Library to be installed as part of school service project

Photo by Chad Koenen
A new free little library will soon be installed near the city park playground in downtown Deer Creek. A similar library is located on Highway 210 near town.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A new small library could be coming to downtown Deer Creek.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last week, the Deer Creek City Council heard from Tanner Collins about a community service project he wanted to complete in Deer Creek. The new little free library, which have sprouted up in a number of locations throughout the region, is part of a school project at Wadena-Deer Creek School.

The library will be located behind The Station and the playground in Deer Creek. Collins is in charge of constructing the new little library, as well as placing books in the library to get it started.

As part of the project, people can take books from the library and replace them with different ones for other people to take and read. Little free libraries are also located in Henning, New York Mills and near the Highway 210 junction in rural Deer Creek.

In other news

• Heard the mobile hazardous waste collection for Deer Creek will be held on Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Accepted a donation of $700 from the Deer Creek Lions Club for 10 tables for the Deer Creek Community Center. 

• Heard the monthly police report from New York Mills Police Chief Bobby Berndt. The police department responded to 20 calls last month and provided 32 hours of service in the community.

• Heard the Deer Creek Fire Department would like to replace the drop tank liner on the older pumper truck it utilizes. The cost is approximately $1,200, but shipping may cost an additional fee. 

• Approved a request from the Deer Creek Fire Department to no longer bill property owners when they are dispatched for a fire call. Fire chief Travis Collins the Deer Creek Fire Department had charged property owners $450 for being dispatched to a fire call in the past, but the money they collected was ultimately just taken off of the bill the fire department charged the townships each year. As a result of not necessarily being a net positive for the local fire department and having no way to collect the money if people refused to pay the fee, the city council said it will let the townships bill and collect money from property owners when the Deer Creek Fire Department is dispatched to a call in their area.