Holly Lagergren and Lia Caron emerge from the lake and rush to the warming tent.
Litchfield City Council and Golf Club Inc. are trying to figure out a way to make substantial clubhouse improvements and lure a new restaurant tenant.
With spring-like temperatures forecast for the weekend, it’s inevitable that some people’s thoughts will turn to golf.
But long drives and perfect putts were not the topic of conversation during Monday’s Litchfield City Council meeting, which included a long discussion of the municipal golf course’s clubhouse and restaurant.
Since Peter’s on Lake Ripley closed at the end of the year, the restaurant has been without a tenant, and the clubhouse’s management — a volunteer board known as Golf Club Inc. — has been actively searching for another tenant while also attempting to have improvements made to the building.
Brian Johnson, president of GCI, told the City Council that Golf Club Inc. was looking for “a long-term fix with regarding to the restaurant,” and clubhouse, which he called “a vital asset to the entire community.”
In a letter to City Administrator David Cziok and the City Council — included in the the council’s agenda packet — Johnson laid out a proposal that would help finance what he said during the meeting could be “north of” $200,000 in needed improvement to the golf club and restaurant.
The plan included:
- The city, which owns the building, should be responsible for its structural integrity, including the floor in the bar area, which must be improved before any new tenant moves into the restaurant.
- GCI would pay for remodeling the kitchen and restaurant to suit the needs of the next tenant.
- GCI would sell four lots it owns to the city for $125,000 to help finance the kitchen remodel.
- The racquetball club would assist with the remodel.
- If the city sells the building within five years, it would reimburse GCI for 50 percent of the group’s kitchen and restaurant remodeling investment, money that would then be used by GCI for golf course improvements.
“Our membership realizes how important this building and restaurant is to our community and how important it is to make these improvements and to find a tenant as soon as we can,” Johnson wrote. “We believe the city should take these measures immediately to reduce the down time this will cause within the community.”
The urgency is based on the popularity of the restaurant and bar, especially during the golf season. During tournaments at the course, the restaurant and bar sales jump.
The value of the restaurant and bar extend far beyond the golfers, however, Johnson said.
“It’s (important) to everybody in our community,” he said. “It’s kind of like an event center,” with people coming in and spending money at the restaurant but also at gas stations and other retailers in the city.
Council member Betty Allen challenged the proposal, however, asking how the price of the four lots was arrived at. She also questioned why, suddenly, Golf Club Inc. on the urgency of the fixes needed.
“It was business as usual until December out there,” Allen said. “Now all of the sudden … these things that need to be fixed? Why all of the sudden now are we panicking? Did you not know the contract was up (with the former tenant)? Shouldn’t we have been planning?”
CGI has been planning for a major kitchen remodel for a while, Johnson explained, and when the former tenant opted out, “our timeline got moved up.” And with the building vacant, it exposed additional problems.
Allen expressed disappointment that CGI presented no quotes for improvements, as did councilors Darlene Kotelnicki and Sarah Miller later in the meeting.
“We need to take ownership,” Kotelnicki said. “If we need to do it, we need to do it. But this (proposal) is not ready in its current state. As submitted, I could not support this. It looks like two blank checks (for improvements). We really need specifics.”
Some specifics had been presented to administration, Cziok said. But questions remain unanswered.
“This public process is messy,” Cziok said. “GCI had the opportunity to present their proposal … and now we’re trying to — live — figure out our own ideas.”
In the end, Mayor Keith Johnson proposed that staff and GCI work on a proposal for the most urgent repairs — the bar area floor and the patio— and bring specifics back to the council in two weeks. The motion received unanimous approval.
Meeker County township residents could play an active role in democracy during the Township Day March 10.
Residents in Minnesota’s 1,781 townships can participate in the annual meeting — held the second Tuesday in March — to voice opinions about local issues with other townships and vote directly on annual tax levies. They can also give feedback to neighbors elected to make decisions at the most local level regarding road work, fire protection, ditches and others.
