Volume 56 • No . 48 320-632-2345 • LITTLE FALLS , MN • www . mcrecord . com Sunday , January 26 , 2025 $ 2
SHEILA MCCOY Morrison County Record
On Tuesday , Feb . 11 , Swanville residents will vote whether they are in favor of the referendum the Swanville School District is proposing . The District is asking for the referendum not to exceed $ 13.375 million .
To give the residents a clearer view what the referendum is all about and why it is being sought , the District held two presentations , with the most recent on Jan . 14 . About a dozen or so residents attended that presentation .
Starting off with giving the latest updates , Superintendent Travis Hensch said that the District is nearly done with phase I , which focused on improving the long overdue indoor air quality needs in the district .
“ We intentionally have done this in a certain time frame where it did not impact your taxes at all . At the end of this month , we have an operating levy that ’ s being completely paid off and so when that completely disappeared , the School Board chose to go out and address a lot of the infrastructure in the district here , specifically the heating elements in our district ,” he said . “ We went out this past summer and we addressed all of the ventilation issues that we had in our district that have been festering for decades here and the payments with that are going to coincide with that other debt that ’ s falling off our books .”
Hensch said while phase I was ongoing ,
We intentionally have done this in a certain time frame where it did not impact your taxes at all .
Travis Hencsch , superintendent
the district had a staff ideation session where the Administration met with the staff and asked what some of their greatest needs are that they see in the building . The outcomes from the session included updated aesthetic , flexible learning / breakout spaces , safe and secure entry , improved programming in Career and Technical Education ( CTE ) and Science , Technology , Engineering and
JEFFREY HAGE / MORRISON COUNTY RECORD Jerome Valentine , left , and Kim LeBlanc are pictured with Coborn ’ s store director Jordan Haukos at the Little Falls grocery store . Jerome and Kim will be retiring in 2025 after 47 years on the job .
JEFFREY HAGE Morrison County Record
There are a lot of historic milestones that happened in 1978 .
Grease , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and Animal House were the top movies on the big screen . The Bee Gees were feeding the disco craze with Staying Alive and Night Fever on the radio . The Eagles ’ Hotel California was album of the year .
In the news , Pope Paul VI died , followed Pope John I dying just 34 days after being selected as Paul Vi ’ s successor . President Jimmy Carter brokered a peace accord with Egypt ’ s President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin . Sony introduce the first portable stereo — the Walkman .
Little Falls had its own epic milestone in 1978 : Jerome
Valentine and Kimberly LeBlanc started working at the Little Falls Coborn ’ s grocery store , which was just a year old at the time and the company ’ s sixth store . Today , Coborn ’ s operates a total of over 135 retail locations in Minnesota , North Dakota , South Dakota , Wisconsin , Michigan , and Illinois .
As the saying goes , all good things must come to an end . That ’ s the case with both Valentine and LeBlanc . Jerome is retiring at the end of January , followed by Kim in May .
The two have made many friends working for Coborn ’ s , where they became familiar faces to generations of Coborn ’ s shoppers .
Jerome spent his first four months at the store working in general grocery before transitioning to dairy . Jerome eventually moved to the frozen food department . Jerome inherited the frozen food department ’ s managerial role when then-department manager Greg Zylka
A retirement party will be held for Jerome Valentine . All are welcome .
Date : Saturday , Feb . 1 Time : 2-6 p . m . Location : Little Falls VFW
was promoted to store manager .
“ Greg moved up and I moved in ,” Jerome said . It ’ s where the longtime Coborn ’ s employee chose to stay .
Kim began her Coborn ’ s career in the deli before moving to the meat department . After another transition , she became a mainstay as the scanning manager . She coordinates the store ’ s scanning program to this day .
Jerome and Kim took very different routes to their Coborn ’ s employment .
“ I knew there was an opening and needed a job ,” Jerome recalled . skipped school for two days in order to begin his Coborn ’ s career .
“ But I couldn ’ t skip school for three days , because I was on the football team and wouldn ’ t be allowed to play in the upcoming game ,” he said .
Those two days of work led to a 47-year career and Coborn ’ s became the only employer Jerome would ever have .
Like Jerome , Kim ’ s route to Coborn ’ s began in her high school days . She had been working at Country Kitchen when she decided to transition to the grocery store .
“ I had an interview , and after being hired , my first job was in the deli ,” Kim recalled . “ I then moved to meat where I worked for 20 years and after that the price team .”
The two are proud that despite the multiple remodels the store has had , they were part of teams that kept the store from closing
Mathematics ( STEM ).
