Grace Borka’s facial expression says it all. She was crowned Miss Hutchinson during Sunday night’s Queen Coronation.
It was a tearful Tatyana Beerbower who greeted the audience after her crowning as princess during Sunday night’s Queen Coronation.
Miss Hutchinson Grace Borka was all smiles as she greets the audience during the Queen Coronation Sunday night.
The 79th annual Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival hosted its annual Queen Coronation Sunday night at the Hutchinson High School Auditorium. It had been an exciting week for the five queen candidates. They attended activities from Music in the Park to the Queen’s Dance greeting friends, family and well-wishers with happy smiles and plenty of enthusiasm.
Highlights of the week included the crowning of the new Miss Hutchinson Grace Borka and Princess Tatyana Beerbower. Beerbower also earned kudos as Miss Congenialty and the talent winner.
New Commodore Don DeMeyer named his vice commodore for 2022-23 — Brittany Schiller.
The Queen Coronation isn’t only about crowning the new royalty, but it is the time for the present royal family to say their thank yous and goodbyes. It included words from Commodore Ryan Elbert, new Commodore Don DeMeyer, recognition of the Water Carnival by the Minneapolis Aquatennial and the parting words of Queen Madalyn Prokosh and Princesss Maddie Fitzgerald.
Following the Queen Pageant, folks drifted to Masonic/West River Park for a sparkling end to the Water Carnival — the Sunday night fireworks show. This year, the fireworks for Thursday and Sunday were shot off from a barge in the river.
Congratulations also go to Mary Hodson, president of the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, who was named the 2022 Hutchinson Jaycee Honorary Commodore Award for selfless service and dedication to the festival.
All in all, it was a great week of family-friendly activities. As the saying goes there’s “#muchinhutch.”
For more Water Carnival photos, visit pages A6 and A7.
— Kay Johnson
This map shows a potential layout for a splash pad intended for the green space alongside the Crow River, just south of Subway in Hutchinson. The city is gathering feedback from the public regarding the design and amenities.
There’s a little time left to add your thoughts to a Hutchinson Parks, Recreation and Community Education survey regarding a potential splash pad project.
The survey — found online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/hutchinson-splash-pad-park — seeks public input regarding design, layout, features and more for a project on the green space near Police Memorial Park, south of Subway, alongside the Crow River. Thoughts and questions can also be directed to Lynn Neumann, director of Hutchinson PRCE, at LNeumann@hutchinsonmn.gov or 320-234-5637.
The Hutchinson City Council approved plans in late 2021 to hire a contractor to help plan a splash pad along with city staff and the PRCE advisory board. It had been one of the most requested amenities from people who provided feedback for the PRCE master plan. Supporters of the project highlighted it as an inexpensive option for local and visiting families, an alternative to the pool for younger kids, and another way to place Hutchinson on the map as a destination for recreation, art and leisure.
“I like the idea that it’s a free amenity for children,” Council Member Mary Christensen said during planning.
Overall, the project was originally estimated to cost roughly $1.28 million, with $825,000 in other options if the council opted for a prefabricated picnic shelter and restroom building. Planning included ideas for additional phases that could potentially fill out the nearby green area.
But the project hit a snag this past January. After discussing layout ideas earlier in the month, City Council members decided to hold off a little longer. With global supply issues causing higher project costs, the city continued to move forward with plans to renovate Burich Arena and build a new police station in order to take care of existing assets, but hold off on a splash pad in order to safeguard the city against future price hikes.
“If we’re being honest, we have the funds to do everything,” Jaunich said. “(Finance director Andy Reid) and my concern is, you do that at a detriment to your bond rating. ... Which doesn’t just affect a project. It really affects all of our projects.”
“I’m disappointed that we can’t do the splash pad as soon as we would like, but I understand that, and we need to keep our rating good,” Christensen said at the time.
At the time, a potential construction date for the splash pad was set in the summer of 2022 or spring of 2023. The PRCE survey information lists the bidding and construction process for the splash pad as beginning in spring 2023, or into the future, following a public input period and the development of construction documents into 2023.
