A man from Washington state who was driving an All-Terrain Vehicle in Rice County suffered serious injuries on Sunday.
A statement issued by the Rice County Sheriff’s Office said 56-year-old Brett Richard Mikels of Sammamish, Washington, was turning his ATV around in a field when the ATV tipped over, throwing Mikels from the vehicle.
First responders, who were summoned shortly after 12:30 on Sunday afternoon, rendered aid, but it was determined that he required much more involved care, so he was airlifted to HCMC.
Lonsdale Rescue, North Aircare, & Northfield Ambulance responded to the scene.
Rice County Deputies were assisted on scene by Northfield Ambulance and Lonsdale Rescue personnel.
The Rice County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation. Rice County was assisted by Lonsdale Police and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
While no information was released on Mikels’ condition, the statement offered the thoughts and prayers of the Sheriff’s office for Mr. Mikels.
Dundas Budget for 2025 ‘needs some work’
The Dundas City Council began work on the city’s budget for 2025 last week. Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen said this was the first work session of many that will happen through the month of August and into September. The work has begun now because by state statute, like all other municipalities in Minnesota, Dundas is required to set the preliminary tax levy for 2025 by September 30th.
The preliminary levy is just that; it is the initial tax amount that the City Council sets before the final budget is done. Common practice among most cities, including Northfield, is figuring how much they are allowed to levy by law and setting the initial levy at the maximum number. While that amount can look alarming, Teppen said the intent is to give the council enough space to work so they can create a fair and workable budget without constraining themselves. The amount of the initial levy, she said, almost always goes down.
“The levy cannot go up between September and December. It can only go down. So oftentimes we will adopt a draft budget in September that’s higher than what we intend to pass in December, just because it takes some time to work through it.”
Once the initial levy has been set, the council can get to work on setting the budget which must be approved by December 20th.
Teppen said the council adopted an initial budget during the meeting, giving them something to work from. She said that budget, like the preliminary tax levy, could look alarming to outside observers, but it too will be reduced.
“That’s what we did last night. We had the first look at it. It’s pretty high, in full disclosure. We need to do some more work on it.”
Teppen said she doesn’t know what the preliminary tax levy will be and would not even dare to speculate. The budget is going to require quite a bit of work, and setting those initial parameters is quite important.
The Dundas City Council is expected to pass the initial levy on September 9th.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dundas City Administrator Jenelle Teppen can be heard here
United Way microgrants are as much as $1000
The Rice County Area United Way is reminding the community that the organization is offering microgrants as a means for funding urgent, community-based challenges or innovative new programs to reach underserved populations.
The grants are in the amounts of up to $1,000 and will be made to local groups
Specifically, the projects funded by a microgrant should affect members of the Rice County community in the United Way target areas of financial stability, health and education.
The group applying should have limited access to funding. It does not need to be registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, but the project should focus on a charitable, tax-exempt purpose.
The statement said that, while the United Way does not require a specific report on use of the funds, they will request that an informal account of the use and the project results be made to the Executive Director of the Rice County Area United Way, Elizabeth Child.
Applications are due by August 23rd. Funding will be distributed in September. Additional rounds of microgrants will be offered approximately bi-monthly through June 2025, or until microgrant funding is completed.
For more information on the grants, contact Child directly at elizabeth@ricecountyunitedway.org or call 507-664-3510. To find the microgrant application form, visit ricecountyunitedway.org
KYMN Daily News 7/30/24
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
