The Spring Valley City Council held a regular council meeting on December 13. All members were present (Mayor Tony Archer, Chris Danielson, John Dols, Luan Ruesink and Greg Brooks). City Administrator/Clerk Deb Zimmer also participated.
Immediately prior to the regular meeting, the city’s annual “Truth in Taxation” public hearing was held. Jason McCaslin gave a summary of why property valuations may change, and said it is done, “so that everybody’s carrying their fair share of the tax burden.” He also added that the valuations are based on guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Revenue. One citizen spoke up to dispute his property’s valuation, saying, “So I’ll use mine as an example for everybody here. My wife and I own 212 West Fremont Street… Our house went up 16.7%. I’ve got a property that’s adjacent to it. The lot is… 66 ½ feet by 132 feet… 8,790 square feet… On that lot, our taxes, and I was glad I was sitting down when I seen this thing, 557% increase. Where do you get a value to go from $9,200 to $65,900?”
McCaslin asked about the property, and the owner said the lot has only a garage, which was constructed in 2016. McCaslin said the time to discuss and appeal any valuation discrepancies will be in April, and he encouraged any concerned property owners to contact him at the county assessor’s office during regular work hours.
The council discussed a request from Jeff Sass for an extension on cleaning up his property, which is out of compliance with city ordinances. Chris Danielson said her opinion is that the matter has been brought up to Sass for several years, so she felt he’s had plenty of time to comply. The council voted to deny the request for an extension.
Mayor Archer opened the four bids, which had been received for the city’s retired ambulance vehicle. The bids ranged from $512 to $1,025, and the council voted to accept the highest bid, which was from Herman Hanson.
In the Department Heads portion of the meeting, library director Jenny Simon highlighted several upcoming programs at the library, including a program on scam prevention, a presentation by Chad Lewis on “Bizarre History of Minnesota” and an educational presentation on pollinator species.
Ambulance Director Sue Puffer stated, “Last month, we were busy with 47 calls, and we’re at 21 to date, with four this morning.” She added, “In the month of December, we’ve had a second truck out at least twice, maybe three times.”
John Dols voiced appreciation for all who helped with the recent Christmas on Broadway event. Luan Ruesink and Mayor Archer agreed, and Archer stated, “I thought it was a great turnout. They had a lot of events for people to do, luckily we got the snow, so they could sled.”
Chris Danielson reminded all Spring Valley citizens and visitors of the winter parking rules, in hopes of avoiding unnecessary parking tickets. The council approved Kaleb Fish as a new EMR for the city, and hiring Rory Kramer to fill the city’s deputy clerk vacancy. No visitors had signed up to address the council on any topics. The council approved 10 resolutions, including Resolution 2021-31, accepting redistribution of American Recovery Funds. Zimmer explained that this is basically unclaimed funds that are being redistributed to cities that already requested and received ARF dollars. Spring Valley’s windfall from this will be $4,175.59.
The next meeting of the council will be Monday, January 10 at 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is welcome.
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