Baseball teams and brewers in Hutchinson may soon have more options regarding the sale of liquor.
During the Minnesota Legislature's 2022 session, lawmakers approved, and Gov. Tim Walz signed liquor legislation that created several new licenses and regulations available to cities.
For instance, a licensed brewer that produces 7,500 barrels or fewer of malt liquor annually can be issued a license by a municipality for off-sale of up to 128 ounces per customer per day. Breweries that produce as many as 150,000 barrels annually can be given permission to sell growlers. Previously, the limit was 20,000 barrels. Cities can also issue on-sale wine and on-sale malt liquor license to baseball teams competing in a league stablished by the Minnesota Baseball Association, or to a person holding a concessions or management contract for beverage sales at a ballpark for the purposes of summer town ball games.
In light of the legislative changes, Hutchinson City Attorney Marc Sebora told the Hutchinson City Council that staff suggested two alterations to the city's liquor ordinance:
- The city will allow brewers to sell at off-sale up to 128 ounces per customer per day in packaging that complies with Minnesota state rules.
- The city will allow issuance of a wine license and/or a malt liquor license to the owner of a baseball team established by the Minnesota Baseball Association.
“It’s a great opportunity for some of our businesses to sell some more different products," he said. "And for that reason the staff is recommending that you approve this first reading and set the second reading on for the June 28 meeting.”
The Hutchinson City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the changes. Also included in the reading were changes to language and definitions in order to be more like the wording used in state statute.
Matt Jaunich
The city of Hutchinson followed on a commitment it made last year to provide a comprehensive, annual look at the city’s progress.
It started with a 2020 annual report that aimed to give residents a picture of what staff spent the year doing, and to provide with that data information about the city’s overall position. At the Hutchinson City Council meeting this past week, City Manager Matt Jaunich described the report as, “hopefully a one-stop shop for a bunch of information.”
He encouraged City Council members to tell him if anything else should be included in future reports, “as we kind of look to expand upon that each and every year.”
The report will be posted to the city of Hutchinson’s website and can be found in the City Council packet for June 14.
Every year, the City Council receives reports from each department, as well as plenty of other information. The annual city report compiles that data into one source. Also available in the report is information on tax rates, and how they compare to other cities.
“While 2020 was a year of survival and perseverance as we worked our way through COVID-19, 2021 was a year of hope with building towards the future,” Jaunich wrote in the report’s executive summary. “While it appears that we are seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ when it comes to COVID-19, I have a lot of hope for the future.”
He touts the city’s monthly unemployment rates, which continued to remain low at an average of 3.7%, as compared to the state rate of 3.9% and the federal rate of 5.4%. Drawing on data from the Minneapolis Area Realtors, he highlighted the median sales price of residential homes rising from $186,000 in 2020 to 235,000 in 20221.
“Home resales continue to remain high and home foreclosures (lack thereof) continue to remain low,” he said.
Jaunich said one of his goals for the city is for it to be the best and most attractive small regional center in outstate Minnesota.
“It is our responsibility to create an atmosphere that is conductive for growth and achievement,” he said. “This report is a culmination of the effort staff put forth in 2021 in providing quality services, hopefully at a cost of government similar to, or less than, comparable outstate regional centers.”
The report goes on to share the city’s branding message regarding its history, to review the cost of city government, and to discuss Hutchinson’s bond rating — AA-, indicating a “stable outlook” — before eventually breaking down numerous pieces of city data regarding donations, employment, accomplishments and more. It later shares information from department to department.
One noteworthy piece of data reflects upon Hutchinson’s population below the poverty line. According to the report, 9% of residents fall below the poverty line, while the regional center average is at 15%. The lowest rate listed was New Ulm (7.1%), followed by Hutchinson. At the top was Marshall (19.7%), Brainerd (22.2%) and Bemidji (31.3%).
The median household income of Hutchinson is $57,672, with the regional center average sitting at $50,606. Hutchinson’s 2021 city tax rate (63.88%) was in about the upper third of regional centers. The average was 57.54%. the state average was 74.19%.
