U.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

U.S. Senator Mark Dayton couldn’t offer any definitive answers to displaced Farmland workers at a meeting Monday in Albert Lea. But he did pledge to use his office to find assistance for tapped-out local charities that have been helping in the aftermath of the fire.

Collette Turcotte, director of Community Action Agency, told Dayton her organization needs more money to help Farmland families with housing and utility bills as winter approaches.

&uot;It’s a scary time of year. I worry about families not being able to heat their homes,&uot; she said. &uot;Obviously, we want to continue helping, but we’ve used up most of the donations that have been coming in.&uot;

Turcotte said the expense of hiring bilingual staff members to help with the high percentage of Hispanic Farmland workers has also put a strain on the Community Action budget.

Captain Jamie Pennington of the Salvation Army said he needs resources to restock his food shelves, which have distributed about 110,000 pounds of food in July, and another 80,000 pounds so far in August.

&uot;I guess we’ve been swamped,&uot; he said. &uot;We’re depleted – but the need isn’t easing up that much.&uot;

Dayton said he came to Albert Lea to hear from people close to the devastating fire at the plant and learn what needs are most pressing.

&uot;We’ll take the information from these meetings back to Washington and look for something we can do to help,&uot; Dayton said. &uot;I feel like we’ve got to find some ways to back up the terrific response from the community.&uot;

A handful of workers told Dayton about their struggles with unemployment, expiring health insurance and the specter of high energy bills this winter. Mike Lee, a 25-year veteran of the plant, said if he could ask any favor of Dayton, it would be to use his clout to find out the fate of the plant.

&uot;We’re hearing so much rumor out here, but not much from the company. We need to know if we should stick around or go somewhere else,&uot; Lee said. &uot;If we could just get some kind of clue as to what Farmland is going to do.&uot;

Lee said waiting for word from the company is getting more difficult every day. He anticipates using a large chunk of his unemployment money to maintain his health insurance through COBRA at a cost of almost $500 per month. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 allows people to maintain health insurance benefits for a limited amount of time, but they have to pay the employer portion plus usual employee portion.

Dayton said the expense of maintaining health insurance after a job loss often drives families to risk going without coverage.

&uot;One of the many failings of our overall health care system is that it’s employment based,&uot; Dayton said. &uot;It puts people in the position of making impossible financial choices.&uot;

Dayton promised to glean as much information as possible from a closed meeting later in the day with Farmland representatives and city officials. No details of that meeting were available at press time.