City of Luverne adopts
Ordinance No. 25
ORDINANCE NO. 25, FOURTH SERIES
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF REAL ESTATE
(PARCEL 20-1586-100 CITY OF LUVERNE, ROCK COUNTY, MINNESOTA) 
 
THE CITY OF LUVERNE DOES HEREBY ORDAIN:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to City Charter, Section 12.05, the City Council is authorized to sell or convey the following described real estate located in the City of Luverne, County of Rock, State of Minnesota, described as follows, to-wit:
Legally described as follows:
  DESCRIPTION — A TRACT IN LOT 3 AND LOT 4, BLOCK 8, WARREN AND KNISS ADDITION
That part of Lot 3 and Lot 4 Block 8, Warren and Kniss Addition to the Village 
(now City) of Luverne, Rock County, Minnesota, described as follows:
Beginning at the Southwest Corner of said Lot 3; thence North 01'41'09" East on the west line of said Lot 3 for a distance of 136.23 feet to the Northwet Corner of said Lot 3; thence South 88'20'52" East on the north line of said Lot 3 and Lot 4 for a distance of 69.45 feet; thence South of 01'21'09" West for a distance of 136.22 feet to the south line of said Lot 3 and Lot 4; thence North 88'21'20" West on said south line for a distance of 70.25 feet to the Point of Beginning, containing 9,515 square feet.
SUBJECT TO EASEMENTS, IF ANY, OF RECORD OR APPARENT.
To Generations, Inc.
SEC. 2. The Mayor and City Administrator are hereby authorized and directed to execute such legal documents as are necessary to accomplish this sale and are further authorized to execute and deliver a warranty deed upon complete fulfillment of all terms and conditions.  
SEC. 3.  This ordinance takes full force and effect upon its publication.
(02-17)

Zwaan probate
STATE OF MINNESOTA probate COURT
                                                                         DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF ROCK                                                                     PROBATE DIVISION
 
In Re: Estate of                                                              Court File No. 67-PR-22-33
Carol Ann Zwaan, a/k/a Carol Zwaan,
Deceased       ORDER AND NOTICE OF HEARING
FOR FORMAL PROBATE OF WILL AND
APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
IN SUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION
AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
 
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND CREDITORS:
It  It is Ordered and Notice is hereby given that on the 21st day of March, 2022, at 3:30 O'clock p.m., a hearing will be held in the above named Court at Rock County Courthouse, Luverne, Minnesota, for the formal probate of an instrument purporting to be the will of the above named deceased, dated February 23, 2001, and for the appointment of Monte Zwaan whose address is 591 160th Avenue, Luverne, Minnesota 56156, as personal representative of the estate of the above named decedent in supervised administration, and that any objections thereto must be filed with the Court. That, if proper, and no objections are filed, said personal representative will be appointed to administer the estate, to collect all assets, pay all legal debts, claims, taxes and expenses, and sell real and personal property, and do all necessary acts for the estate. Upon completion of the administration, the representative shall file a final account for the allowance and shall distribute the estate to the persons thereto entitled as ordered by the Court, and close the estate.
Notice is further given that ALL CREDITORS having claims against said estate are required to present the same to said personal representative or to the Court Administrator within four months after the date of this notice or said claims will be barred.
Date Filed: February 7, 2022 /s/ Terry S. Vajgrt
District Court Judge
 
Douglas E. Eisma /s/ Natalie Reisch Attorney for Petitioner Court Administrator
Eisma and Eisma
130 East Main (COURT SEAL)
Luverne, MN 56156
(507) 283-4828
I.D. #158343
(02-17, 02-24)

Faber probate
STATE OF MINNESOTA probate COURT
                                                                         DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF ROCK                                                                     PROBATE DIVISION
 
In Re:Estate of                                                              Court File No. 67-PR-22-34
Francis Faber
Deceased                                                 ORDER AND NOTICE OF HEARING
FOR FORMAL PROBATE OF WILL AND
APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE
IN SUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION
AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
 
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND CREDITORS:
It  It is Ordered and Notice is hereby given that on the 21st day of March, 2022, at  8:30 O'clock  A.M., a hearing will be held in the above named Court at Rock County Courthouse, Luverne, Minnesota, for the formal probate of an instrument purporting to be the will of the above named deceased, dated November 8, 2002, and for the appointment of Timothy Dale Ackerman, whose address is 912 S. Kennedy Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57103, as personal representative of the estate of the above named decedent in supervised administration, and that any objections thereto must be filed with the Court. That, if proper, and no objections are filed, said personal representative will be appointed to administer the estate, to collect all assets, pay all legal debts, claims, taxes and expenses, and sell real and personal property, and do all necessary acts for the estate. Upon completion of the administration, the representative shall file a final account for the allowance and shall distribute the 
estate to the persons thereto entitled as ordered by the Court, and close the estate.
Notice is further given that ALL CREDITORS having claims against said estate are required to present the same to said personal representative or to the Court Administrator 
within four months after the date of this notice or said claims will be barred.
 
