America's Small City Mayor

Clarissa & Eagle Bend Approved For DEED Grant

Friday, 29 May 2009 15:23

Housing Repair Funds Available

The Cities of Eagle Bend and Clarissa recently received notice from the MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Development that their application for home rehabilitation funding was approved.

Last summer a mailing about the program was sent to all owner-occupied households in Eagle Bend and Clarissa. Those who submitted their letters of interest were put on a waiting list, and they will be contacted by mail between May 29 and June 1.

The $470,800 in grant funding will allow for the repair of about 20 homes—ten in Eagle Bend and ten in Clarissa. Applications will be processed in the order in which they are received, so it is important for those who are interested to get their application forms mailed in as soon as possible. Over 100 households have expressed interest in participating, and only twenty homes can be repaired.

To qualify for the repair program, Eagle Bend and Clarissa residents must:

Live within the corporate limits of Clarissa or Eagle Bend;
Own their home, either free from debt, through a mortgage, or a recorded contract for deed;
Have gross annual income (including Social Security, wages, and all other sources) below the following limits:

Household Size Annual Income

1 $32,950

2 37,700

3 42,400

4 47,100

5 50,850

6 54,650

Income limits are subject to periodic revision by HUD

The following types of repairs may be made through the program: repairs that make a home more safe, energy efficient, and/or accessible. Eligible activities may include the repair/replacement of:

Defective plumbing, electrical, or heating systems
Cracked or damaged foundations
Roofing, windows, and doors
Damaged walls, ceilings, floors
Deteriorated siding, porches, steps
Ramps and bathroom accessibility improvements
Removal of lead paint hazards

After a homeowner’s application is received, the project staff will work with the homeowner to get appropriate income and property verifications. If it is determined that both the property and the owner are eligible for the program, a home inspection will be scheduled. The inspector will meet with the homeowner to determine which repairs are necessary. If the home was built prior to 1978, a test will be done to determine if lead paint hazards are present in the home.

The inspector will write bid specifications describing all of the work to be done. The homeowner will provide the bid specs to at least two contractors and request them to bid the job. Contractors must be licensed by the State of Minnesota and insured. If lead paint hazards are present in the home, contractors working on that job must be certified by the MN Dept. of Health to work with lead paint hazards.

Contractor bids will be reviewed by the inspector and homeowner. A contractor will be chosen, and the job will be awarded. The inspector will work closely with the homeowner to ensure quality work and timeliness. When the contractor’s work is finished (to the homeowner’s and the inspector’s satisfaction), the contractor will be paid with grant funds. The City of Eagle Bend will issue a check directly to the contractor upon satisfactory completion of the work.

It is expected that the home repair program will extent through the fall of 2010. Please contact the program administrator, Kathy Sletto, at 320-762-8428 with any questions.

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A Prayer For Coty

Friday, 15 May 2009 21:05

A best friend of my son, Nolan, was in a bad farming accident tonight. We do not have all the details but know he has been airlifted to Minneapolis, and has sustained a number of injuries that are very serious.

The most important things in life is life itself. Moments like these help you to gain perspective on what really counts and how quickly things can change.

Please join my family as we pray tonight for Coty. We will be praying for a full recovery and for the Lord to help the entire family during this time of crisis.

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A Todd County Power Grab?

Thursday, 14 May 2009 13:08

The Browerville Mayor gave me a call this morning and pointed out an interesting section in his local paper: The Browerville Blade (May 14th, 2009 Edition). It states:

Plats for new property developments will all now have to be approved by the Todd County Surveyor before they receive final approval. Until now, new developments within the limits of Todd County towns (cities) were exempt from that requirement.

Todd County Recorder Cheryl Perish said she asked that the surveyor review all plats because there had been some problems with property boundaries on plats.

The review will be paid for by the developer.

I think all cities will have something to say about this. I will be asking our commissioner to continue to have Clarissa exempted and obtain further clarification.

I am going to highlight my thoughts on this here.

