By Deb Kroon
Review Staff Writer
On Tuesday, January 21, Carol Stevenson, District Director for Congressman Jim Hagedorn, was in Adrian for a question and answer session at city hall. Although the turnout was small, quite a range of topics were discussed.
The first and foremost topic of discussion was the availability of natural gas to Adrian and the surrounding area. It was explained by Adrian Mayor, John Faber, that the topic of natural gas was initially looked at in 1995. To date, Faber explained, the cost to bring in natural gas has gone up significantly. Both Faber and City Administrator, Jill Wolf, were asking Ms. Stevenson about the availability of funding to help with the process. Wolf explained that there was vortex funding to tap into, but it wasn’t enough. Mayor Faber assured the residents that this item would be going on to the city council agenda for further discussion.
Other items were discussed, such as increasing the generator capacity in Adrian; health insurance; and 4G-broadband internet services. Stevenson explained that Hagedorn’s position on health insurance was not to eliminate private insurance. She explained he understood that it was a big expense for small towns and was continuing to work towards making health insurance expenses more affordable. She assured all present that party affiliation did not matter to Hagedorn and his office would help any Minnesotan get an answer, not always a solution, but an answer.
Faber informed Ms. Stevenson of the projects Adrian has completed and what projects were in future planning. Ms. Stevenson complemented the City council and the residents of Adrian for how well the town is doing for itself. She stated that she was not able to speak for Hagedorn. She commented that a lot of the issues discussed were funded through the state, and Congressman Hagedorn had no control on how the state allotted money. She assured all present that she would bring our concerns to Hagedorn.
She discussed internships with Hagedorn’s office. She stated that the internships ran 3 months and were available to anyone age 16 and up who qualified. She said that Hagedorn also helps candidates with nominations to military academies. The 2020 nominations were complete, but anyone wishing to apply for 2021 can do so.
Following this meeting, Ms. Stevenson was attending the Adrian PUC meeting where some of these topic would be discussed in greater detail.
