. To do long-range planning and to anticipate things and figure out a way to pay for things,” she said.
“Getting the certificate was always a goal, because it demonstrates financial prudence.”
City Administrator John Call said the award was also a reflection of Berghorst’s personal excellence.
“Barb is really smart about spread sheets, depreciation schedules and municipal finance in general, but she also has a great personality and an ability to work with people,” Call said.
“You rarely find someone who is so smart but has people skills also. I have always thought Barb could run a Fortune 500 company; she has all of the required skills.”
 
From ledger paper to software programs
Berghorst started in Luverne when City Hall was still located in the former bank building on the corner of Main Street and Cedar Avenue.
Steve Perkins was city administrator and Gordon Gits was mayor.
She and her husband, Sam, were living in Pipestone where she had been working in city finance since 1981.
“Everything was paper and pencil when I started there,” Berghorst recalled.
“There were no computers. Just these big ledger books with green accounting paper, and a section for every fund. You had to record everything and use those totals that you manually did with your paper and pencil.”
When it was time to computerize the process, Berghorst found her calling.
“The computer part of it I loved,” she said. “I was able to purchase the first computer and the first software package, write the chart of accounts and input the chart of accounts, make it match what the state auditor wanted, and understand how everything worked together.”
In Luverne she enjoyed moving City Hall from the downtown Cragoe building to the former hospital and Minnesota West building, because she could be part of building the in-office computer network.
“I loved that,” she said. “I love projects and figuring things out.”
Since finance relies on technology, Berghorst said people in her position become IT specialists by default.
“We have to make sure we have hardware and software to protect our network environment from ransomware, and we frequently update passwords and take other security measures.”
She said she also enjoyed learning how city government worked.
“It was so interesting to know what was going on and how they made decisions,” Berghorst said.
“I had questions about ‘What’s the difference between a resolution and an ordinance?’ I didn’t know, but you learn as you go, and I worked with good people.”
 
How to buy a fire truck
While it seems straightforward, Berghorst said many city governments, especially smaller towns, don’t strategically plan their finances.
“Typically, smaller towns operate like a checkbook. They look at this year, they budget for next year, and they want to know if there’s any money in the bank when they’re done,” she said.
“But in a city like ours with millions of dollars in utility operations, you need to have a better sense of financial planning. So, funding depreciation, doing rate studies every three years, and making sure you have adequate reserves are all essential to get the mountains and valleys smoothed out.”
Berghorst remembers her first year in Luverne.
“Jim Johannsen, the fire chief, was very concerned that when he needed a new fire truck, it was going to be a big problem,” she recalled.
“I said, ‘Well, no. If you need a new fire truck, when do you need it?’ He said he’d need it in about four or five years, and I said, ‘When you tell me that you’ll need a $100,000 fire truck, it’s easy to figure $20,000 per year for five years and then we’ll have the money for you to buy a new fire truck.’ If he’d waited and said he’d need it next year, and if everybody else does that, too, you can’t plan.”
She said she’s enjoyed the challenge of bringing together the departments to figure out how to get purchases paid for.
“We’re not going to skimp on training, and we’re not going to skimp on safety.” Berghorst said. “We want you to have the tools you need to do your job well, whether that’s computer resources or heavy equipment.”
 
Recipe for success
And when everyone communicates, she said, everyone wins.
“We have a really good recipe for success,” Berghorst said. “My co-workers and the young people who have moved in here are well-educated and extremely bright.”
For example, her replacement, Robyn Wessels, worked several years to become the next city finance director.
“She needed a degree in a finance-related field, which she got while her children were in school,” Berghorst said.
“She worked really hard to earn that. Plus, she already has a big-picture view of this organization. She understands utilities, and she’s taken governmental classes you don’t get in college.”
Berghorst said she was privileged to work with “top-notch” people in Luverne.
“The staff here are really good in their fields, and they work as a team,” she said.
“We are very fortunate to have had very progressive and conscientious councils. We have an excellent administrator, and we have really good employees all throughout the ranks. When you feel that way, it’s fun to come to work every day.”
Berghorst, 67, said that made her retirement decision easier.
“I love my job, but there comes a time when things are in place and there’s a great staff, so you can move forward,” she said.
She and Sam have four grown children, Randy in Luverne, Steven in Sioux Falls, Amanda (Van Maanen) in Hills, and Stacy in Paulina, Iowa. They have 10 grandchildren, and Berghorst said she’ll spend most of her retirement time with them.
“Family’s pretty important to us, and we’re pretty close,” she said.
“I’m going to try to exercise more. I’d like to take more stained-glass classes. I’d like to read more. I’d like to do more interesting cooking — more than just making supper. I love interesting food and trying different things.”

