The Walsh County Record

Wine walk approved for Thursday, June 13
GRAFTON –  Grafton Mayor Chris West is hoping residents of Grafton will contact our North Dakota congressional leaders in Washington regarding the flood diversion project.
At the May 6 meeting of the Grafton City Council, West urged council members
to give out the contact information of our delegates and encourage residents to “have their voice heard” so Grafton could receive its federal share of the money needed to fund
the proposed flood diversion project.  West said he meets with the delegates every year but.it’s important for the state’s delegation to hear from citizens that the flood diversion project is a good project. (more…)

Further contracts need to be approved by board
GRAFTON – The purpose of last Friday’s meeting of the Walsh County School Annexation and Reorganization Committee (WCSARC) was specific. It was to approve or disapprove of the joint powers agreement (JPA) in the amount of $100,000 that was entered into between the Adams School Board and the City of Adams earlier this winter.
The purpose of the JPA between the Adams School Board and the city was for improvements to the Adams City Auditorium where some school functions including sports events have taken place in the past. (more…)

District to receive $8,810 per student from state
GRAFTON – At Monday’s regular meeting of the Grafton School Board, the board unanimously approved the new two-year salary agreement between the Grafton School District and the Grafton Education Association (GEA). The GEA was expected to sign the contract on Tuesday.
Grafton Superintendent of Schools Jack Maus said negotiations went smoothly and only two meeting were needed to come to an agreement.
The new agreement raises the base salary of a first-year teacher from $34,000 to $35,500.
Maus also told the board that revenue coming into the current budget is between $200,000 and $250,000 above what was projected, due in part to more property tax being paid. (more…)

Planting well behind last year, state wide average
REGION – Fieldwork for area farmers is picking up and planting is spotty in the area as fields continue to dry out. According to Walsh County Extension Agent Brad Brummond most planting activity has occurred in the middle and easterns portion of Walsh County between Park River and Oakwood, generally north of Highway 17. Other well-drained fields here and there have been seeded as well.
Brummond estimates that approximately 5-6 percent of spring wheat, 4-5 percent of corn and 5-10 percent of the sugarbeet crop has been planted so far in Walsh County.
Brummond said his estimates are just a guess, but it’s fair to say that planting is well behind last year – an extremely early year for planting in the area. (more…)

Some dikes could come down as early as next week
GRAFTON – Rivers in Walsh County that were at major flood stage just over a week ago are now back in their banks.
The Park River at Grafton reached 16.11 feet last Wednesday, only four-tenths of a foot below the flood of record that inundated Grafton in 1948. The 2013 flood comes in as the fourth highest on record.
The forecast for the Forest River at Minto originally called for the probability of a crest of 9.5 feet. However, much to the relief of many residents, the Forest River crested at 8.28 feet on April 30. Highway 81 was closed for more than two days because of the flooding but reopened last Wednesday, May 1. (more…)