Near the conclusion of the Wednesday, September 12 meeting, the Peterson Council had the opportunity to meet Roger Anderson, representing the Anderson Maplewood Group. The group is in the final stages of a sale with Rushford-Peterson School District to purchase the former R-P Middle School in Peterson.
“The idea is to go ahead and reinvent the school; to make it a school for aviation,” noted Anderson. Plans include two programs, one for Airframe and Powerplant training for aviation mechanics and one for those seeking to earn their commercial or private pilot’s license. “We’ll probably start out with 50 students, but we hope to expand to 150-200,” he added.
The building will stay largely as it is, with aviation students utilizing the classrooms, gymnasium, and kitchen. Anderson indicated the city and citizens may be able to reach agreements for the usage of facilities, but that it would be on a case by case basis.
The timeline for the school, should the sale proceed as scheduled, is rapid. Anderson anticipates doing some building upgrades, but having teachers and staff in place in one to two months.
Councilor Loren Rue questioned whether a large scale detailed plan would be brought to the city, questioning the property tax generation from the endeavor. Previously, the R-P School District paid no property taxes to the city, but this, as a private school, will. Just how it will be taxed, based on property and zoning remains to be determined.
It was also noted that housing for students will be an issue. Anderson indicated he had some thoughts on the matter, but that he was not ready to bring them forward to the cities of Peterson and Rushford at this time.
In other news, Peterson is on the cusp of taking legal action to address property-non compliance. A number of properties were cited for issues earlier this year, including general maintenance and inoperable/unlicensed vehicles. A number of letters were sent from the city and eventually, after non-response from the majority of properties, the city was forced to involve the city attorney, Greg Schrieber.
Now, a final letter will be sent to properties and a deadline of 10 days given to remove inoperable/unlicensed vehicles. If the property owners do not comply, the city will tow the vehicles. The owner will need to pay all related fees to reclaim the vehicle. In order to properly confirm vehicle status, City Clerk Chris Grindland says the city will work with Fillmore County deputies.
City staff had considered ticketing vehicles, but opted to utilize civil law rather than criminal. Grindland noted his concerns to the council after having spoken to other municipalities and Fillmore County. “If we do this, we are entering people’s property and taking their possessions from them,” he said offering possible homeowner perspective against the city perspective of obeying ordinances.
“The worst thing about this is we’re getting forced to do this,” added Mayor Tim Hallum, who has expressed frustration with repeated non-compliance with ordinances and lack of response by most parties to cooperate with the city. “We have to move forward. We’ve been talking about it for the past year. We’re not the bad people on this. We’re getting this dealt to us. It’s not ‘Do we want to do this?’ It’s, ‘We have to do this.’”
Councilor Loren Rue questioned where the city stood on other property non-compliance issues, beyond vehicles. Grindland suggested the city wait and see the reaction of property owners after vehicles are towed, suggesting it may prompt them to realize the city will act. “Maybe we’ll get more compliance on ordinances,” he added. “It’s simple: if it’s in the code, there’s no question if it’s enforceable.”
After several years of frustration with unpaid utility bills, the City of Peterson is also getting closer to the possibility for implementation of utility disconnects. A draft policy is in the works and under review from legal counsel. While the city is able to recoup these costs through property taxes, the effect on the city’s budget until repayment is impactful in a city of Peterson’s size. The goal of the disconnect policy is to curb those problems before the numbers climb. The council is expected to make final reviews and approve the policy in December, with the ordinance becoming effective in January.
The city has received a quote from MiEnergy for updated utility meters that can be read electronically. One hundred ninety-eight new meters are needed at a cost of over $28,000. An estimated 90% of these meters can be replaced by Public Works Director Rick Lee and worker Pete Erickson. However, the remaining 10% will require professional assistance to hook up, either needing relocation to outside of property dwellings or for other reasons.
The exact cost of bringing in an outside vendor to do the estimated 10% of those installations is unknown. The city will determine an exact number of these and seek quotes on those specifically.
It was questioned whether the $120 cost of each meter could be assessed to property owners over a number of years. While that may be a possibility, it was suggested property owners may want to pay the one-time fee and be done with it. It was also suggested that property owners pay an extra $10 a month meter charge on their utility bill for the period of one year, at no added interest.
While the city will save costs reading the meters electronically, property owners will see a per meter cost for the reading of meters, which is charged by MiEnergy.
Lastly, the council has approved the preliminary levy for 2019 at an 8% increase, which would equate to just over $91,000. Last year, the council ended the year approving a 3% increase which brought the amount to $84,721. The 8% figure can be reduced before final levy approval this December, but it cannot be raised beyond that. The increase in funds will go into funds for ongoing road maintenance.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is Wednesday, October 10, at 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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