If the county is going to take away authority of cities, who have handled this process for decades, I think at minimum a representative of our county should have contacted the cities to get their perspective and input. Cheryl Perish, nor our commissioners, ever contacted any of the cities that I am aware of. I appreciate the heads-up from Mayor Aksamit.
In most cities our size we (cities) are generally the "developer". We do not have the size and scale to attract private developers. Thus for years we have handled planning and zoning, hired attorneys, engineers, etc. The county is basically saying that they are now going to require this be done twice according to the article. Twice the cost for the same result paid for in many cases by the taxpayer.
There are and will always be problems with property boundaries. For Ms. Perish to take this unilateral action on her own giving just this reason above I find naive and offensive. To think because it is all done by the county that problems with boundaries will disappear is, again, naive.

Side note: This blog as always been about giving my initial thoughts after reading something in the paper. I have a message into our commissioner to get some further clarification to ensure I have all of the facts. If I am wrong on any points I will gladly retract those areas I am in error on. However, that I have to hunt down answers on such an important issue is stunning.

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You Be The Judge: Small City Crime

Thursday, 07 May 2009 14:13

I wanted to make everyone in the surrounding area aware of the thefts that have recently taken place. I would encourage you to lock up your items overnight so they do not disappear and report suspicious activity to myself or the Todd County Sheriff’s Office.

Apparently we have a band of ingenious and crafty five year olds living in the surrounding communities that are targeting bikes with training wheels, and other assorted children play items. Be on the lookout for these children casing properties and acting suspicious. Signs of this behavior might include putting up a bigger fuss than usual to avoid bedtime, claiming items are “mine”, and other obvious bad behavior symptoms.

The only other possibility I could come up with would be a group of incredibly uncreative dimwits that are older and have too much time on their hands. We will be working with the Sheriff’s Office to catch these individuals. I look forward to highlighting their pictures here on my website.

I am committed to sitting out on various early mornings if needed to get a great story. I am hoping it’s the five year old gang because they would be a great article. However, I am betting on another lame story about uncreative dimwits.

Stay tuned, and if you want to volunteer for a stakeout let me know!! Just another day in the life of a small city mayor.

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The Background on America's Small City Mayor

Tuesday, 19 August 2008 14:15

It is appropriate, given the increased visits to my website, that I explain the context of my blog one more time. The added exposure covering the 2008 Republican Convention (live), being picked up by various news services, and the added releases to rural papers has brought about questions that are important.

In politics context is everything, so allow me a few paragraphs. This blog is about small city life & development, political commentary, humor, and keeping politicians of all parties honest.

America's Small City Mayor started when I was first elected Mayor. I wanted an area to could simply record some of the interesting things that occur. Some serious; some funny; but always interesting.

I started to Goggle different names for my blog. I started to realize that many national politician's start to assign themselves names beyond just their original title. In honor of the GOP Convention: John McCain was Maverick McCain, Rudy Giuliani became America's Mayor, and Senator Norm Coleman serves as Minnesota's Mayor in the US Senate. All endearing names and great political "brands".

In order to keep pace I had to come up with something BIG to represent Rural Minnesota........ no wait; America properly. After all I was doing it for the people so America's Small City Mayor was born.

One reader asked years ago "isn't the title a little over the top". The simple answer is YES that was the humorous intent.

As time went by mayors, citizens, republicans, independents, democrats, council members, economic development people started writing. They started referring to me as "The Mayor", my family as "The First Family", and my wife as "The First Lady". Endearing terms with a sense of small town humor.

If you read my profile you can see what happens when the endearing terms stop, but that is another subject. In return I assigned titles to various readers who serve in "America's Small City Government Center". They give me material and ideas to post. They agree and disagree, but are a major reason for my blogs success.

There is not a "how-to manual" for rural leaders to read on how to accomplish affordable housing, downtown redevelopment, taxation, or the myriad of other challenges. There are big picture suggestions, and consultants willing to take your money. However no ten step plan on how to solve a pressing problem in your rural area or small city.

This blog is one small place where collaboration and communication among people with similar goals are often shared. Thus far, it has been beneficial to many groups (including myself) all over the America, and even a few places on continents around the world. A marvel of technology that continues to amaze America's Small City Mayor.

So feel free to read, comment, agree, or disagree. It's how we make sure every angle of a topic is a covered. We can agree, or agree to disagree. The end result, hopefully, are better ideas that strengthen our families, cities, and places we call home.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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