KSUM News

The Fairmont School Board on Tuesday heard from new high school co-principals Jake Tietje and Alex Schmidt, who described changes to the high school student handbook. Tietje said a team met several times to go over the handbook. It included the dean of students, a social worker, a board member, two parents, two teachers, two students, a secretary and two principals. Tietje and Schmidt were not part of the process but studied the changes recently and added some of their own. “With that, the first key change that you’re going to see is the addition of the huddle time that [...]

The Fairmont Area School Board Tuesday heard from Tyler Garrison, buildings and grounds director, who went over lead in water testing results. Minnesota schools are required to do a lead in water test every five years. Garrison said they collected 92 water samples district-wide, with 53 at the high school and 39 at the elementary school. He said eight fixtures came back higher than they were five years ago. Those fixtures were replaced before the new school year. The Board tabled action on a new housing construction agreement to abate property taxes for 10 years for new construction of rental [...]

The Fairmont City Council acted on Councilor Ruth Cyphers’ request for a state forensic audit of the city’s finances. City Administrator Mike Humpal said there is a required resolution that must be submitted to the state auditor’s office and an affidavit assembled. He asked the council to direct city staff to put that information together to make the request. “City staff is 100 percent supportive of any type of audit the council wants to do and to show the general public and the citizens that there no irregularities in our finances,” Humpal said. “We’re more than happy to work [...]

The Fairmont City Council unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement for CHS on Monday, but council members stressed that the soybean-processing plant address safety issues caused by semis backed up on the road during peak times and a water flow problem. Linsey Preuss, Fairmont’s economic development coordinator, told the council that CHS is the city’s highest taxpayer, paying more than $760,000 annually in property taxes. The company, which will continue to pay taxes on the existing property, requested the abatement on $5.3 million of the proposed $100 million capital investment, or $59,000 per year for the city’s share. The [...]

THE FAIRMONT AREA SCHOOL BOARD MEETS TUESDAY AT 5 P.M. THE BOARD WILL HEAR A PRESENTATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT LEAD IN WATER REPORT, WILL ACT ON THE STUDENT HANDBOOK, A TAX ABATEMENT ON PROPERTY TAXES FOR 10 YEARS ON NEW HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AGREEMENT, CALL FOR A PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED C H S INC. TAX ABATEMENTS AND A BUILDING AND GROUNDS MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHERN PLAINS EDUCATION COOPERATIVE. PERSONNEL MATTERS WILL BE ACTED ON AND DONATIONS ACCEPTED AT TUESDAY'S MEETING AT THE FAIRMONT CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS.

THE FAIRMONT CITY COUNCIL MEETS MONDAY AT 5;30 PM. THE COUNCIL WILL HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON A TAX ABATEMENT REQUEST FROM C H S INC, WILL ACT ON PERMIT REQUESTS AND ACT ON AN AMENDMENT TO A TASK ORDER FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AT THE AIRPORT. THE COUNCIL WILL ACT ON APPROVAL OF THE LESSARD SAMES OUTDOOR HERITAGE COUNCIL GRANT AGREEMENT, APPROVAL OF A LAKE AVENUE VARIANCE RESOLUTION AND WHETHER TO REQUEST A STATE FORENSIC AUDIT OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT AT MONDAY'S MEETING AT THE FAIRMONT CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS. Paste In or Write Your Content Here!!!!!!!!! [...]

FORMER FAIRMONT AREA SCHOOLS EDUCATOR CLIFF JANKE HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR INCLUSION IN THE 2019 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE HALL OF FAME. Cliff Janke, a 1973 graduate of Lead (SD) High School, has demonstrated excellence throughout his career of more than three decades as a coach and professional leader in the areas of Speech and Theater. For 29 years, he served as either co-head coach or head coach of the Speech Team at Fairmont High School. He coached 14 Class A champions, including a four-time gold medalist. Janke has been actively involved and has had an impact on [...]