Many townships will hold elections for supervisor and treasurer positions. Some townships, however, have moved their elections to November — but still will meet March 10.
“Township communities come together to shape their government from the grassroots up,” David Hann, executive director for Minnesota Association of Townships, said. “Whether they are electing new local officers or voting on the annual tax levy, these annual meetings are important to the direct democracy of townships. On behalf of the Minnesota Association of Townships, I encourage every township resident to attend their annual meeting.”
Townships were Minnesota's first form of government. In the 1800s, Congress ordered a survey to divide the Minnesota territory into 36 square mile tracts of land. Today, townships refer to public corporations governed by a local board of supervisors and made to supply services to residents.
To find your meeting time, see the list below:
ACTON TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 3 p.m.
Elections: 4 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Grove City Fire Hall, 200 Atlantic Ave. W., Grove City
CEDAR MILLS TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 3 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Location: Cedar Mills Gun Club, 62841 140th St., Hutchinson
COLLINWOOD TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Collinwood Township Hall, 21904 746th Ave., Dassel
COSMOS TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 7 p.m.
Location: Cosmos Fire Hall, 206 Gemini Ave. E., Cosmos
Elections are in November
DANIELSON TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 7 p.m.
Location: 51815 220th St, Grove City
Elections are in November
DARWIN TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 7 p.m.
Location: Darwin City/Town Hall, 305 Curran St., Darwin
Elections are in November
DASSEL TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Dassel History Center and Ergot Museum, 901 First St., Dassel
ELLSWORTH TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Ellsworth Township Hall, 19258 State Highway 9, Darwin
FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Forest City Threshers, 64917 309th St., Litchfield
FOREST PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Treasurer election: One 2-year term
Location: Watkins City Hall, 111 Central Ave. S., Watkins
GREENLEAF TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:10 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Beckville Lutheran Church, 20521 600th Ave., Litchfield
HARVEY TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 7 p.m.
Location: Lighthouse Church AG, 28164 State Highway 22, Litchfield
Elections are in November
KINGSTON TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Kingston Community Center 30840 722nd Ave., Dassel
LITCHFIELD TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Election: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Meeker County Courthouse Community Room A, 325 North Sibley Ave., Litchfield
MANANNAH TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Election: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Manannah Township Hall, 57211 351st St., Grove City
SWEDE GROVE TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8 p.m.
Elections: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Swede Grove Town Hall, 29956 State Highway 4, Grove City
UNION GROVE TOWNSHIP
Annual meeting: 8:15 p.m.
Election: 5 to 8 p.m.
Supervisor election: One 3-year term
Clerk election: One 2-year term
Location: Union Grove Town Hall, 35975 515 Ave., Paynesville
Karen Johnson
Jeff Miller
Matthew Fitzgerald, left, co-founder of the Central Minnesota Young Farmers Coalition, and his dad, Joe Fitzgerald, farm together in McLeod County. Unfortunately, not everyone has a dad in farming. A factor that spurred Fitzgerald and like-minded folks to create CMYFC was to provide a group to help new farmers navigate the difficulties of the agriculture industry.
The past is the present, according to a report released this month by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The theme: support the new farmer.
Six listening and discussion sessions were held September through December with the goal of identifying barriers for emerging farmers, those completely new to farming and farmers outside traditional state and federal agriculture support programs.
According to Patrice Bailey, assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, those identifying as emerging farmers felt invisible. Recurring concerns included access to land, discrimination, cost of health insurance, education/training and profitability of local farms.
Karen Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension educator for Meeker and McLeod counties, agreed that the general findings applied to the local area.
The report identified five main concerns and discussed how they might be addressed.
Access to land
Farming is expensive, especially for young farmers without credit history.
Money and access to capital were the biggest issues for emerging farmers, because while land prices increased over the decade, revenue stayed the same. With limited revenue growth, farmers struggled acquiring land for various reasons, including land prices, real estate listings, land quality and distance to markets.
