August 8^th , 2014

Summer Updates

It's August and many of us are starting to get the list of school supplies and making plans for the fall. Summer still has many things to offer before we get our sleds and skis out.

MARIGOLD DAYS

Marigold days is one of the last big events of the summer. Each year at Marigold days we give a “Gem of Mantorville Award” to a person who has made a real difference to the community. We also remember a person who is no longer with us. The “past” award can be someone that has recently left us or can be one of the original town members. A nominee for the present day award does not have to live within the city limits, only someone who has made a real difference to the city. We are currently accepting nominations for both current and past Gems and nominations can be turned into city hall. The Economic Development Authority (EDA) will make a selection from the nominees and then present the award during Marigold days.

DRAINAGE PROJECTS

We have started work on the needed drainage upgrades on 7^th street and we will complete this soon. The two projects include making seventh street wider and also improving our drainage system through the city. The drainage upgrades are being phased in with street work and we have already complete some of the phases closer to downtown. Once completed these combined drainage upgrades will benefit the entire city.

JOINT POWERS

The City of Mantorville, the City of Kasson and the School District are all members of the Joint Powers Group. This group is responsible for identifying capitol needs and solutions that are mutually beneficial to all three members which any one single member would have a hard time justifying on their own. Some of the projects that this organization has funded are the fence in Mantor Field and Dennison Park. They have also paid for seeding equipment and bleachers. This is one of the many areas in which the two cities and the school board all work together for the better good of our community.

WASTE WATER TREATMENT

This newspaper has recently published a couple of good articles about the Waste Water plant. The City of Mantorville and the City of Kasson have finalized the agreement that will govern the relationship between Kasson and Mantorville and spell out the responsibilities of each city. Mantorville will construct and own a pressurized line running from our current plant location to the Kasson treatment plant. Mantorville will still be responsible for setting and collecting sewer rates. The city has taken a little extra time exploring possible funding sources and ensuring the agreement was the best possible one we could reach for the citizens of Mantorville.

EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT

We have a Boy Scout that has been working on his Eagle project which is to install three flag poles in front of our city hall building . Some of you may have noticed that the project has been recently completed and the new poles look spectacular. We have a U.S., Minnesota and MIA flag that will be placed on our new poles. Our Eagle Scout Anthony Hofstad has done a great job and the City does appreciate the hard work that Anthony has put in to making our City look better. I will post pictures of the finished project once the flags are installed.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

Last Tuesday was National Night Out and Mantorville had a great turnout for this event. Many volunteer hours went into planning this event and making it such a success. I have posted some good pictures from our event on my blog. Make sure to check those out and feel free to leave a comment as well. Thank you, too, to everyone who brought food to share and donations. The entire community came together to make this event a success. Thank you all for joining in the fun.

For more pictures and information about National Night Out look at my blog at MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Yours in service,



Chuck Bradford,

Mayor - City of Mantorville


MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Why I love Small Towns Like Mantorville

                                                                                                                                       August 12, 2014

People often ask me why I am still in Mantorville and why don't I move to a big city? I have always found this to be a strange question, I mean why would anyone want to live in a big city when they can live in a beautiful community like Mantorville!

Mantorville, like many small towns, has a strong sense of community identity where neighbors help each other and are considered valuable assets and not just someone to put up with. We are neither disgruntled about life in a small town nor do we feel like we're stuck here. We embrace membership in our community, county and state and celebrate life through a strong volunteerism committment. We have back yards for our children to play in, pay lower taxes in communities with a low crime rate and enjoy beautiful public spaces because we all chip in to clean up, fix and build these community assets.

We start our businesses here in order to provide goods and services to our neighbors and friends and in turn we make an effort to shop locally because we want our friends and neighbors to be successful with their business endeavors.

When I tell my big-city friends that I know the names of the neighborhood kids and where my neighbors work, they tell me that is what they wouldn't like about living in a small town--how everyone knows everything. However, what they are missing is that we take the time to understand each other not because we are nosey but because we care.

Mantorville is also a historic town which was chartered before Minnesota became a state. In historic communities like Mantorville we have preserved our heritage through architectural assets because we realize that in order to understand where we are going we must have a understanding of our past. We also realize that many of the “old structures” in our community can be re-purposed and this actually saves money. Small towns in America are where our traditional values are still held in high regard, where we live by the golden rule and we understand that if we see something that needs to be done, we call our neighbors and friends and make plans to fix it and make it better.

Why do I love living in Mantorville? Is it because of our sense of community? Is it because of lower taxes, lower crime and higher quality of life? Is it because we have stronger educational systems? Yes! All these things and many intangibles make me ask, “Why wouldn't everyone want to live in a small town?”

Sincerely,

Chuck Bradford

Mantorville

June City Update

                                                                                                                                        June 22, 2014
This last week the area saw some heavy rains and strong winds. The City's properties for the most part made it through the storms relatively well; however, we know that there was some private property damage, and Gov. Dayton has issued a state of emergency for several counties of which Dodge County was listed. This declaration makes available some state resources to help with recovery efforts. Anyone that would like more information on these programs is encouraged to contact City Hall (507) 635-5170 or the Minnesota Department of Commerce at (800) 657-3602.