Luverne’s longtime water and wastewater supervisor Al Lais started his city career in 1972 after losing his AR Wood job when the company closed.
He and AR Wood co-workers Jim Van Maanen and Bruce Kurtz found employment in the city’s water department which had openings at the time.
“Our first job was to climb in a tank and clean out a water filter at the plant,” Lais recalled.
Little did he know that assignment would mark the beginning of a 50-year city career that officially comes to an end on Dec. 31.
After that first brief assignment in 1972, Lais went on to work in several city departments, including managing the landfill back when city and county operated it together.
In his early years at the landfill, Lais helped with city snow removal using the landfill heavy equipment.
“The snow would be so high we’d have to pile it up on the corners with loaders,” he said.
“One winter storm the wind blew so hard, four city snowplows couldn’t even cut into the snowdrifts. So I had to bring in a loader from the landfill and lead the plows down the street just to get it busted up. One storm we moved snow over 24 hours straight.”
 
Working up from the ‘bottom of the pile’
After seven years at the landfill, Lais started in the city’s “sewer collection and water distribution” department.
Lais took care of meters, cleaned sewers, replaced hydrants and meters, and eventually learned all there was to know about the city’s water and sewer service.
“I basically worked from the bottom of the pile to the top through the years,” Lais said.
He recalls late night calls to the water plant to keep Luverne’s system meeting demand.
“I used to get called out at night, back in the day when IBP was here,” Lais said.
“They used so much water you’d have to go out at 11 p.m. after the shift and backwash the south water plant every night because you couldn’t go two days. That’s how dirty the water was with iron and manganese. The filter can only take out so much.”
 
Front row seat to growing city
Along the way, Lais found himself in a front row seat for city planning and expansion.
In 1987 Luverne built an addition on the wastewater plant to increase flow from 500,000 gallons per day to 1.5 million gallons per day.
“That’s when we added our first oxidation ditch,” Lais said.
The Juhl Addition development around that time prompted a booster station near the American Reformed Church.
And in 1991 the Minnesota Veterans Home began construction in Luverne, prompting a flurry of development.
“After that, everything north of the Vets Home was built,” he said. “Everything north of the Baptist Church … That’s a lot of growth.”
The Sybesma housing addition on the west side of town followed with Poplar Creek and The Oaks senior living apartments south of Mary Jane Brown.
Then came the new hospital in 2005 north of the Veterans Home and along with it, dozens more homes and other development.
With all that growth, and the addition of new homes and industry, Lais said it kept him and the water and wastewater department busy making sure the city could keep up with all the new connections.
For example, the sewer line was redone when Oakley Street was rebuilt to increase flow from an 8-inch line to a 15-inch line to accommodate growth to the north.
Similarly, underground infrastructure was upgraded on Warren Street and other arteries as their road surfaces were rebuilt.
“We put the new cement ground storage tanks in at the north water plant, because the other ones were rusting away,” Lais said. “They were built in 1963 when IBP came.”
 
Good leadership
He said being part of a growing, healthy city was what he enjoyed most about his work.
“There’s growth happening here, vs. being stagnant,” Lais said.
“We were ready for an industry if they started asking about coming here. That all relates to growth.”
When Del Domagala retired in 2000, Lais took his place at the helm of the water and wastewater department. 
By then, Lais said he knew most of what he needed to know, but he wasn’t afraid to lean on local plumbers if he had to.
“Jerry Buss will call me up, or I’ll call him up. We’re basically the seniors of Luverne,” he said. “If I don’t know it and if he doesn’t know it, nobody knows it. We still do that today.”
Lais said the city has been fortunate to have a progressive council and the leadership of City Administrator John Call (who also retires at the end of December).
“We were lucky to have him for 17 years; most administrators before him were here five years or less,” Lais said.
“He’s always been open to me doing research and asking questions. … I felt like I was part of the solution on projects.”
Call said the city is losing a wealth of information with Lais’s retirement.
“Al is one of those guys that had so much institutional knowledge about the city's water and sewer infrastructure; all stored in his memory banks,” he said.
“He could literally tell you about where the pipes were in every block in town.  I guess you could say he knew, ‘where all of the bodies were buried.’ To have worked for the city for 50 years is really quite an amazing feat.”
 
