In August 2022 I was appointed the publisher of a group of three community newspapers, collectively known in Forum Communications Co. as the "Lakes Group." I hadn't been a full-time publisher in a number of years, but I saw an opportunity to return to working in the community newspaper space. And while the gig only lasted 10 months before an eventual company restructuring, it was one of the most rewarding professional stints I've ever had. Hats off the the staffs at the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal for welcoming this old newspaper hack for a great run!
Dec. 21, 2022
By Devlyn Brooks
WADENA — Making the business of child care more viable, fixing the single-family home shortage and taxes were on the minds of about 30 city, school and county elected officials, and a few interested local residents, who gathered for the first-ever, in-person Wadena County Coffee Talk held at the Wadena Chamber of Commerce office Monday.
The crowd came to meet and listen to the newly elected team that will represent Wadena County in the Minnesota Legislature that convenes in January. That included Sen. Paul Utke, a Republican representing the newly created Senate District 5; Rep. Krista Knudsen, a Republican who is representing House District 5A; and Rep. Mike Wiener, a Republican who is representing House District 5B.
The Coffee talks were born out of the need to connect during the pandemic, and every previous session the past two and a half years had been held online, said Katie Heppner of The Economic Alliance, who emceed the event. “Being in person, sharing food, and sharing coffee together is great!” she said.
Fittingly, as the event was held in Wadena’s turn-of-the-century, brick railroad depot that is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is home to the chamber office, the event was disrupted by passing trains four times in the hour-long discussion. But the elected officials took it in stride, even giving a little chuckle after the first train, and raised their voices each time so that the crowd could hear them.
Getting acquainted
Utke, the senior legislator of the bunch, was elected in 2017 to Senate District 2, but the state’s recent redistricting landed him in the newly created District 5. Utke previously served on the Park Rapids City Council, where he has lived for 20 years. He said on Monday that about 65 percent of the district he is representing is new territory to him, and includes all of Wadena County now.
In past years, he has served on energy, jobs and health and human services committees, but does not yet know which committees he will serve on during this year’s Legislature. The Senate Republicans have not yet announced committee assignments. “I’m happy to have this district, and represent it,” he said.
Rep. Knudsen, who was elected to the Minnesota House for the first time this fall is the current mayor of Lake Shore, a city in Cass County to the east of Wadena. She and her husband have four children, and they own a restaurant. House District 5A includes portions of Cass, Wadena, Hubbard, and Becker counties. Knudsen served on the city council for eight years before being elected mayor in 2020. She decided to run when former Rep. John Poston decided not to run for re-election.
Knudsen told the crowd she chose to run for the House because she got more involved in her children’s education as a result of the pandemic. She said that during her children’s online learning, she saw developments in education that concerned her, and ultimately convinced her to run for state office. She has been assigned to House Education Finance and Education Policy Committees.
Wiener introduced himself as a husband and father of nine children, who previously lived in the St. Cloud area, and then about 15 years ago moved his family back to Long Prairie, which he called home. He started a wood product recycling company with his wife 15 years ago. House District 5B includes all of Todd County and portions of Wadena, Morrison and Cass counties.
He said that he never expected to get into politics, let alone win. But he got involved because he felt the state overstepped its bounds with the lockdown during the pandemic. He called it “devastating.” He added that: “You can’t complain too much if you don’t get involved.” He will serve on the House taxes and economic development finance committees.
Child care is economic development
During the question-and-answer period, Dean Uselman who is Wadena’s economic development and planning and zoning director, asked the legislators to push the state to find some funding to help improve the viability of child care business.
“There isn’t a county in the state where child care isn’t a problem,” he said, adding that rural communities see a shortage of providers because the economics of the business don’t work.
Rep. Wiener said a big reason for that is that the state stifles child care providers with overregulation. “In rural Minnesota, where do you take the kids? It used to be that you dropped them off at Grandma’s house,” he said. “That’s not a choice now for many.”
Sen. Utke said he’s seen this problem continuing to escalate as public schools increasingly compete with child care providers in rural communities. First, he said they came after providing preschool to 4-year-olds, and now they want to expand that further to 3-year-olds. He said that schools shouldn’t be in the child care business.