Some people have noticed that the flags along our bridge were missing after the storm. The City has recovered those flags and will be getting them back up before the fourth of July.

Some of you are aware of efforts in Rochester regarding the “Save the Chardonnay House” and that Mantorville was investigating two possible option for relocating that structure in Mantorville for the purposes of establishing a B&B. While those efforts were not successful, the City will continue to investigate the possibility of recruiting a B&B owner utilizing either an existing building within our community of a structure that can be saved and restored.

The City was made aware of some localized drainage issues that have been addressed in the past and have recently resurfaced. Our engineer has surveyed the area and spoken with the residents involved. The City does plan to move forward with efforts to help this area and we are looking for a more permanent solution that what has been done in the past. If there are other areas in the city that you feel the City Council should be made aware of please bring these to our attention either at one of our bi-weekly meetings or by contacting City Hall at the number above.

The City is also continuing to work on plans with the City of Kasson on a combined waste water treatment plant. Tentative plans are calling for a spring of 2015 ground breaking; however, there are a few items to take care of prior to that date being finalized. I will keep everyone updated as the City learns more.

The City is also making plan for work to start on the seventh street drainage project. This project is one component of our over-all city wide drainage efforts, and will hopefully address several areas of concern within the city.

Events:
A few weeks ago the Kasson-Mantorville 6th graders helped with cleanup efforts in Riverside park, there efforts are greatly appreciated and help keep our community looking its best. Thank you to all the students that helped with this effort!

The weekend of the 28th Mantorville's annual “Stage Coach Days” (formerly “Old Tyme Days) will take place downtown with several fun events planned throughout the weekend. If you have not attend this celebration in the past I encourage you to come down and explore some of the events and activities.

One of the activities scheduled next Saturday night is the “Dog Park Committee's” “Wolf, Wine and Wag” fund raiser event. This is an event the committee uses to raise private funds to help build the Mantorville dog park. There will be several different types of wine to taste and some of our citizens will even be in costume during this event. This is a good way to learn about the volunteer efforts of the committee, find out the latest status of the park and help raise private funds for this effort.

The following week after “Stage Coach Days” is the celebration of our nations birthday. While we have already celebrated Memorial day a few weeks back, it is important to remember that our nation would not a free and independent nation with out the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of our fellow citizens that have served (or are currently serving) in our armed forces. We all owe then a debt that can never be repaid. For all our citizens that have served, are serving or have loved one that are answering our nations call, THANK YOU, and God Bless!

Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford, Mayor - City of Mantorville
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

April Showers

                                                                                                                                         April 13, 2014
The seasons are changing once again. As we finish the seasons maintenance on our winter machines, dry off and clean our skis and pack away our coats and boots we are making plans for warmer weather. With the weather warming up and most of our snow melted, we have dodged the first threat of flooding this year. This Spring’s warm and cold cycle allowed for a slower thaw and allowed a large portion of water to run off into our rivers and streams at a rate substantially lower that what it could have been. There is still significant snow pack up north, which could still cause issues down stream; however, I think we are in a good position currently.

I wanted to congratulate the new County Commissioner for Dodge County District two Tim Tjosaas. Commissioner Tjosaas resigned as Kasson’s Mayor and Matt Nelson has been chosen to take over the remaining portion of Tjosaas’s term. I have had the opportunity to work with Mayor Nelson a couple of times already and the City of Kasson is in good hands. Congratulations Mayor Nelson.

This past weekend the Mantorville City Council held it’s spring retreat where we reviewed updates from our financial advisor and our City Engineer. We asked several question and considered different options to keep both our water/sewer rates low as well as the city tax rates. While the net result of the seventh street project and Waste Water Treatment project is that the we will need to adjust both our rates and taxes. The council is committed to keeping the cost of living in Mantorville at a reasonable rate with any direction we take.

After speaking with both our advisor and engineer, the City Council is still planning on moving forward with the 7th Street project. We are now looking at the Waste Water Treatment Plant as a 2015 project. During the retreat, we also spoke about some needed changes to our ordinance that have become apparent during this past winter. In the months to come, the city will be asking for input from our citizens on these changes and our goal is make sure that our ordinance is fair and reasonable.

As the weather continues to warm up, we may find more waterline breaks and pot holes. Please report these to city hall as soon as you notice a problem so that we can address these situations quickly. The phone number for city hall is 635 – 5170 and you can reach city hall by email at cityofmant@kmtel.com.

The City Council always welcomes our citizens and friends of the city to address the city council on items of concern. Please help us plan our meeting in an efficient manor by requesting time to address your questions or consideration of new ideas. We will make every effort to recognize individuals who drop in during meetings as well. To help us plan our meeting the cutesy of asking to be placed on the agenda is appreciated; however, we do make every effort to recognize individuals that ask for time during our meeting as well.

The city now has the ability for customers to pay their city bills on-line. There is a link on the city’s web site (Mantorville.com). The business ID you will need can be found by searching for “The City of Mantorville” or by using our Business ID of RT20255. This system has been available and tested over the last couple of months, and we offer this as a service to those customers that prefer this method of payment.

Yours in service

Chuck Bradford, Mayor - City of Mantorville
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com