At 70, ready to retire
Now Lais said the city is poised for future growth, especially with Luverne’s connection to the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System for supplemental water.
And at 70, he said he feels ready to retire.
“I never thought I’d be where I am today,” Lais said.
“My goal was to make 50 years, because I don’t think that’s been done before, but I never minded going to work.”
Lais has been working part time on an hourly rate since this summer until his official retirement Dec. 31.
Longtime city water and wastewater worker Darrel Ykema is filling Lais’ shoes as department head after passing his certification last summer.
“There’s a lot to know about how our system runs,” Lais said. “There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that most people don’t hear about.”
Lais will continue working with his personal business, Al’s Upholstery, and he said he
looks forward to more time with his family in retirement.
He and his wife, Sharon, have three grown children, Mark (and Kari), Matt (and Amber) and Robyn (and Rick) Wessels.

Adult and youth members of Grace Lutheran Church assembled for the congregation’s annual “Live Nativity” Sunday in the church parking lot in Luverne. The recreated Biblical nativity scene featured Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the manger, three wisemen and shepherds with live donkeys, goats and camels, and an angel overlooking the manger. Participants warmed up in the church with craft activities, cookies and hot chocolate, and fire pits were available for outside warming.
 

Rock County residents seeking mental health services through state and federal assistance programs will have a choice about where to continue counseling after Jan. 1.
Southwest Health and Human Services, based in Marshall, is developing a unique program for Rock and Pipestone counties where multiple third-party counseling services would be available to income-eligible residents.
Beth Wilms, SWHHS executive director, and members of her mental health team talked about the developing mental health program at the Rock County Board of Commissioners meeting Dec. 13.
“We want to grow services — we want to provide a comprehensive continual care,” she said via Zoom.
“This withdrawal allows for a little choice and clients can really direct their care and not be limited to a Rule-29 community health center.”
Since the late 1950s, Rock County’s income eligible residents were referred exclusively to Southwestern Mental Health Center (SWMH), Luverne, which managed the budget for the six counties involved in the service agreement with the center.
Due to shortfalls in the upcoming mental health center’s budget, commissioners were unwilling to contribute an additional $500,000 to continue the third-party counseling agreement.
Instead, on Jan. 1 Rock County will join Pipestone County and allocate the $400,000 annually spent by both counties for mental health services for income-eligible residents.
Wilms said the mental health center in Luverne has not revealed the total number of clients receiving counseling services paid for by either Rock or Pipestone counties.
Because of the uncertainty of the number (which could be more than 250 clients), human services personnel are contacting counseling services in Luverne, Pipestone and Sioux Falls to prepare for clients contacting human services for continuing mental health services starting in a matter of weeks.
“We are scrambling just to make sure we have some basic services provided so that people won’t fall through the cracks,” Wilms said.
Communication with existing clients appears to be limited, she said, with some clients receiving letters from the mental health center indicating their treatment through the Luverne location is ending Dec. 31.
In discussions with the mental health center, Wilms said, when possible and due to strict data privacy rules, a “warm handoff” will be completed when an appropriate counseling service is chosen by the client.
The handoff would be handled on a one-by-one basis as service with Southwestern Mental Health ceases.
It is unclear if the SWMH center would be among the third-party counseling services.
“We are hearing some mixed messages,” Wilms said. “We do not know what type of services this will be.”
After a two-year absence, the mobile crisis service will return as part of a state Department of Health grant. The Luverne mental health center will manage the crisis services for the area that includes Rock County.
Wilms said the expansion of third-party counseling options in Rock County has positive merits for the vulnerable clients.
“There is still a stigma in mental health and they may not want to get services in the community that they live in,” she said.
“The plan is to have a multiple choice of services in Rock County (that includes options in Luverne, Pipestone or Sioux Falls).”

