Gretchen Braun, surrounded by family and fellow officers, took the oath of office for the Caledonia Police Department at the city council’s April 13 meeting. Mayor Jeremy Leis administered the oath, and her mother Kristie Braun had the honor of pinning her daughter’s badge on her uniform.
Mayor Jeremy Leis called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. Other council members in attendance included Bob Klug, Amanda Ninneman, David Fitzpatrick and John Rauk. The council unanimously approved the minutes from the March 23 regular city council meeting.
The council voted to approve the consent agenda, which included:
- Payment of city bills;
- Approval of a temporary liquor license for Founder’s Day on June 20;
- Hiring four emergency medical responders: Nicole Bowman, Alyson Kruckow, Evan Barnes and Ron DuCharme;
- Acceptance of a $10,081.06 quote from Hoskins Electric for the East Grant lift station upgrade;
- Acceptance of a $7,806 quote from Schmitz Refrigeration for a new air conditioner at city hall.
Caledonia Ambulance Services Director Mike Thornstrom explain that the four emergency medical responders just finished a 50-hour AMR (American Medical Response) class. There were 12 people in this year’s class that started three months ago. The students finished their course work about a week ago. The department sponsored Bowman, Kruckow, Barnes and DuCharme. “I will say that the ambulance services had really good staffing in the last year or so, better than ever before,” said Tornstrom. He is not sure if they are at 32 or 34 people, but it is pretty good.
Two Caledonia residents, Danielle Burg and Tracey Knutson, spoke about the rumors circulating on Facebook about the city council and police, implying that they were not doing their jobs, such as citing vehicles with expired tags parked in the city lot behind the laundromat, a dumpster behind the Dewitz building not being empty, and dog waste not being picked up.
City Clerk/Administrator Jake Dickson responded that staff are aware of the posts but do not respond online or investigate every complaint individually. He added that city ordinances do not necessarily prohibit some of the situations being discussed, which is one reason the city restarted the planning commission to address such issues.
Public Works/Zoning Director Casey Klug and Mayor Leis invited residents to visit the ballpark to see the improvements completed by city staff. Leis said he would like people to take photos of the park and share them on Facebook.
Dickson announced that the city has been awarded $1.5 million for the Warrior Avenue extension project, bringing funding to about 105%. He said the work scheduled for this summer will “make a big difference in the kind of traffic footprint and the way the traffic moves,” adding that he and others are eager to see how it affects football traffic on Friday nights this fall once the project is open.
The board approved the hiring of pool manager Patty Goetzinger, Assistant Managers Kellyn Cognac and Caden Hauser, and lifeguards Oliver Bulman, Anna Schock, Emily Fitzpatrick, Jacob Klug, Jaycie Westland and Chase Hauser. The council also approved a $1 per hour wage increase over last year’s rates for the aquatic center staff.
Additionally, the council approved an updated water safety instructor reimbursement policy. The updated reimbursement policy requires that lifeguards teach swimming lessons and work the entire pool season to be eligible for reimbursement.
The council tabled a proposal for a fire department training site to allow city staff time to determine implementation details, for example insurance. The live burn structure will be made up of three shipping containers and will be located at the city dump site. Mayor Leis noted that the council is in full agreement with the project and thanked the department for its efforts. The department received a $15,000 donation from Miken Sports last year, which will be used to construct the facility.
The final item of business was the approval of the overtime reports ending March 29. With no old business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 6:38 p.m.
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