Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Howard Lake chooses new police chief



The Howard Lake City Council announced at its meeting Tuesday that Dan Lang, Howard Lake police officer, will replace retiring Police Chief Lenny Keyes in a full-time position. Keyes is scheduled to retire April 28.

Dan Lang, originally from Winthrop, is a graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he received a four-year degree in law enforcement in 1994.

He served an internship in Sibley and continued to work there until 1995, when he moved to the Annandale area. At that time, he was employed by Wright County. He has been a police officer for the City of Howard Lake since July 2, 2002.

Lang and his wife, Abby, have three children, Alyssa, 2 years old; Broden, 1 year old; and Kaleb, 3-months, who were all present Tuesday evening to hear the council announce Lang’s promotion. Also present to help celebrate the occasion were Lang’s parents, Leon and Diane Lang, of Winthrop, and his father-in-law, Pat Benoit, of Monticello.

Lang has been working nights for 12 years and is expecting the switch to days will take a little adjusting, but he is looking forward to the change and his new position.

Lang commented about the number of changes that the Howard Lake Police Department has undergone recently, including a new computer system in the office, which they will soon have installed in the squad cars.

He felt that the computer system will really cut back on time and paperwork.

A new police officer will be hired to replace Lang, and a new squad car coming soon.

Lang looks forward to heading up the police department. He explained that in other small town police departments, there is usually a greater turnover in the department, because of low salaries and long work days. It is not the case in Howard Lake, and he felt that spoke well of the city.

New auto body repair shop

The council approved a conditional use permit for John Stapel to set up an auto body shop at 1000 Commerce Blvd., on the west side of the city, in an area that is an industrial district.

It was also agreed to expand the hours of operation until 8 p.m.

A concern regarding outdoor storage was brought up, but Stapel assured the council that there would not be a problem because he had adequate storage space for his needs.

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