Date Filed: February 7, 2022 /s/ Terry S. Vajgrt
District Court Judge
 
Douglas E. Eisma /s/ Natalie Reisch Attorney for Petitioner Court Administrator
Eisma and Eisma
130 East Main (COURT SEAL)
Luverne, MN 56156
(507) 283-4828
I.D. #158343
(02-17, 02-24)

Luverne City Council members took action at their Feb. 8 meeting to request state bonding funds to equip and furnish the building they recently purchased for a child care center.
The estimate for renovating the former Total Card Inc. building into a space for 186 slots for child care is estimated to be $2.83 million.
The renovation and the purchase price of the 30,000-square-foot building ($515,000) brings the total cost to $3.3 million.
The state of Minnesota bonding bill funds worthy projects up to 50 percent of the cost of the project, with the other 50 percent local matching funds.
The total request for state bonding is $1,672,781, which will cover 50 percent of the project.
The city will raise the matching funds through other sources such as working with Rock County, other governmental sources, non-profit entities and private fundraising.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Pat Baustian said he’s meeting with Rep. Joe Schomacker and Sen. Bill Weber to work on final language for bills in the House and Senate, and city clerk Jessica Mead is working with Gov. Tim Walz’s policy adviser for the bonding bill request.
“We’ll be monitoring this closely, but after tonight we’ll be ready to get the information to them,” Baustian said.
“I think everybody here has been involved in the lack of child care and seeing its demise over the past five years.”
In 2016 there were 51 child care providers in Rock County. Today there are 24, with additional retirements pending.
“Day care is important for economic vitality in communities, and we’re taking the right steps to start the process of rebuilding our day care,” Baustian said. “It’s a good time to do it with our (state) budget surplus.”
While the city works on financing over the next several months, the non-profit child care board will focus on planning and operation of the center. 
Members of the non-profit board include president Merlin Cleveringa, vice president Greg Burger, secretary Holly Sammons, treasurer Emily Crabtree, Tammy Loosbrock, Jason Phelps and Timothy Connell.
 
Background
After years of studying child care business models, city leaders and staff have discovered the working parents’ wages aren’t enough to support the costs of owning and maintaining a building while at the same time affording salaries of professional child care staff.
For this reason and many others, the city of Luverne has chosen to help facilitate the creation of a local child care center.
The city intends to own the building and lease it to a non-profit entity that will run child care center operations.
Young families, new residents and local businesses are feeling the pinch from the lack of availability of child care.
It is an economic issue that is hindering businesses from attracting and retaining employees.
In addition, many working parents are choosing to live closer to Brandon and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where they can find more day care options.
To illustrate the trending problem, there were 56 licensed child care providers in Rock County in 2016 compared with 24 now.
Ten in-home child care providers in Rock County left the profession in the past year, leaving roughly 120 children needing care elsewhere, in addition to nearly 200 slots already needed locally.
This creates a rapidly widening gap between working families who need child care and the available slots with licensed providers, which creates stifled economic growth.
When parents are not able to find child care, they are not able to work, which causes a shortage of employees for businesses and limits what a community is able to do to recruit new businesses and industry.
 
Project timeline
Spring 2022: Predesign
Summer 2022: Engineering plans and specs
Fall 2022: Advertise project.
Winter 2022: Begin construction.
Spring 2023: Substantial completion.
Spring – Summer 2023: Open child care center.

