Hire financial advisor for possible building bond matters
A Bingham Lake area crop and dairy farmer, and 1978 Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) graduate, Tom Fast, was tapped by the Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) School Board at its Monday, November 17 meeting, to fill the board vacancy. The seat has been open since the resignation of Julie Peters in December 2013 due to health concerns.
Fast’s father, Ervin I. Fast, had earlier served as a member of the school board for 18 years
Fast and his wife, Marilyn, are the parents of five children: Karina, a 2011 graduate of MLHS and 2014 graduate of Dordt College of Sioux Center, Iowa and now employed in Sioux City, Iowa; Josh, who graduated from MLHS last spring and is a freshman at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota; MLHS sophomore twins, Aaron and Andrew, and Anika, a sixth-grader at Mountain Lake Public Elementary School.
The immediate addition of Fast now puts the school board at full force with its complete contingent of seven members.
Financial advisor on board for the board
In addition, board members agreed to use the services of Baird and Company, Inc., as a preliminary financial advisor on matters related to a possible building bond. An earlier building bond referendum failed in December 2012.
In other business
* Hired Bryce Briegel as a part-time custodian at a rate of $10 per hour.
* Hired high school junior Ashley Watkins as a part-time student custodian at a rate of $9.60 an hour, not exceeding 10 hours per week.
* Approved the 2014 Financial Audit as presented by Matt Moline of Eide Bailly.
* Approved list of school volunteers.
* Approved the Platinum Level 2015 Mountain Lake Area Chamber of Commerce dues at a rate of $743.
* Approved the hosting of a basketball game by the Mountain Lake Area Boys Basketball team on President’s Day.
* Learned that School Board Chair Doug Standerwick had appointed Board Members Julie Brugman, Matt Gohr and Chad Petersen to attend the Tuesday, November 18 meeting of the Mountain Lake City Council on behalf of the school district.
* Held discussions on:
1. Survey results on the Flexible Learning Year (FLY).
2. Remick grants.
3. School security issues, including estimated costs to install controlled-entrance system for school door.
4. Proposed street assessments for the school district by the City of Mountain Lake.
5. Operating referendum renewal.
6. Board member attendance at the Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA) Conference in January 2015.
7. School Board member Phase I and II training.
8. November 4 General Election building referendum results from across Minnesota.
7. Appreciation for the work of students in the high school’s Drama Department, as well as Julie Brugman, director and Andrea Brinkman, musical director, for the successful fall musical.