News

Unopposed on the ballot, Benson Mayor Terri Collins was reelected to the city council for a second two-year term Tuesday.

Local voters also reelected the two incumbents on the council to four-year terms. Lucas Olson and Jon Buyck were the top two vote getters in the four-way race for the two open seats.

Incumbents Mark Schreck and Jack Evenson have two years remaining in their current four-year terms.

Benson City Council Election

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson Mayor Terri Collins is running for a second two-year term and faces no opposition. However, Benson’s two incumbent council members up for election will face two opponents when city voters go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Incumbent Council Members Lucas Olson and Jon Buyck have filed for re-election to four-year terms on the council and will face Larry Smith and Nathan Sullivan on the ballot.

Collins became Benson’s first woman mayor when she won last election in a landslide in the November 2017 election getting 626 votes to challenger Anita Flodstrom’s 76. Collins was serving as a member of the council at the time.

Olson won a seat on the city council in a special election Jan. 10, 2017, to complete the three years left in Jonathon Pogge-Weaver’s term. Pogge-Weaver had left Benson to move to Iowa.

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Benson Public Schools sold $3.07 million in Long Term Facilities Maintenance (LTFM) bonds Oct. 21 to finance heating, air conditioning and ventilation work at the high school.

 LTFM bonds do not require a vote of the district’s residents. The bonds will be paid off in 15 years.

Three bids were submitted to the district with the low bidder Northland Securities out of Minneapolis at 2.07 percent, Matt Hammer of Ehlers told the school board. During the presale discussions, Ehlers and the district were looking at 2.46 percent interest rate.

That is nearly 40 basis points lower than what the district was looking at in August, “which is really good,” Hammer told school board members at their Oct. 21 meeting. That translates into about $114,000 less in interest payments that the district was looking at earlier, he said...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Area farmers were out in force from the middle of last week through the weekend combining corn and soybeans and lifting beets where the ground was dry enough for their equipment.

Monday night a large low-pressure system moved into Minnesota bringing with it a steady wind-driven rainfall. At 7:30 p.m. Monday wind a wind gust of 55 mph was recorded at the Benson Municipal Airport. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for western Minnesota for Monday afternoon into Tuesday stating the wind gusts could approach 60 mph.

Monday’s strong winds caused tree limbs to break and tipped over apple trees still laden with fruit.

By midnight Monday, 1.65 inches of rain had fallen in the Benson area bringing the month’s total precipitation to 3.83 inches. That is 1.53 inches above the average of 2.30 inches...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Only one resident showed up at the Benson City Council public hearing Monday night on a new parking ordinance that prohibits parking in front yards on unprepared surfaces.

Some who had planned on attending the meeting could have changed their minds due to the foul weather - a cold rain driven by winds gusting to 55 mph.

Benson’s council unanimously passed the second reading of the proposed parking law change after hearing concerns raised by Nathan Miller, who lives on the corner of 15th Street South and Stone Avenue.

To become law, an amendment to the city ordinances must have two readings at two separate city council meetings. After the second reading is approved, the proposed law is published in the city’s legal newspaper, the Swift County Monitor-News.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Improvements to the Swift County Human Services building to create more space and enhance the safety of its employees is the top recommendation of the Citizens Perspective Committee.

“We recommend that you folks go ahead with that project,” committee spokesman Robert Zielsdorf told the Swift County Board of Commissioners at their Oct. 15 meeting. “We think that is really, really necessary.”

It also recommends mechanical improvements to the Swift County jail and upgrades to the Law Enforcement Center basement to again house 6W Community Corrections.

Improvements for safety and operations also are needed for the Swift County attorney’s office, the committee recommends.

These improvements are to be made without raising taxes through a bond issue to pay for the improvements, Zielsdorf told commissioners.

Pictured are Queen Mariah Ahrndt and King Carlos Gonsor following the BHS Homecoming coronation.

TEAM Promise is seeking volunteers to help it expand the number of mentors who can help provide life skills training to area youth.

The program’s goal is to have at least one volunteer from each area church/organization each week to help make this a venture that is truly a community-wide outreach to lift up and support at-risk youth in our community, its directors say...
 

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

That it has been an extraordinarily wet year isn’t something you have to tell people with homes along the east side of Minnesota Highway 29 a mile or so north of Benson.

Basements that are too often flooded and ponds of water in their backyards tell the story of a high water table. When there is a heavy rain event, they see the fast flow of water along the border between their yards and the adjacent field.

Changes over the years along their property involving a birm that was removed, a wind row of trees that was altered, and the installation of pattern tiling in a field to the east may have all played a role in increased flooding residents are seeing.  However, no definitive study has been conducted to determine specifically what is causing the problem...

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

It is rare for October to see snowfalls of 2 inches or more for the month – it had only happened only eight times since 1952. This past weekend’s winter storm pushed that number to nine with 2 inches of snow falling in the Benson area along with a cold drizzle and rain over the weekend.

As the temperature warmed to 37 degrees Saturday the snow quickly melted with not a trace remaining by the afternoon.

There are still 16 days to go in the month, so the 2019 snowfall total could increase. However, the forecast is for warmer temperatures through the rest of the week with no snow in the forecast...

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!