Preliminary plans were shared and a facility tour completed Friday morning showing how the former Total Card Inc. building can become a day care facility.
Holly Sammons, Luverne Economic Development director, and John Call, Luverne City Administrator, conducted the building tour for about a dozen people.
To assist in the day care facility’s development, the city is currently working on a bonding proposal to submit to the state of Minnesota. (See related story.)
“It’s large. It’s big and it suits all our needs,” Sammons told tour participants.
The city purchased the 30,000-square-foot facility from Vervent earlier this year.
San Diego-based Vervent purchased Total Card Inc. in November 2020 and closed the call center in March 2021. Twenty-two employees lost their jobs.
The building was listed for sale at $944,700, but the city of Luverne was able to purchase the building in January for $515,000.
“We definitely got a good deal,” Call added.
The building was kept in good shape since the business closure with no mold or damage from non-use detected in the building.
A local non-profit board is working on plans to remodel the building and operate a child care center.
While no specific plans have been approved, two concepts have been developed showing how the open-floor building can accommodate up to 186 children ages 0 to school age and the support staff.
Specific rooms would be developed for infants, pre-schoolers, toddlers and school-aged children. An indoor gymnasium would also be designed in the facility.
The existing building already has an enclosed vestibule, offices, a kitchen area, a conference room, a bathroom and a garage.
More bathrooms would be added along with outdoor play areas developed on the large green space on the building’s south side.
The non-profit board is working with ISG of Sioux Falls on the floor plans and with First Children’s Finance in Minneapolis on the most cost-effective ways to operate the day care.
“The vision is there. The opportunity is there. It’s wonderful it’s coming true,” Sammons said.
The Luverne City Council listed affordable child care as the No. 1 priority during a 2016 planning session.
Sammons said a child care study conducted in 2015 engaged the community to find more child care options for area families.
The options became more limited during the pandemic as in-home child cares closed.
Over the years, various buildings in Luverne were examined for possible conversion to a day care facility. It wasn’t until the Total Card building became available last year that a possible solution presented itself.
“We had to be patient and we’ve been rewarded,” Sammons said.
The current bonding session at the state legislature finishes in May. Projects receiving state bonding are expected to be announced in late May.

The Luverne mock trial team competes today (Thursday, Feb. 17) for a possible return to the state tournament for the eighth-consecutive year.
The Cardinals are one of six high school teams competing in the final Round 5 that includes St. Peter Rochester Century, Owatonna, Northfield and Cotter. The three winning teams from today’s competition move on to the virtual state tournament on March 3-4.
Coach Jason Berghorst said this year’s schedule is more competitive than in previous years due to the virtual format.
Luverne is in a pool of 18 other high schools across the state.
“Being in a super-regional this year — second year of this — has allowed us to face teams with similar records, which has led to more competitive trials in Rounds 3 and 4,” he said. “We’ve been able to compete against larger schools that are farther away that we would probably not face during the regular season if we were traveling to compete in person.”
Luverne enters today’s final Round 5 with a perfect 4-0 record.
They will take on Cotter High School of Winona, who enters the regional final with a 3-1 record.
“If we defeat Cotter, we’ll compete at state. If we lose to Cotter, our season will end,” Berghorst said.
Luverne has competed in the state tournament every year since 2014.
The Luverne team will be the prosecutors for today’s event, while Winona will defend.
Luverne’s prosecution is coming off a Round 4 win on Feb. 8 and will compete for the second time in a row. Winona’s defense will compete for the fourth time in a row.
The unbalanced schedule is something that the Minnesota Bar Association, who operates the mock trial program, seeks to fix in the future.
“This is kind of a quirk in the mock trial rules,” Berghorst said. “Organizers have assured coaches that they will try to fix the problem so it doesn’t happen as often next year.”
Luverne’s schedule has been balanced, with their prosecution and defense teams winning two rounds each.
Comprising this year’s prosecution team for Luverne are Roselynn Hartshorn, Cassi Chesley and Chance Tunnissen as the attorneys. Hartshorn conducts the opening statement for the team with Tunnissen providing the closing argument. Prosecution witnesses are Xavier Carbonneau, Jadyn Hart and Parker Carbonneau.
The defense team consists of attorneys Griffen Jarchow, Brynn Boyenga and Ross Bergman. Bergman completes the opening statement with Jarchow providing the closing argument. Defense witnesses are Luke Thorson, Adam Ask and Ella Lanoue.
Alternate attorneys are Zander Carbonneau and Eli McLendon. Alternate witnesses are Keaton Ahrendt and Leif Ingebretsen.
The prosecution team won Luverne’s first competition on Jan. 12 against Northfield with a score of 219 to 203. They won Round 4 on Feb. 8 against Springfield, 195 to 189.
The defense team took the top score in Round 2 on Jan. 21 with a score of 221 to 207. They also won Round 3 on Feb. 1 against St. Peter, 202 to 183.
This year’s case focuses on crowdfunding in a “theft by swindle” case — state of Minnesota versus Taylor Blair.
Defendant Taylor Blair is the founder of Minnesota Nice Pet Rescue and raised funds through UFundUs, a fictional crowdfunding site. Blair is accused of making elaborate purchases from funds raised through the site set up to care for abused or neglected dogs. Blair contends the new truck and swimming pool are used in the dogs’ care. The state prosecutors accuse Blair of swindling funds from the public for his own use.
Luverne students have competed this year virtually from their individual homes.
“This allows for fewer distractions than what teams who compete at their schools face,” Berghorst said. “Bells, announcements and feedback —within the Zoom session when multiple mics are on in the same room —are just some of the challenges that other teams who compete from school have faced this year.”
With no travel, the students have a different post-round debriefing.
“We host a team-only Zoom right after each trial where the kids kind of debrief and go over the trial, similar to what they would normally do on the bus ride home previous seasons,” Berghorst said.