During the presentation Hensch identified the areas of security and safety concerns , some of which are major . However , due to the sensitive nature and to keep anyone from potentially acting on those , this writer has opted not to include them .
A community engagement group was also established .
“ They actually put their heads together as outsiders that don ’ t live and breathe day-to-day what the school is and they started to look at our facility . They spent months and months under the guidance of Mr . Overton over here , as well as me , and they came to a conclusion and made a recommendation to the School Board ,”
See SWANVILLE | PAGE 14 LITTLE FALLS GOLF COURSE
JEFFREY HAGE Morrison County Record
The clubhouse at the Little Falls Golf Course could be home to an Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill by April if lease talks continue to successfully proceed .
That ’ s the word from Little Falls City Manager Alex Smith , who said Tuesday , Jan . 21 that a Jan . 13 meeting between city staff and Ultimate owner Tom Frerichs produced positive
Ultimate Sports results . As a matter of fact , Bar & Grill eyes an lease negotiations could
April opening . wrap up the last week of January with a lease agreement coming before the City Council at its next meeting , Monday , Feb . 3 , Smith said .
“ Right off the bat , Tom did tell us he is 95 % in , so it was really great to start off that conversation with a good note ,” Smith told members of the Little Falls City Council during a Jan . 21 council workshop .
Frerichs believes he can have the bar and grill open by April .
“ He did say that he would ideally like to be opening in April . It looks like he does have contractors who can get things in by then , should we get the lease signed and everything ,” Smith said of Frerichs .
The proposed lease terms include a three to five-year term , with initial lease payments of $ 2,000 per month for the first year followed by future lease payments of $ 3,000 and a 3 % increase annually , Smith told the council .
Under terms of the proposed lease as it stood Tuesday , Jan . 21 , the city and Ultimate Sports would split utility costs 70 / 30 , with Ultimate Sports responsible for 70 percent of the clubhouse utility costs while also maintaining the clubhouse and its amenities , Smith said .
As negations on a lease at the golf course clubhouse have progressed , Frerichs also requested the city install a walk-in cooler , 10 tap lines and additional electrical outlets , as these would be elements that would stay with the building if he were to leave , Smith said . The electrical outlets would accommodate additional televisions that would presumably be broadcasting sports programing under the Ultimate ’ s “ sports bar ” theme .
In December , Frerichs estimated that the conversion of the clubhouse into his Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill concept would cost him about $ 150,000 out of pocket . That figure has now grown to an estimated $ 250,000 as Frerichs has moved further along in planning the buildout ,
See RETIRE | PAGE 12 Still in high school , Jerome
See LEASE | PAGE 12
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Government
City of Little Falls
Little Falls City Hall www . cityoflittlefalls . com 100 NE Seventh Ave ., P . O . Box 244 Phone : ( 320 ) 616-5500 • Fax : ( 320 ) 616-5505
Little Falls Directory • Morrison County Record • www . mcrecord . com • 2025 • 21
CITY COUNCIL :
• Mayor : Greg Zylka
• City Council President : Jerry Knafla
• Council Member at Large : David Glaze
• Ward 1 : Raquel Lundberg • Leif Hanson
• Ward 2 : Wayne Liljegren • Jerry Knafla
• Ward 3 : Frank Gosiak • David C . Meyer
CITY STAFF :
• City Administrator : Alex Smith
• Finance Officer : Hannah Kurkowski
• City Clerk : Wendy Zylka
• Human Resources Director : Annie Cribb
• Public Works Director / City Engineer : Greg Kimman
• Police Chief : Kyle Johnson • 320.616.5570
• Fire Chief : Craig Seelen • ( 320 ) 616-5591
• Utility Billing Clerk : Kelly Leidenfrost
• Animal Control Officer : Fred Tabatt • ( 320 ) 360-4161
• Golf Course • ( 320 ) 616-5520
• Airport • ( 320 ) 616-5525
• Building / Zoning • ( 320 ) 616-5500
• Wastewater Treatment Facility : ( 320 ) 616-5540
• Water Treatment Facility : ( 320 ) 616-5530
• Parks & Streets : ( 320 ) 616-5535
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MORRISON COUNTY
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Swanville to vote on $ 13.375M school referendum
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FOR 47 YEARS JEROME VALENTINE AND KIM LEBLANC HAVE CALLED A LOCAL GROCERY STORE THEIR SECOND HOME .
Clubhouse lease nearing final stretch
Nearly a half century at Coborn ’ s
Two long-time employees eye retirement in 2025
Jerome ’ s retirement party
Index
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MORRISON COUNTY
RECORD
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