The Rugby City Council agreed at its August meeting to allow the Rugby Farmers Elevator to store a large 30,000 gallon propane tank on its property, and also to sponsor a bond for the Heart of America Medical Center through Bremer Bank.

Keith Dibble, of Envision, went in front of the council to get the okay on the propane tank which will be built on Farmers Union land near the elevator.

Dibble is also working on a similar-sized tank for Envision that will sit outside of Rugby.

The plans for the new tank in town met standards for not being too close to a structure or property line and met other fire regulations according to Rugby Fire Chief David Schneibel Jr.

Dibble said the tank will service three dryers and the office and will help the elevator eliminate a number of smaller tanks.

Bremer’s Tanner Johnson met with the council seeking city sponsorship on a $1.2 million MIDA (Municipal Industrial Development Act) bond.

The sponsorship would be at no liability to the city, and would, in essence, allow the hospital to get the city’s tax-exempt rate, currently 3.25 percent, 2 percent lower than the standard rate.

Johnson said the city has sponsored similar bonds before. The bond would go to fund projects like the remodeling of Johnson Clinic and the hospital’s new MRI machine and building, according to Johnson.

County discusses roads, museum

The Pierce County Commission discussed a number of road projects, as well as future funding for the Prairie Village Museum at its August meeting.

The commission met with Jessica Tagestad of Wold Engineering on how to spend $1.6 million of state oil impact money on road projects.

A bulk of the funding will go to resurfacing a portion of Highway 30 near Rolette County, which is doing its stretch of the highway at the same time.

They also had a conference call with commissioners from Rolette County on resurfacing the road that leads to the Dale & Martha Hawk Museum off Highway 30, with each county paying for half of the work.

The commissioners met with Cathy Jelsing, executive director of the Prairie Village Museum, and museum board member, Roger Sitter, who were seeking funding for the museum.

Under the North Dakota Century Code, counties may give historical organizations $5,000 per year more than the value of the allotted mills.

Pierce County voters went against an amendment in last fall’s election that would have given the Pierce County Historical Society the maximum allowance of mills under state law.

The vote was close, 1,161-934, and Sitter said the museum is a valuable community asset that needs the funding despite the vote.

“I think sometimes governments have to do things for the greater good that aren’t necessarily for the vote,” he said.

The commissioners proposed some funding alternatives and said they would consider funding at least a portion of the $5,000 in their upcoming budget.

The county also agreed to a new draft of a Law Enforcement Center Agreement, which was debated at the last LEC board meeting.

The county, in essence, agreed to remove a portion of the agreement that would call for a 50/50 split on medical bills for prisoners arrested in the city whose cases were filed in district court.

Commission chair Mike Christenson signed the agreement and it was delivered to city hall. All indications are that the agreement would pass the city council.