“Child care is the No. 1 economic driver in the state,” he said, but money alone won’t fix the issue. “I don’t know if we can fix it, but we need it fixed.”
He also challenged rural communities to get creative to solve the child care shortage issue, asking if several providers could co-op together in one building to reduce costs and make the business more viable. “Can we bring together three or four providers in one facility so that they can work together?” he asked.
Single-family housing shortage
Wadena’s Uselman also asked the legislators to help develop a state program that would help fund infrastructure development in single-family home projects. He said the state economic development arm readily provides infrastructure development funding to industrial parks, but not to housing projects. But, he said, the city needs the housing developments to remain vibrant.
For instance, he said that the city of Wadena is currently working on a 60-lot single-family residential development, but is struggling to find funding to help with the infrastructure costs. He said lots now can cost $40,000 because of the cost of building infrastructure, whereas lots used to go for $5,000 to $15,000. This makes the difference between a project being viable and it not.
Sen. Utke mentioned that in Park Rapids where he lives, he sees residential developments get started and then dissolve because of high costs. “(Housing) is the main thing that is going to get any growth in our small towns.”
Todd County Development Corporation Executive Director Rick Utech mentioned that single-family homes add to a city’s tax base.
Staples Economic Director Melissa Wyman said that housing infrastructure costs are a problem in her community too, and added that rural cities need to do a better job of telling the story about people wanting to move to rural areas. For instance, she said the median age of Staples is 42. There is a trend of younger people wanting to move back home, but “we have to tell that about Greater Minnesota.”
Sen. Utke said he wants younger people to be able to move home too, but they don’t want to move back into a 100-year-old home and have to redevelop it after having lived in newer housing in larger communities for a while.
“We need to keep our community vibrant,” he said.
Capping taxes on older homeowners
The sentimental favorite speaker of the event was Beatrice Christianson, a Wadena resident who asked the legislators about capping taxes on homeowners once they reach a certain age. She said this year her taxes went up a few hundred dollars, which is hard to pay when you’re on a fixed Social Security income. “When a person gets to a certain age … 70, or 72 … the taxes on their homes shouldn’t be able to go up,” she said.
Much of the crowd nodded in affirmation when she spoke.
Sen. Utke said he favors a law that would lock in taxes at a certain age as long as there were no improvements to the house. And Rep. Wiener cited two examples of states that either cap the percentage that can be charged to older homeowners or that don’t make older homeowners pay school district taxes any longer. Knudsen, on the other hand, said as a mayor she had a different perspective on taxes. She said taxes pay for the services that city residents want. “As costs go up in the city, so do taxes,” she said.
Several local officials shared with Christianson that there are income-based programs in place that should refund some of the taxes she pays on her home.
Other notes:
Heppner of The Economic Alliance announced to the crowd that she’s taken a new job with the Small Business Development Center at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minn. Her last day with The Economic Alliance will be Jan. 3. It was announced that the alliance board will divvy up Heppner’s duties until a replacement is found.
Wrapping up: All three legislators said they recognize that the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party controls the majorities in both the state Senate and House, but they hope for a productive legislative session for the residents of the state. Each spoke about their interest in working to get things done, while representing the interests of their rural communities. “Hopefully the political games don’t take over,” Rep. Knudsen said. Sen. Utke added: “I’m just hoping that we have a respectful, get-the-work-done session.” And Wiener concluded: “We want to create a better future for our kids, and improve lives in our area.”
Wadena County Commissioner Bill Stearns reminded the legislators, and the entire room, that Wadena County has the third highest county tax rates in the state. He said an owner of a $250,000 home will pay more than $2,000 in county taxes. Whereas in Rock and Murphy counties, the same homeowner would pay $350. He said unfortunately for Wadena County, there aren't a lot of highly taxed lake homes or farmland to offset the costs of running a county. He said the county runs into higher costs because of the many rules placed on counties by state departments, which are as effective as laws because they have to follow them. “Taxes are astronomically high in a county like Wadena,” he said.
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