The Daily Dispatch

Breckenridge law enforcement has narrowed its search of a new police chief to six finalists, said Natalie Butenhoff, detective sergeant for Wilkin County, at a Tuesday meeting of the Breckenridge City Council. Steve Rensvold, former police chief, stepped down from his post last month.

A civil service group will meet Oct. 27 to choose one finalist who will go on to background investigations, said Butenhoff.

During a brief presentation, Mayor Cliff Barth and the city of Breckenridge were honored for their support of the Wings Over Wahpeton air show in May. The 24-member Canadian Snowbirds team featured nine aircrafts at the cost-free event, drawing a total 4,000 adults and 2,000 students.

"It's probably because of the largesse of the people in the two communities," said Jim Aldrich, Wahpeton Airport Authority chairman, who presented Barth with a plaque. "You will probably never see a collection of warbirds like that again, unless you go to Osh Kosh [Wis.]."

Aldrich said the Snowbirds, who participate in 70 shows a year, had a great time and were impressed by the "congeniality" of the community. Typically, they do a show and head back to the hotel. But at Wahpeton they allowed people to view the cockpit at 2 p.m. and continued on until 6 p.m., said Aldrich.

"This is a wonderful community, these two towns, you have to understand that," said Aldrich. "There's no place like this. Everybody here is everybody's friend."

Barth said it was great to hear comments like that about the communities. “I’ve heard that so many times before,” he said.

In other business:

• The Breckenridge Public Utilities office will open bids for its transmission line project at 2 p.m. on Nov. 10. Jeff Muehler, public works director, said they will bid materials through contractors. The project completion date is March 1, 2010.

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