Mark Fischenich: Ask Us: Plans nebulous for vacant DQ on Hwy 169

Mark Fischenich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·3 min read

Jul. 3—Q: Great article and update in The Free Press on new proposed plans for the Dutler's Bowl location on Mankato's north side. If we are concerned about the appearance on the north side, how about we look at the former Dairy Queen/Jordan Imports on Highway 169 North?

Talk about an "eye sour" for people going in and out of the Mankato/North Mankato area.

Do you still have the ASK GARY feature that we can find out if there are any plans for this property?

Maybe a good spot for fire department training — a controlled burn!

A: People arriving in Mankato in the past dozen years or so might not realize there was once a scenic riverside Dairy Queen north of the city along Highway 169 — one of seven DQs in a 49-mile stretch of the roadway between Lake Crystal and Jordan. For parents of begging-age kids traveling from southwestern Minnesota to the Twin Cities, it was a dreaded gauntlet of virtually nonstop shouts from the backseat: "Dairy Queen! Can we stop? Can we stop? Pleeeeease, can we stop?"

The one north of Mankato was attached to a house and had some picnic tables that offered a glimpse, through the trees, of the Minnesota River. It's been closed for quite a while and has recently served as a billboard for "Jordan N. Imports."

By all appearances, the building is no longer usable as a business. Nicollet County tax records, for instance, don't list any value for the building and the overall property's taxable value fell from $114,900 in 2012 to $3,300 in 2015 — the same value it has today.

Oddly, the sale price in 2019 was listed as $170,000.

The owner, Charles Bailey of Afton, said he bought the property as an investment and to provide additional access to land for hunting and recreation. Bailey said he will be installing a gate to block vehicles from the parking lot but is still deciding what to do with the building.

"We just bought it for personal use," he said of the property.

Q: Lifetime fishing licensing for a developmentally disabled person — How do we go about applying for one?

A: Variations of this question have come to "Ask Us" just before the fishing opener or during fishing season more than once over the years.

First, it's important to emphasize the "lifetime" part of the reader's question.

Minnesota law allows the Department of Natural Resources to waive fishing fees for a fairly broad segment of the population, but the applicants have to go through the process annually. The folks eligible for that annual break on the fees include someone who is blind, a ward of the commissioner of Human Services, a resident of a state institution, a foreign exchange student attending school in Minnesota, a person receiving worker's compensation for a total and permanent disability, and a disabled person receiving supplemental income managed by the Social Security Administration (SSI, SSD, SSDI.)

For Minnesotans who are developmentally disabled, though, there's the option for that fishing license that is not only free but lasts for the rest of their days.

For the lifetime license, applicants have to go through the DNR's main office. The application — which can be found at https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/licenses/fishing/dd-permanent-angling.pdf — needs to be mailed or faxed to the St. Paul headquarters upon completion.

The application includes a section that must be filled out by a physician or psychologist documenting the applicant's condition.

Contact Ask Us Guy — who also answers to "ASK GARY" and "Ask It Guy" — at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.