At their Feb. 8 meeting Luverne City Council members approved the plans and specifications to extend Dakota Road in the industrial park.
This project will extend Dakota Road to the west to carry traffic for the expanding industrial complex of the Lineage Logistics Freezer Plant and Premium Minnesota Pork.
“It’s a big project and it’s really exciting to see this kick off,” said Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian.
“It’s a great facility in a great location and it’s great for our industrial tax base.”
The extended road will not only carry traffic for the industries but serve as a second entry and exit for the expanding industrial area, making the traffic patterns safer on the adjacent County Road 4.
The city is also applying for a state grant (Business Development and Public Infrastructure) to assist with 50 percent of the funding of this vital project.
The Feb. 8 resolution authorizes advertising and setting a bid date for March 10.
Company officials have indicated dirt moving will start March 15.
Baustian noted the Walleye Wind project, the Lineage freezer warehouse construction and the new Armory, among other projects, will make for a busy construction season this year.
“With Walleye wind … they’ll need 727 yards of concrete for each tower, and then three football fields worth of flat work at the freezer warehouse,” Baustian said. “There’s going to be a lot of concrete needed in Luverne.”
 
Power plant construction
Bills have started coming in for Luverne’s $11 million electric and power plant improvement project.
At their Tuesday, Feb. 8, meeting, council members approved the first payment of $224,410 to Rice Lake Construction, which has mobilized onsite at the power plant.
Progress and work completed in the first pay period includes removal of engine room floor, selective demolition, foundation work for the engine floor and mobilization at work site.
When this project is completed, there will be two large generators with a combined capacity of almost 6 megawatts – which will be used for city emergencies and also for generation capacity standby for Missouri River Energy Services.
 
Highway 75 utility work
Also at their Feb. 8 meeting, the council awarded the bid to Hulstein Excavating, Edgerton, for the 2022 sewer lining and utility improvements project
The work is related to the scheduled 2025 Minnesota Department of Transportation mill off and overlay of North Highway 75 from Main Street to the north city limits.
Since North 75 in Luverne will be asphalted in 2025, the city water and sewer staff along with the city engineer have looked at infrastructure in the right-of-way along North Highway 75.
There are a number of sewer lines and manholes, along with water service lines and affiliated structures, that need to be replaced so that the newly asphalted road will not have to be dug up for utility repairs in the near future.
Hulstein Excavating submitted the low bid for the project. The base bid was $537,144, with three alternates (related to televising, cleaning, lining and bypass pumping) of $17,151, $12,642 and $12,609.
The council approved the base bid and all three alternates.
The city will use federal funding from the American Rescue Plan to pay for the project.

Minnesota West Community & Technical College hosted a hands-on scrubs camp, Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Luverne Center. 
The event offered high school juniors and seniors a hands-on, inside look at the health care programs available at the Luverne Center.
The featured programs Tuesday included dental assistant, medical assistant, medical laboratory technician, radiologic technology and surgical technology. 
Students were able to experience each program with a tour and activities, and they received general information about Minnesota West Community & Technical College during a light lunch.  
“It’s fun. It’s cool to learn about,” said homeschool student Brynn Peterson of Tyler. “It’s a time to step back from school and do things for my future.”
In all, 55 students from 19 area high schools participated in the Scrubs Camp.
Minnesota West system offers over 60 technical career and liberal arts majors on five southwest Minnesota campuses in Canby, Granite Falls, Jackson, Pipestone, and Worthington along with learning centers in Marshall and Luverne. 
The college is a leader in distance learning and internet delivery.