The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board will decide Dec. 27 whether or not to move forward with building a new $26.1 million elementary school.
Board members met in a workshop session Monday night, where recommendations from the stakeholders facilities committee, who met Dec. 14, were presented.
The board took no formal action as they decide long-term facility needs in the district.
The stakeholder committee’s recommendations mirror the community survey results released Dec. 12.
Stakeholders also preferred building a new elementary school in Beaver Creek while supporting a closer look at improvements at the Hugo Goehle gymnasium and locker rooms in Hills.
They also recommended asking voters in April two questions.
One question would fund an elementary school. The second question would request $3 million for improvements at the Hugo Goehle facility, which includes demolishing the adjoining old high school.
Board members are considering adding replacement of the Hugo Goehle facility’s roof to the scope of work.
Costs will be presented at Tuesday’s school board meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Hills.
Representatives from the architectural firm, ATS&R, and the construction management firm, RA Morton, examined potential sites for the new 12-acre elementary school.
They recommended three potential sites in Beaver Creek and one site in Hills.
Additional property would need to be purchased for the elementary school to be built in Beaver Creek. The current elementary is located on two acres.
The fourth site is located in Hills, where the district owns enough property for the elementary to be attached to the secondary school.

UMC community free meal Christmas Eve — Dec. 24
The United Methodist Church will host a free Chirstmas Eve community meal at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 24. Please sign up at church or call the office. A pick-up option is available by calling 507-283-4529.
 
Annual Christmas meditation Dec. 23
The United Methodist Church annual Christmas Meditation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23, at the Luverne Palace Theater. Relax, reflect on the past year, remember the reason for the season, and take time away from shopping, baking and other holiday stressors.
Listen to peaceful piano music, and center into the Christmas season in the darkened theater, lightened only by Christmas lights and calming winter pictures on the movie screen.
It’s a free event and open to all who are welcome to stay as long as their heart needs. Christmas goodies and cider will be available in the lobby.
 
Blue Mounds State Park offers January activities
•Meet at the picnic area parking lot on Jan. 1 for a First Day Hike from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to start the new year off outdoors and discover a winter wonderland on the prairie. Join the naturalist for a 2-mile hike along parts of the Upper Cliff Line and Mound Trails. Trails may be snow covered or icy during winter months. Warm clothing and sturdy boots are recommended.
•Meet in the Picnic Shelter from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, to learn about Beavers, Nature’s Architects and America’s largest rodents.
Discover how these critters use their unique adaptations to play a valuable role on the landscape. The program will conclude with a short walk down to the creek to look for beaver activity.
•Meet in the Picnic Shelter from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, for Winter Birding: Owls. Winter can be a great time to view owls. Fly into what makes these wonderful birds so special and discover what species are in the backyard.
 
Community Ed
Community Education will offer the following classes in the next few weeks. Call 507-283-4724 to register.
Watch for the new Winter Brochure in the Luverne Announcer the weekend of New Year's Day. Registrations will be taken starting Jan. 3. The Community Ed Office will be closed from Dec. 21 through Jan. 2 for winter break.
ECFE Classes for Children ages 0-5 years and parents offers information and support to parents and provides activities for parents and children to explore together through classes that meet once a week throughout the school year. 
Defensive Driving 8-hour class provides a 10 percent premium discount on auto insurance to anyone 55 years of age or older. The 8-hour class needs to be taken once and the insurance discount is good for three years.  A 4-hour refresher class can be taken every three years to remain eligible for the insurance discount.
New Residents: Census Information Needed for Preschool Children. Call 507-283-4724 with information for children ages 0 to kindergarten. The school district uses the information for planning purposes, mailing out information on school events, including the state-mandated Preschool Screening for all 3-year-old children. If your child is 4 and has not been screened, call to complete the screening before kindergarten.
 
Library Happenings
For more information about library happenings, call 507-449-5040 or email rockcountystaff@gmail.com.
Trivia Night is at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at Take 16 in Luverne. Team registration begins at 6 p.m.
Reminiscence Kits are available featuring various topics such as gardening, pets, baking, sewing, farming and hunting. The kits are designed to use with a loved one experiencing memory loss, encouraging the loved one to open up about activities they once loved in the past.
 
Food Shelf evening hours
The Rock County Food Shelf is now open for an additional evening shift from 5 to 6 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of the month. Call Mary at 507-227-5548 or Katie at 507-227-3531.
 
