Construction on the Coffee Street bridge was one of the items discussed at the Lanesboro Community Forum.
(Republican-Leader photo by Frances Townsend)
By Frances Townsend
Lanesboro’s Community Forum is an informal chat session held once a month for community and government leaders and interested citizens. When the group met on Tuesday morning, they discussed half a dozen issues of current local interest.
City Councilman Joe O’Connor pointed out that the long-anticipated Coffee Street bridge renovation is finally underway. The city approved a bond last year to pay its share of the cost, which will also be paid through state funding and private donations. Everything has already been removed down to the iron frame, which O’Connor reported to be in good shape. In four to five weeks, installation should be complete on new decking and approaches, plus new lighting.
City Administrator Barbara Hoyhtya reported on the new ambulance service, which was recently split off from the fire department. Several new volunteers are completing their training soon. There are enough volunteers to provide service, but more would be very helpful.
Availability during the day is always a challenge. Hoyhtya mentioned that two city employees are EMTs and if they go on calls during working hours, they do it on city time, as a courtesy to the community.
Training classes are held at various times during the year in surrounding communities, so new volunteers would not have to wait long to get their training and begin service. Hoyhtya suggested that if anyone knew an interested person, she could set them up to talk with Ambulance Director Steve Klotz.
Julie Kiehn, Chamber of Commerce director, shared plans for the May 3 dedication of Highway 16 as a national scenic byway. Much of the activity will take place in Lanesboro, as the center of the designated route.
For promotion of local businesses, information tables will be set up, and visitor packets will be handed out. A total of 28 local businesses are planning some kind of promotion.
Much of the Community Forum discussion focused on strategic planning for the community. Since the City Council turned down having an economic development director due to lack of money, other local groups are taking up the slack. The Chamber of Commerce has formed a Community Initiatives Committee, headed up by Carla Noack.
Noack reported that the committee is beginning to look at ways to bring the community together to discuss common vision and goals for the city. They are also finding out who already has information, what studies have already been done, and what groups need to be brought into the discussion.
As the issue was discussed, it became obvious that much has already been done in the past few years, but that the learning needs to be pulled out of the file cabinets, brought together, and effectively used.
Everyone agreed that Lanesboro must discover what they can do as a community to be pro-active, to reverse the social and economic trends that are hurting small rural communities.
