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Sen. Klobuchar gets first hand look at flood recovery progress
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By Daniel McGonigle
Argus Managing Editor
As she entered the board room in the Houston city office building, Senator Amy Klobuchar had everyone’s attention. Her bright smile and pleasant disposition made you feel welcome, right at home. She shook hands and met some of the locals. Some she had met previously, others she was getting to know for the first time.
Home for the Easter break, Klobuchar was on a fact finding mission. She wanted to know how the community was doing following the flood event. She had questions regarding the recovery effort and if there was any more she could do to help. The Senator sat down with Mayor Connie Edwards, and Houston County Commissioners Larry Connery and Larry Graf, who gave their assessment on the county level.
Klobuchar promised Houston City Manager Larry Jerviss that she would later sign his cast. This reporter isn’t certain if that ever happened or not, the banter was reserved for the light hearted nature of the gathering.
“Things are going well,” reported Edwards, a fact that was not lost on Klobuchar. The light-hearted spirit of those gathered spoke of the leadership that sat around that conference table. Together, local officials brought the little town in the river valley back from substantial damage. While the community still has room to improve on its road to recovery, they were happy to report that they were well on their way.
“That’s great,” said Klobuchar, that’s really good to hear.”
FEMA
All those who were gathered sang a very different tune in regards to their experiences with FEMA than those who had suffered through Hurricane Katrina.
“We were very impressed with the job they’ve done,” said Graf. “They helped people with all of the necessary paperwork and I didn’t hear any complaints.”
Klobuchar was appreciative of the comments.
“We just came from Goodview and that is good to hear, good to report that back,” said Klobuchar of the citizen’s of Houston experiences.
Jerviss reported that the city lost a squad car and was told that the vehicle would be replaced.
“We took their word,” he said of the only complaint leveled against FEMA by those gathered. “We need a squad car so we had to replace it. The only thing FEMA has paid for is the $5,000 deductible.”
“In a town with just one police car it is kind of hard to go without when you’re vehicle is lost to a flood,” added the mayor.
The city is still absorbing a $20,000 cost associated with replacing the vehicle.
Fire grants
Houston Fire Chief Richard Carr asked if the Senator could help put in a good word for a grant making its way through the Federal Fire Grants process.
“We’re not grant writers, we’re fire-fighters,” said Carr of his department. “We’ve applied for a grant each year for the past several years to replace our tanker truck and we keep getting turned down for whatever reason.”
Klobuchar responded with a question to some children who were on hand for the event: “boys when you grow up do you want to be a grant writer or a fire-fighter,” she asked. Of course the answer being fire-fighter, Klobuchar stated she would do what she could to help the department secure a replacement truck.
“Unless they think a 34 year-old vehicle is too new to replace,” joked Carr.
Commissioner Connery noted that the county has been working on a hydraulic study, which has never been funded in the Mound Prairie area. The study would help with blockage of the Root River and has some environmental ramifications as well, something the Senator reported is close to her heart.
“That is one of the issues I really am looking to make a difference in,” she said. “Transportation and environmental issues are really important.”
Flood impact on agriculture
The Senator asked how those in agriculture are being affected by the flood event.
The report she was given centered around a rising cost for hay because of the demand, as well as fields which to this day are buried under some three to five feet of sand and gravel.
“Those farmers can’t get tractors out onto their fields,” reported Houston City Councilmember Francis Van Gundy.
The Senator took those concerns and said she would do some research into how the government can help those people. The discussion turned towards the economy in the Bluff Country and how that is shaping up. Those in attendance reported that things aren’t as doom-and-gloom as in larger metro areas.
Klobuchar noted: “The rural areas of the country have really been able to withstand the impact thus far. Because of the weak dollar, the paper mills and iron ore mines up in northern Minnesota are the busiest they’ve ever been. Paper mills in Canada are closing their doors because they can’t compete.”
The predatory lending practices of the recent past have also not been quite the issue they are in much of the rest of the country for those living in Houston county.
Tourism
When the Senator asked about tourism, Graf noted: “It is good to see all the snowmobilers making their way into our area. This winter has been really good.”
The Senator commented that she and the governor hosted a public forum on the topic of global warming and that the snowmobile enthusiasts were also on hand to speak and are some of the biggest supporters of the need to address the global warming issue.
“They know something is going on,” said the Senator. “It is having a huge effect on their sport.”
The Senator thanked those who attended the meeting.
“You guys did a good job,” she said. “You didn’t lose any residents.”
Graf replied that the citizens of Houston County never fail to amaze him, as did the outpouring of support from outside of the community.
“Every body kicked in and helped,” he noted. “From government, to those in the trucking industry, to religious organizations, so many people helped during this disaster. It was overwhelming.”
The stop in Houston was not the last on her agenda that day. She had been in Goodview listening to their experiences, she was also in Rochester and Houston. She would end Monday in Rushford, and would begin again in Wabasha and Red Wing on Tuesday.
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