Wadena area legislators are trying to get state help for summer tornado damage included in the upcoming special legislative session on fall flood relief.
The special session could come any day, as soon as there’s a federal disaster declaration.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislative leaders have said they want the special session to deal only with state funding for the damages from the Sept. 22 floods in southern Minnesota, but Wadena officials say state aid also is needed now following the June tornado that hit the area, according to Don Davis in the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
Said the paper:
Pawlenty and House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said that any tornado-related relief could wait until the 2011 regular legislative session.
But Wadena leaders had a different idea and legislators from the area pushed for aid in the special session.
Sen. Dan Skogen, DFL-Hewitt, said his requests for funding have been well received.
The biggest Wadena request is $20.5 million for a regional wellness center to replace the community center, and the ice rink it included, and swimming pool. It could be located at a new high school. All were destroyed in a June 17 tornado that was part of a record tornado outbreak across Minnesota.
It’s time for a discussion on local government insuring its facilities rather than relying on the state to replace them after events such as this.