EXCERPT: “In 2015, residents of Chatfield approved a levy request from the local school district, which was seeking more money to cover its operating expenses. The next year, voters approved another request – this time for $10.8 million for improvement projects at the high school. The city got into the act in 2017, asking for $4.4 million for the construction of a pool. That, too, won approval from the voters. It was an impressive trifecta and, in some observers’ eyes, a promising reflection of the public mood in this town of 2,900 in the southeast corner of Minnesota. ‘People don’t vote for those things without confidence in their future,’ said Joel Young, Chatfield’s city clerk for the past 28 years. While it’s difficult to pinpoint the source of such civic pride, one plausible mood-booster in this region of Minnesota is a multibillion-dollar economic development initiative under way in Rochester – an ambitious plan that aims to make that city’s famed Mayo Clinic an even bigger draw than it already is.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2SEtK4Q