The Luverne gymnasts’ “Road to Success”-themed season led the team to Marshall Saturday for the Section 3A tournament, where the Cardinals posted their highest team score of the season, achieved personal best scores and broke one school record.
Luverne placed third out of the seven teams with a score of 132.75.
The Cardinals achieved season-best scores on the bars (31.775) and the floor (34.95) while scoring 35.35 on the vault and 30.675 on the balance beam.
“The girls have been working on some harder skills on the floor and the bars and they finally were making them, and that is where it paid off,” said coach Phoebe Flom. “We had a hard day on beam, but it sounded like it was a struggle for all the teams.”
Worthington Trojans won the section meet (145.4) and will represent the 3A teams at Saturday’s state tournament. Jackson County Central was section runner-up (133.65).
Coach Flom set a preseason goal of placing third as a team at the section meet. She based the goal on her athletes’ ability to hit the high scoring elements included in their routines.
Several gymnasts hit those high marks Saturday.
“We finished right where I thought we would and were very close to the No. 2 spot (nine-tenths of a point),” she said. “This is exactly the time of the year where you want to peak and those scores should happen.”
Freshman Ella Reisdorfer led the Cardinals with an all-around score of 35.625, breaking her old school record of 35.475 set last year.
She placed third in the all-around competition, earning an automatic bid to this weekend’s state tournament.
Worthington’s Hali Bullerman won the all-around with a score of 36.85.
Under a new format this year, the top three all-around performers and the top three score earners in each of the four events earned trips to the state meet in St. Paul.
Reisdorfer tied for fourth in the vault (9.075), placed fifth on the uneven bars (8.55), fourth on balance beam (8.875) and fifth on the floor exercise (9.125).
Bullerman earned the top scores of the section meet on the vault (9.475), bars (8.85) and floor (9.55), with teammates Mekyla Nystrom and Olivia Barber tying for the top score on the beam (9.1).
This is the third-straight year Reisdorfer has qualified for the Minnesota State High School League state tournament with this year being the first time she qualified in more than one event.
Coach Phoebe Flom, who was selected by fellow coaches as the Section 3A Coach of the Year (her third such honor), has led the Luverne team since 1994. This is the first time a Luverne athlete has competed in the state all-around event under her tenure.
“Ella is an amazing gymnast,” Flom said. “She has been a part of the Cardinal gymnastics program since she was 6. She is extremely gifted athletically, a natural. She’s strong, coachable and determined. She is willing to put in the hard work to achieve her goals.”
The top six gymnasts received medals in each of the events at the section meet.
In addition to Reisdorfer, Sara deCesare placed fifth on the vault with a 9.025, a personal best score for the sophomore.
Three other Cardinals placed in the top 10 including freshman Amira Cowell who placed tenth in the all-around (32.725) and tied for eighth place on the bars (8.2). Eighth-grader Tiana Winter finished tied for tenth on the vault (8.6) and achieved a personal best and a tie for seventh place on the floor exercise (9.025). Junior Tiana Lais tied for ninth on the vault (8.65).
“I couldn’t be prouder of my girls who PB’d Saturday,” Flom said. “I see them doing so well in practice and have just been waiting for them to hit in a meet. I can’t describe how happy and proud I am to see them make that happen.”
The Luverne gymnastics also achieved a silver award for academics in Section 3A with a cumulative grade point average of 3.573.
With no seniors on this year’s team, Flom has the same athletes returning for the 2022-23 season.
With assistant coaches Kari Lais and Chris Nowatzki, Flom sees another good season for the Cardinals.
“We want to increase our skills/scores and not backtrack, start where we left off,” she said. “So hopefully all girls will return ready to keep working — would love to lock in the No. 2 spot.”
 
Individual scores
All-around: Reisdorfer 35.625, Cowell 32.725, deCesare 32.225.
Vault: Reisdorfer 9.075, deCesare 9.025, Lais 8.65, Winter 8.6, Cowell 8.225.
Uneven bars: Reisdorfer 8.55, Cowell 8.2, deCesare 7.725, Hailey Como 7.3, Addyson Mann 7.0.
Balance beam: Reisdorfer 8.875, Cowell 7.9, deCesare 7.1, Kendra Thorson 6.8, Mann 6.5.
Floor exercise: Reisdorfer 9.125, Winter 9.025, Cowell 8.4, Mann 8.4, deCesare 8.375.