By Lori Ehde
Luverne Public Utilities Director Red Arndt submitted a letter to City Hall this week announcing his pending retirement.

"It is with great regret and anticipation that I submit this letter of resignation, effective Sept. 30, 2003," he wrote in a letter addressed to City Administrator Matt Hylen.

The letter was dated March 10, but received on file at City Hall March 17.

Arndt was hired as public utilities director for the city on Oct. 30, 1989.

"It has been my genuine pleasure to work for the City of Luverne for the past 14 years," he wrote.

"Many projects have been accomplished during that time with the help of knowledgeable staff and a progressive City Council."

His letter spoke of good times ahead for Luverne.

"The way it looks, the future will be just as exciting with the new hospital, the building of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System and the completion of the electrical systems upgrade," Arndt wrote.

"All of these projects will definitely move Luverne ahead of other cities into the 21st Century."

He told Hylen the Sept. 30 effective date would give him time to wrap up several projects he’s currently working on.

"If I may be of assistance in the hiring process or training of my replacement, please know that I will gladly make myself available in order to make this a smooth transition."

Arndt’s letter makes no reference to the troubled city electrical department.

Gangestad:
‘It’ll be nice now’
His timing coincides with an arbitrator’s recent ruling to rehire electric worker Mike Gangestad, who had been "wrongfully terminated."

Gangestad’s termination last spring was issued in the wake of two OSHA citations and $58,000 in fines for the city of Luverne following accidents in October and December 2001 when one man was killed and another lost his forearm.

Arndt received a five-day suspension, but Gangestad told the Star Herald in a Feb. 27 story he thought Arndt should have accepted more responsibility for the accidents.

"I think he’s retiring to save his ass from getting fired," Gangestad said Wednesday.

"If they know he’s leaving voluntarily the incentive to fire him is greatly diminished."

Since the arbitrator’s ruling, the city has been negotiating with Gangestad’s union representative on a possible severance package instead of hiring him back.

Meanwhile, Gangestad remains on paid leave until that agreement is final.

"They have to pay me until the day I go back to work," he said, "so I’m sitting here getting paid."

With City Administrator Matt Hylen leaving his position (see related story) and Arndt’s notice of retirement, Gangestad said there’s more incentive for him to return to work.

"It’ll be nice now," he said. "It’ll be just like before, only better."

By Lori Ehde
Special education accounts for nearly $1.4 million of Luverne School District’s $8.7 million general fund budget.

When District Finance Officer Marlene Mann took a question from a resident about special education funding, she decided to answer for school board members as well.

At the Thursday, March 13 School Board meeting, Mann said Luverne receives nearly $900,000 in revenues to fund its special education services.

The majority of this, $721,000, comes to the district in the form of state aid.

Roughly $72,000 is compensation from area districts and Southwestern Mental Health for special ed services the district provides.

About $106,000, or 12 percent, comes in the form of federal aid.

As a side note, when the federal government started requiring schools to provide special education services, it promised to fund 40 percent of those mandated costs.

In Luverne, if federal support for special education funding increased from the current 12 percent to the promised 40 percent, the district would receive roughly $234,000 more in revenues to help fund the mandates.

On the expenditure side, Luverne School District spends nearly $1.4 million on special education services. Here’s how the expenditures break down:

Speech: $142,794. Of that, $138,094 is for salaries and benefits, and 4,700 is for supplies and equipment.

Developmentally and cognitively impaired — Mild: $183,010. Of that, $178,010 is for salaries and benefits, and 5,000 is for supplies and equipment.

Developmentally and cognitively impaired: $284,088, all of which is for salaries and benefits (for 23 people, mostly paraprofessionals).

Physically impaired: $44,800, of which $42,925 is for salaries and benefits and $1,875 is for supplies and equipment.

Deaf and hard of hearing: $1,450. The district contracts for this service.

Learning disabilities: $162,003, of which $159,403 is for salaries and benefits and $2,600 is for supplies and equipment.

Emotionally and behaviorally disabled: $76,117, of which $74,517 is for salaries and benefits and $1,600 is for supplies.

Early childhood special education (preschool): $110,053, of which $101,909 is for salaries and benefits and $8,144 is for supplies.

Special education in general: $319,164. Of this, $273,264 is for tuition for students to attend out-of-district schools, $42,000 is for the day treatment program provided by Southwestern Mental Health, and $3,900 is for supplies.

Special education transportation: $69,751, for bringing students to schools in Sioux Falls, Worthington, Faribault and special routes to Luverne.

Presenting these figures for school board members, Mann pointed to nearly $500,000 more in expenditures than revenues in the district’s special education budget.

She said some of the special ed students generate special aid reimbursements from the government, but after that’s considered, the district still covers a $383,586 gap.

As of March 2002, the district paid $245 per pupil in excess for special education.

"That’s a good part of the our budget we don’t get asked about that much," Mann said Thursday. "I wanted to show you how we realize that money and what we do with it."

Unappropriated operating funds
This led to Mann’s next topic, Luverne School District’s rapidly decreasing operating funds.

She told board members that in 1999, Luverne School District’s unappropriated operating funds balance was $1,583,849. Today it’s down to $991,244, and dropping.

"We are on a slide that I think we need to keep our eyes wide open for," Mann said.

In light of state plans to reduce and withhold education funding, Mann said the operating fund is more important than ever.

For example, the state aid for 2002 was $5,840,282, of which 10 percent was withheld until October. That amounts to $584,028 the district was short until October.

The state general aid for 2003 is $8,211,982 (the amount is higher because school funding shifted from local property taxes to state sales and income tax this year).

If 10 percent of that was withheld until October this year, that would amount to $821,198 the district would be short for four months.