“Any time we’re talking about multi-million dollar or million dollar lending opportunities, people want a high level of collateral,” said Jeff Miller, dean of instruction for technical programs at Ridgewater College, “and an emerging farmer doesn’t have that, so obviously that’s a challenge.”
To help emerging farmers, Meeker and McLeod counties have farm service agencies with low-interest loans.
“(These loans) make it a little bit easier for some farmers to get into … or at least expand their businesses or do some stuff to expand their farming operation,” Johnson said.
Johnson said resources for helping were still being developed.
“It’s still a learning process, I think, for everybody as we’re building these different types of markets,” she said.
Discrimination
Some farmers admitted caution in selling land to immigrant farmers for two main reasons: fear of upsetting neighbors and the possibility an immigrant farmer could use different farming techniques on the land.
Biases exist, and according to an anonymous statement listed in the report, these social issues aren’t going away.
“Centuries of injustice against people of color and indigenous communities render their access to land even more difficult as they suffer from a lack of wealth building that centuries of white people have had,” read the comment. “Of course they can’t invest in land without capital.”
Health insurance
With a 12.9 percent disability rate, farming can be dangerous. It was no surprise health care proved a top barrier for young farmers, according to the report, because it can be difficult to transition to a public market.
With an unpredictable annual income, plans vary for different reasons. There also was a decrease in rural health clinics, which limited options for choosing clinics, health services and specialty doctors in coverage.
This was concerning given the rise in mental health issues identified in the report. Lean years when growing seasons become more difficult and trade commodities for products are harder to sell can drag farmers down.
“People are struggling right now because they’ve had some tough growing years,” Miller said, “so it’s really concerning.”
Matt Fitzgerald of Glencoe, co-founder of the Central Minnesota Young Farmers Coalition and a young farmer himself, agreed that finding health care was challenging for people he knew, but admitted he had difficulty relating to the report as a white, male farmer.
Education and training
Experience is important in the agriculture industry, Miller said, especially early, even before beginning post-secondary education. He said fifth and sixth grade was good time to start learning, because relationships formed could play a role in the success of new farmers.
As is true with any career path, wider networks for young farmers lead to more opportunities for entering the agriculture industry, Miller said.
“The networking for emerging farmers is going to be as important as the product that they’re going to grow or the service as farmers that they’re going to provide,” said Miller.
Fitzgerald suggested apprenticeship programs as a possible solution.
“This would be kind of a state-level program that might be able to be executed through several technical and community colleges,” he said.
Profitability
Profitability was harder to predict, because a lot depended on products and what emerging farmers planned to produce. Fitzgerald cited hops as an example.
“If you’re raising hops for beer there’s not a futures market,” he said. “There’s not a universally accepted source for pricing.”
Revenue depended on market demand.
“Do you decide as a farm to … only sell at the farmers market in Hutchinson for a lower price, or do I get up at 4 a.m. and drive to the Minneapolis Farmers Market and do … 30 percent more?”
To offset uncertainty, community-supported agriculture, when farmer’s sell crop access to local communities in membership shares, was used.
What wasn’t hard to predict was why larger, corporate farms were succeeding: Instead of looking at farming from a “we need to grow more” perspective, they spend time looking at balance sheets and cash flows, according to Miller.
Miller summarized the new way of corporate farming this way: “More money will be made sitting behind a desk than will be sitting behind a steering wheel.”
Overall, Johnson was optimistic the findings would encourage young farmers.
“The report has a good overview of what’s going on across Minnesota,” she said. “They’ve brought to life some of those opportunities that do need to be addressed to help further cultivate this expanded interest in getting started.”
Fitzgerald was happy to see the concerns of young farmers addressed.
“I definitely commend Commissioner Bailey and a process that was inclusive,” he said. “They put a lot of effort into going across the state.
“It’s done a good job of collecting stories, experiences and some data. Now we can go to the Legislature and say, ‘This is what’s happening out in the countryside, these are the barriers that exist!’”
