EDA member Michael Brown asked the Lanesboro City Council for their input at their August 7 meeting on the issue that the EDA is currently facing.
“At the EDA meeting one month ago, we had a discussion about what is taking place to recruit new members of the EDA,” Brown said, adding that
there are seven seats available, but only five that are currently filled.
The EDA has been advertising the openings for some time with no takers. Brown asked what the council has been doing to let people know about the open seats. Councilmember Jason Resseman noted that he had recently asked several people in person if they were interested and, with the exception of one “maybe” answer, they were all too busy to take on another responsibility. He suggested that it may be time to lower the number of EDA members.
Mayor Autumn Johnson, who was joining the meeting via speakerphone, concurred with Resseman. Councilmember Marge Drake asked Brown what he thought about that possibility. He responded that as the Lanesboro EDA does not have a paid director position, all of the work is done on a volunteer basis, meaning that the fewer members it has, the less work will potentially be done.
It was noted that members of the Lanesboro EDA do not need to be residents of Lanesboro to join. Although seats are generally filled for a six-year term, the empty positions were vacated partway through the term, and so the EDA is looking for people who can finish up the terms.
Mayor Johnson suggested advertising for the open EDA seats on the city’s Facebook page and then revisiting the issue at a later date, with which the rest of the council agreed.
The EDA also requested that the city work to update the zoning and land use map within the next six months as the current map is not conducive to growing the community. The council will discuss the matter further at their September meeting.
A representative from the Southeast Minnesota Initiative Foundation, or SMIF, was present at the meeting to review what SMIF is and what it can offer to communities. The foundation, which serves 20 counties in Southeastern Minnesota, is focused on creating economic prosperity, promoting community vitality, and supporting early childhood education. SMIF would like to expand the early childhood education in Lanesboro and is working on ways to do so.
City Engineer Brian Malm from Bolten and Menk updated the council on the Auburn/Zenith road project. There have been some issues with access and weather, but overall, things have been running smoothly.
“It’s just predictable construction stuff,” he said, adding that the project is on schedule.
Two bids were received on August 2 for the Park Road project. The project was originally estimated at around $286,000, but the bids started at $350,000. “Obviously, that’s more than what we told you to expect, so you do have a tough decision to make,” Malm said. He didn’t think that the prices would come down any if the council decided to wait and rebid it next year.
As the Lanesboro Public School has been working with the city on the Park Road project, the council felt that they should wait to make a decision
until school officials were able to add their input. As the bids are good for 45 days after being submitted, the matter was tabled until the September meeting.
Three bids were received the same day for the Pleasant/Sheridan Alley project and also came in over what was originally estimated by the engineer. The council tabled the bids until the next meeting.
Malm presented a change order for the Auburn Zenith project, Noting that $10,000 worth of newly placed asphalt would need to be dug up if the city needed to work on the sewer beneath it, he recommended that a $50,000 addition to the project be added to extend the sewer line past the end of the pavement to make it more accessible. The council unanimously voted to decline the change order.
City Administrator Michele Peterson asked the council to make a motion requesting that all city employees, including those who are salaried, turn in timesheets for each pay period. The motion was approved.
“I have had quite a few people ask me what’s going on with the potential wastewater treatment plant project,” Mayor Johnson noted. She asked that the Lanesboro Public Utilities Commission make it a priority to put a plan on paper so that residents can be informed.
The paperwork for the dam renovations from the State of Minnesota was received. It will be signed and turned in so that the money for the repairs can be received.
The council reviewed and approved the new and updated Police Service Contract with the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office.
A community meeting was being held on the first Thursday of each month at 9 a.m., but after several months, it was not gaining interest or momentum and so the council voted to suspend the meetings for the time being.
The next Lanesboro City Council meeting will be held on September 5 at 5:30 p.m.
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