CoffeeBreak Bible Study meets Tuesdays
CoffeeBreak Bible Study meets each Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Christian Reformed Church in Luverne. There will be StoryHour Bible stories and playtime for ages 3 to kindergarten, and a nursery is available. It’s free for all faiths and no prior Bible knowledge is necessary. Call Kristi Stroeh at 507-227-5102 or email atkristi.stroeh@hotmail.com
 
A.C.E. respite care available, volunteers needed
A.C.E. of SW Minnesota (A.C.E.) offers respite care services in Rock County for those needing a break from caring for a loved one.
The respite program offers short-term (1-3 hours), temporary care for families and caregivers by providing a brief period of reprieve from the daily cares they provide to their loved one.
Volunteers provide non-professional supportive services to caregivers to give them time for themselves, relieve their stress and help them remain healthy.
Respite care volunteers are also needed. Trained A.C.E. volunteers provide respite care to family caregivers of adults age 60 and older who are suffering from long-term health conditions.
Contact Linda Wenzel at 507-283-5064 or ace.rock@co.rock.mn.us.

Residents in the Sybesma Addition may be connected to the Luverne Loop trail, thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The Luverne Economic Development Authority is applying for the “Active Transportation Infrastructure Program” trail connection grant in the amount of $258,000
The project would entail a paved 10-foot-wide trail connecting the Sybesma Subdivision residential area with the nearby Luverne Loop Trail at Kolbert Park.
According to discussion at the Dec. 12 LEDA meeting, the project would “create a safer environment for transportation and mitigate safety hazards for pedestrians and bikers of all ages and abilities.”
The trail will run along Warren Street from Pine Drive to County Road 4 where a painted crosswalk will connect users to the Luverne Loop trail.
Since the city of Luverne is under 5,000 population, Rock County will need to act as the sponsoring agency. A local city match of $38,000 would cover the project estimate of $296,000.
 
Hawkinson Park trail connection
In other Luverne Loop business, the LEDA discussed a $50,000 grant from the Blandin Foundation for a Loop connection through Hawkinson Park on the city’s west side.
The “Rural Leadership Boost Grant” supports small communities with placemaking projects in rural areas.
The Hawkinson Park Trail Connection project includes construction of an 8-foot-wide concrete trail that provides handicap access from Cottage Grove Avenue into Hawkinson Park and connects to the Luverne Loop Trail.
According to LEDA discussion, it will “allow users of all ages and abilities to enjoy the public outdoor recreation facilities within the community.”
A local city match of $20,000 will cover the project estimate of $70,000.
The Hawkinson Park connection is planned for 2023.
 
Extra trail amenities
The final phases of the Luverne Loop project are nearly complete and under budget, allowing planners to add eligible trail amenities to meet the grant budget proposal.
The grant award was $839,300 with a local city match of $359,700 to cover the project estimate of $1,199,000.
The actual project bid came in at $810,864, roughly $388,000 under budget.
The additional trail projects include wayfinding signs for $100,000, a Towne Square segment for $199,000 and a South Highway 75 segment for $25,000.
The trail wayfinding signage project includes map kiosks, directional signage with mile markers, and interpretative signs.
The Towne Square segment will complete the section of trail along the north side of Hatting Street connecting the trail near the Econolodge with the trail at the intersection of Freeman and Hatting streets.
This segment will be constructed once the retaining wall for the Prairie Loft apartments is complete.
The final segment along south Highway 75 will replace the existing 5-foot-wide sidewalk with a 10-foot-wide trail between the South Highway 75 trail crossing at Gabrielson Street and the Econolodge.
This segment will be completed according to the development timeline for the vacant lot. The projects are planned for 2023.
The projects will be included in the Legacy Grant Scope of Work, reimbursable on the 70/30 grant/match basis.

Second-graders at Luverne Elementary School made gingerbread houses Monday afternoon under the supervision of teachers Laura Louwagie, Kelly Bergan, Lori Nath and Kristin Schomacker. Students were given a variety of building materials including the staples of graham crackers, M&M’s, white frosting, candy canes, marshmallows and pretzels. Using an empty milk carton, students built their houses on the lid of an empty plastic ice cream pail, which they place over their completed houses for transport home. Students and staff begin the holiday break Wednesday and resume classes on Jan. 3.

Christians believe “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” to take away the sins of the world (John 3:16), and as such, we celebrate the arrival of Jesus as told in the Bible’s second chapter of Luke:
 
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. … And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
 
Merry Christmas, dear readers. We at the Star Herald wish you joy and peace this holiday season.