The money needs to be reported as receivable in the fund balance on June 30, but the district won’t receive it until October.

What’s worse, Mann said, is 17 percent is being withheld this year until October, which comes to nearly $1.4 million.

"So we better have a fund balance to draw from," Mann said. "I present this to you because I want your hearts to race a little bit too. I don’t want to be in this alone."

By Sara Strong
Rock County Engineer Mark Sehr presented the five-year construction plan at Tuesday’s County Board meeting.

Sehr said the planned projects for 2003 assume that state funding remains the same as projected. They are:

Three miles of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 4 west from Luverne to CSAH 11, including grade and surface work

Five miles of CSAH 3 from Iowa to CSAH 15, including mill and overlay

Three miles of CSAH 8 from CSAH 9 to CSAH 3, including mill and overlay

Seven miles of CSAH 17 from Iowa to Interstate 90, including mill and overlay

Bridge replacement .8 mile west of CSAH 9 in Vienna Township

Bridge replacement .9 mile west of CSAH 9 in Vienna Township

Bridge replacement 1 mile north and 1.1 mile east of Beaver Creek.

Eight other various township bridge replacements

Total costs for all the 2003 projects is $3,450,000. After various aids are applied, local costs are $80,000.

Equipment purchase
The Rock County Board of Commissioners approved a request from the Highway Department to accept the high bid on a diesel track loader for the Transfer Station.

Highway Department employees said they preferred the CAT model to a similar John Deere because of predicted lower maintenance costs and greater trade-in value.

The Deere model has German parts that employees are unaccustomed to, and the CAT has extra protection package for the heavy wear transfer station vehicles get.

The county was spending $15,000 to $20,000 annually on its 1989 Fiat’s maintenance.

The CAT model the Board approved purchasing cost $219,383 after a trade-in for $4,500.

The John Deere model would have cost $198,300 and would have given the county $7,500 in trade-in value.

Both offered guaranteed maintenance agreements: CAT was for $1,250 and Deere was for $5,000.

The county is financing a portion of the purchase: the CAT rate was at 4.5 percent and the Deere was at 4 percent. The county will pay $100,000 down and finance the remainder.

By Lori Ehde
If anyone’s interested in starting a home-based day care operation in Rock County, there’s never been a better time.

According to Carol Wulf, who licenses home child care operations at Family Services, the demand for quality child care in Rock County has hit an all-time high.

Of 49 licensed Family Child Care providers in Rock County, only 19 have current vacancies. Of those, only eight slots are available for infants (children under 12 months) and toddlers (children 12 to 24 months).

While there are some vacancies, many of the well-established child care homes have long waiting lists.

To address the dilemma, Southwest Child Care Resource and Referral, in conjunction with Rock County Human Services, will host a meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in the Rock County Human Services Building, 2 Roundwind Drive, Luverne.

Wulf said she hopes the meeting will be a catalyst for some local residents who have been thinking about starting a child care business.

She said a big hurdle for many would-be day care providers is having a home that meets code for space, exits and fire guidelines.

In addition, she said, not everyone is suited for the demands of caring for multiple children.

"It’s their job, their business. They’re required to have training in CPR and SIDS," Wulf said.

"They’re running accounting programs and figuring out state food reimbursements. It’s a lot to keep track
of and it’s all done after day care hours, so it’s quite a commitment. You have to enjoy it to make it work."

She advises new child care providers to start out small — with maybe one family in addition to their own children. Wulf said adjusting to a day care business is an adjustment for the provider’s entire family, and it’s best to test the waters slowly.

Anyone interested in becoming child-care providers are encouraged to attend and meet with Wulf, referral staff and with licensed family child-care providers on March 29.

"This is an opportunity for anyone interested in caring for children to talk with others in the profession and learn what resources are available to them to start in this rewarding career field," said Cindy Collins of Child Care Resource and Referral.

Wulf can be reached at 283-5070, and Collins can be reached at (507)637-8599.

Luverne Elementary first- and fourth-graders present their music program, "It’s Saturday," to a large crowd of parents and grandparents Friday in the elementary school gym. The musical, directed by Seana Graber and Beth Capistran, included numbers such as "Toon Time" with Tango Dancers and Looney Tune Kids, "Time to Spare," "Boogie Woogie Piano Teachin’ Man," "The Chore Song," "My Mother, The Coach" and "Slumber Party Tonight." Pictured at right are (from left) Blake Richters, Alex Hylen, Christopher Hoogland, Jonathan Ehde, Cole Walgrave, Blake Stegenga and Dalton Javner. About 200 students were involved in the production.

Photo by Lori Ehde

Amy Dispanet Ver Steeg co-owner of the Magnolia Steak House, stands behind the new bar area as the anniversary of the fire that nearly destroyed the business approaches. She said the process of starting over has brought to light the loyalty of Mag customers. Story inside.

Photo by Sara Strong

Rikka Colbeck, 104, Luverne, died Sunday, March 23 at Mary Jane Brown Home, Luverne. Visitation will be Wednesday, March 26 from 2 to 6 p.m. with the family present from 2 to 3 p.m. at Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne. A memorial service will be Tuesday, March 27 at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutheran officiating. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery.

Cole Janshen, infant son of Calvin and Stephanie Janshen, Luverne, died Wednesday, March 19 at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls. Visitation will be Saturday, March 22 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon at Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne. Burial will be 12:30 p.m. in Richland Cemetery, Inwood, Iowa.

Gena Dibbern, 102, Luverne, died Thursday, March 20 at her daughter's home in North Mankato. Visitation will be Sunday, March 23 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne. Services will be Monday, march 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Luverne, with Rev. Maurice Hagen and Rev. Dell Sanderson officiating.