Mabel City Clerk Karen Larson announced at the city’s October 11 council meeting that alternative side parking will begin on November 1, and the last day of compost pickup is October 30. Hydrant flushing is scheduled for October 23-27.
Mayor Adam Wilder called the regularly scheduled meeting to order at 6 p.m. The meeting agenda, the September 13 minutes, and the accounts payable and the financial reports were all unanimously approved.
Council members in attendance included Mayor Wilder, Tina Bakke, Kiersten Wyffells and Cory Wilson. Valerie Arnold was absent.
Others in attendance were City Clerk Karen Larson, Deputy Jason Harmening, Public Works Director Bob Mierau, Kent Whitcomb of MiEnergy and Carson Hacket of Davy Engineering.
Project Engineer Carson Hacket, Davy Engineering, La Crosse, Wis. presented a water improvement proposal after announcing that Mabel recently received a $600,000 Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) grant through the water system replacement project. A USDA – Rural Development (RD) grant application was also submitted for project costs not covered by the SCDP grant. Hacket said, “We are not anticipating construction to be happening now until 2025 which gives us all of next year to do the design work, preparing plans and specifications, gathering field data, and working with Rural Development once they come back with comments.” The council unanimously approved the $200,000 design services proposal from Davy Engineering to replace over 5,000 feet of watermain.
Vice President of Member Services, Kent Whitcomb of MiEnergy went over in detail the NOVA Power Portal with the council noting that the portal is used by 80-85% of Minnesota utilities, coops, and municipalities. There will be a link to the portal on the city’s website where the resident or vendor interested in solar can apply. Everything required is stored in the portal including the cogeneration policy adopted by the city earlier this year, interconnection rules, rate schedule, and the interconnection fee. The application also provides automatic reporting capabilities. The council approved a $1,000 interconnection fee. There could be additional costs but that won’t be known until the application is submitted. Whitcomb explained that if everything is accurate when submitted, it will take an estimated one month to make the connection. The council unanimously approved the NOVA software license agreement.
Two zoning permits were approved. The city received an application from Carl Westby, 329 Maple St. South for a 12’x24’ portable shed. According to the application, the shed will go on the north side of the property by the unattached existing shed. The shed will be installed between October 16 and October 20.
Shaun and Cassey Kampschroer, 401 N. Maple St, submitted the second permit. They plan to remove the existing deck on the northeast side of the house, put in foundation and convert it to living space, and replace two existing windows with new windows. The anticipated start date is October 6, 2023. No completion date was included on the application.
Mabel-Canton School Superintendent Gary Kuphal contacted the city to schedule a joint meeting with the school board and Canton City Council. Since there cannot be a quorum, Larson will let Arnold and Bakke know when the meeting will be held.
In other business, the council:
•Unanimously approved the Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) 2023-2024 Safety Contract.
•Adopted the Minnesota Basic Code of Ordinances 2023 Edition. Larson will work on putting it on the city’s website as requested by Deputy Harmening.
•Unanimously approved the liability coverage waiver form, which is an annual action.
•Adjourned the meeting at 6:41 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled Mabel City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 8 at the Mabel Community Center, 201 South Main Street, Mabel. For questions, contact City Clerk Karen Larson at (507) 493-5299 or karen.larson@cityofmabel.com. The meeting is open to the public.
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