Pictured above is the new Court for the Miss Baldwin Royalty. Queen Kylee Kulow is seated, center, standing from left to right are Gabby Liston, 4th Princess and Miss Congeniality; Tiana Ferrick, 2nd Princess; Zyanya Arce, 3rd Princess; and Tori Klingler, 1st Princess.Good news, bad news at board meeting
The good news is that Baldwin’s wastewater treatment plant is operating as efficiently as possible.
In his annual report to the Village Board, Baldwin’s Plant Operator Gary Newton said the compliance/maintenance report of the plant got all As. “The plant’s working very well,” said Newton. “Everything is okay. It got straight As—the best grades possible.”
Newton gave his report at the monthly Village of Baldwin trustee meeting last Wednesday, June 9.
The bad news is that the Wisconsin DNR is proposing new rules for phosphorus discharge from municipal treatment plants, Newton said. The proposed rules, if adopted, “could cost Baldwin $3,000,000. It’s a hot discussion out there. All towns and villages are opposed to the rule.”
In addition, Newton said another proposed new rule would require chlorination of all municipal water sources. “It’s expensive and would take a new well house. Daily testing would also be necessary,” Newton said.
After the meeting Newton provided additional information. He said the west central area of Wisconsin generally has good water quality. So a general rule regarding chlorination that may be necessary in other parts of the state is not necessarily applicable here.
Newton also noted that there are trade-offs with chlorinating the water because although it may be necessary in some places where water quality is less than pristine, chlorine is also a known carcinogen which should be avoided if possible. Since our water quality is good it would be easy to avoid chlorinating water unless it is mandated by the state.
Also after the meeting, Newton said a new phosphorus rule would be expensive and “it would change the whole way we would run the [wastewater treatment] plant. Already the state has spent billions on phosphorus removal and it hasn’t changed anything.” Effluent from wastewater treatment plants is only a tiny part of the phosphorus problem and “until they go after every entity that emits phosphorus it won’t make a difference,” because treatment plant effluent is such a small part of the problem. At the state level “it’s a very big issue.”
In other action at the meeting:
—The board accepted the retirement of police officer Brad Copland with regret and thanks for his years of service to Baldwin.
—The board approved the purchase agreement for 3.517 acres of land in the village’s I-94 industrial park to J and C Trucking with closing on or before July 15. The board also approved a developer’s agreement that called for J and C Trucking to erect a building with an assessed value of at least $430,000 which will generate the taxes necessary to fund the tax incremental financing that generated the credits for the land purchase.
—The board approved annual liquor license renewals in the village.
—Village engineer Mike Stoffel reported that work on the two block stretch of Curtis Street from USH 63 to 12th Avenue begins Monday (June 14). He said boulevard trees had been cut down in anticipation of the work.
Fire destroyed shed, barn saved
Firefighters from United Fire and Rescue were called out about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to a fire on a farm is Hersey. The fire destroyed a shed containing baled hay and another shed attached to the barn will have to razed. However, the barn was saved and no animals were lost in the blaze.
The farm is owned by Bradley and Tina Midtling. Brad’s grandfather, Duane Midtling who was at the farm at the time, said a passerby spotted the fire and pounded on the door about 11:20 Saturday evening. Midtling then called the fire department.
Mutual aid was provided by Glenwood City and Spring Valley departments for both manpower and hauling water. The Menomonie Fire Department also provided manpower.
Firefighters were on the scene until about 6:00 a.m. Sunday.
Midtling said the suspected cause of the fire is spontaneous combustion in the stored hay. He added the shed had been rebuilt after being destroyed in a storm three years ago.
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CENTRAL ST. CROIX NEWS: Doug Doll recently did something he hadn’t done in nearly 30 years - and was hoping never to do again. He filled out an employment application. It’s been four weeks now since the final customer was served at the Doll House in Hammond under its namesake’s watch. Tuesday, May 11 was his final day running the bar and grill he’d owned for more than 20 years. Ten years ago business was good and the economy - both local and national - was strong. Doll then completed his dream - he quadrupled the size of his building, taking it from 1,000 square feet to the 50x80 feet it is now. During the days of Hammond’s housing boom, Doll served up to 40 lunches a day, many to construction workers in town for jobs. Happy Hour business was strong and both them and locals and the Doll House often featured live entertainment on the stage built for that purpose. When the recession hit, it hit Doll hard. “There’s been a lot of great years,” said Doll, who celebrated his 52nd birthday May 14. “Everybody knows what the recession has done. That’s killed a lot of things. That’s pretty much put me down. When Doll first bought the bar in 1990 (then called Norma’s) he was working at Andersen Windows. He held on to that job for two years before committing to the bar full-time. He also did snowplowing during the winter and at some point over the years acquired some tents he now rents out to others - both jobs he plans to continue. “I want to say thanks to all the community and all the customers over the years. The people in the community are wonderful. The schools have been great. They’ve helped out on different things."
RIVER FALLS JOURNAL: Rescuers used kayaks and a helicopter to find a 16-year-old kayaker, missing on the Kinnickinnic River for several hours overnight. Searchers reached Corey Pottebaum shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday morning after Minnesota State Patrol officers in a helicopter spotted a campfire along the river southwest of River Falls at about 2:40 a.m. About half an hour later members of the River Falls Fire Department walked in and found the missing teen. Pottebaum was uninjured and was reunited with his parents, according to a press release from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. “We had four people floating the river,” said River Falls Fire Chief Chris Cernohous. He said firefighters went out in four privately owned kayaks while other teams walked both sides of the river. At 11:26 p.m. Monday the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department received a call from the father of the 16-year-old Robert boy who had left Glen Park in a kayak, planning to travel the Kinnickinnic. The father had last spoken to his son shortly after 6 p.m. The boy intended to kayak for a while, then get off the river and call his dad for a ride home but the teen never called.
THE SUN (OSCEOLA): A 64-year-old man who allegedly exposed himself to a teenaged girl during a busy night in downtown Osceola has been arrested for misdemeanor lewd and lascivious behavior and indecent exposure. Thomas William Ledo of Lake Elmo, Minn., is accused of standing naked in front of an office window at the corner of First Ave. and Cascade St./Hwy. 35. On Friday night while Osceola’s Mill Pond Park was populated by the Movies Under the Stars event and downtown bars and streets were busy with foot and vehicle traffic According to the probable cause arrest report, the juvenile girl who saw Ledo told police officers that he was completely naked and was masturbating. She described Ledo to police officers and told them he was looking back and forth, left to right, out the street level windows. She was fearful that he “saw her and would exit the building to ‘get her,’” the arrest report stated.
