The Fergus Falls Daily Journal

Though the original bill with the Fergus Falls ice arena sales tax in it has been vetoed by Governor Mark Dayton, City Administrator Mark Sievert is still hopeful the tax can make the final cut. “I don’t know how all the inner workings work, but I don’t believe the entire tax bill will totally be [...]

The Fergus Falls City Council approved the first of several expected improvements to the community ice arena made possible by an Otto Bremer Foundation grant, but it was not without protest from a few council members. The council approved the installation of a concrete floor in the practice rink at the arena, an addition once [...]

The Fergus Falls community ice arena could be getting some improvements thanks to the Otto Bremer Foundation – provided that fundraisers can continue bringing in donations. The Bremer Foundation, owner of Bremer Bank (which has a branch in Fergus Falls), informed the Fergus Falls School District on Friday that it was giving the district a [...]

City Engineer Dan Edwards estimated Wednesday that the community ice arena project in Fergus Falls is roughly $65,000 over budget, although no hard numbers on to-date project costs have been compiled. The unforeseen costs are mostly due to two factors: additional removal of asbestos from the south section of the Roosevelt Education Center, which is [...]

The proposed half-cent sales tax to help finance the Fergus Falls Community Ice Arena has survived the Legislature, and likely will await the Legislature’s negotiations with the governor. On Monday, Fergus Falls City Administrator Mark Sievert was notified by the League of Minnesota Cities that the language containing the Fergus Falls sales tax was approved [...]

The city council approved some “value engineering” for the community ice arena project on Monday, when it passed a change order that will save the project $5,320. The order will change the bench supports in the spectator seating of the arena from wood to a less expensive metal. The city hopes to find more cost-saving [...]

Fergus Falls’ ice arena sales tax bill made it out of the Minnesota Senate on Tuesday, as the omnibus tax bill it was part of was approved by a floor vote, 37-26. The House and Senate tax bills will now go to a conference committee made up of legislators from both branches of the Legislature, [...]

As omnibus tax bills continue to move through the state Capitol, it’s still “so far, so good” for the Fergus Falls ice arena sales tax. “Regardless of how (things) go, I don’t see that the sales tax provision has a likely chance of getting taken out,” said District 10A Representative Bud Nornes. The House of [...]

The community ice arena project is moving along on schedule, City Engineer Dan Edwards told the city council on Monday night. “We’re still meeting the schedule that was set up by Comstock Construction,” the project contractor, said Edwards. The city is shooting on having the facility open and operating by October of this year, in [...]

Fergus Falls’ local option ice arena sales tax moved closer to becoming a reality on Thursday and Friday, when two House and Senate committees took action on their respective versions of the tax bill. “The Property and Local Tax (Division) met this morning, and they rolled the sales tax into their (omnibus tax) bill,” District [...]