Voters decide school issue
Annandale School District taxpayers voted Tuesday, May 24, on a proposal to spend $27,510,000 to build a new elementary school.
Voting was scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the lobby of the Annandale Middle School, 125 Cherry Ave. in Annandale.
School district residents were asked to vote yes or no to the question:
"Shall the school board of Independent School District No. 876 (Annandale) be authorized to issue its general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $27,510,000 to provide funds for the acquisition and betterment of school sites and facilities, including the construction and equipping of a new preK-5 facility?"
The question focused solely on the elementary school, which officials called their most urgent priority.
School officials have cited deficiencies at Bendix Elementary School, including an open design that invites distractions to both students and staff; safety hazards in the bus loading and delivery area; an aging mechanical system; deteriorating exterior brick; and aging temporary classrooms.
Results of the referendum will be posted on the Advocate’s website, www.annandaleadvocate.com.
Board to review roof bids
The Annandale School Board at its regular meeting Monday night, May 23, was scheduled to consider bids for a new roof on the 1954 building at Annandale Middle School.
The session was to take place after the Advocate’s deadline.
Specifics of the bids, which were opened Thursday, May 19, were not yet available.
Bids were needed since the quotes for the work exceeded $100,000. The low quote was $124,900.
Construction will take place this summer, Supt. Steve Niklaus has said.
Board members were also expected to review recommended changes to several school district policys; hear a report on Annandale’s Q-Comp program; hear an update on the 2011 Minnesota legislative session and how it will affect school funding, and set a date to canvass the results of the Tuesday, May 24, referendum for a new school.
Missing woman found
A 60-year-old woman suffering from dementia was missing from her rural Fair Haven Township home for eight hours before searchers found her nearby early Friday morning, May 20, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department said.
The unidentified woman was taken to St. Cloud Hospital for treatment of hypothermia after being located about 3 a.m. in a wet, muddy area near her property
The sheriff’s department said she had apparently walked away from her home on 140th Street about 6:45 p.m. Thursday, May 19, and her family couldn’t find her.
Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters searched for her using dogs, thermal imaging devices and on foot when she was reported missing after 9 p.m.
The sheriff’s department didn’t identify the woman, and the hospital wouldn’t provide a condition report without a request by name.