At their August 10 regular meeting, the Houston City Council decided on a plan for replacing resigning Mayor Scott Wallace. City Administrator Michelle Quinn reminded the council they had “wide latitude” in appointing a new mayor to serve the remainder of Wallace’s term.
Wallace noted, “Being punctual is very important!” The council chuckled at that – Wallace was well known for arriving just barely in time for their meetings.
It was pointed out that if someone from the council was appointed as mayor, the council would need to be more concerned about meeting quorum requirements for each meeting.
One resident, Krin Abraham, had filed to run for mayor in the upcoming election. Danny Todd suggested asking Abraham if she’d be willing to accept the position earlier. Quinn suggested a plan for a second option if Abraham was unable to assume the role earlier.
Zeb Baumann suggested offering the position to Abraham and if she were to decline, he could serve as the mayor since he’d “signed up to be the acting mayor for the year.” If Zeb took on the position of mayor, Emily Krage would serve as acting mayor in his absence.
This plan met the approval of the council as they decided to ask Abraham if she would become mayor on September 1. Wallace will be serving as mayor until August 31.
Construction Updates
Bolton & Menk reported that construction on Spruce Street was staying on schedule. Houston County had billed a portion of the expense to the city as planned. The city had sufficient cash to pay the bill. The council approved a resolution which preserves the right of the city to pay back the cash used for the bill with the local bond once such funding is received. Quinn informed the council that the total of the project so far was $785,000.
When asked whether tree replacement for the project would be one-to-one, Quinn replied she didn’t know if it was one-to-one, but the tree board has been very active in the planning and has seen the plan several times.
Lead service lines in the Spruce Street project are being replaced during the construction. The bidding process to replace other lead service lines in the city will begin in the fall. Matt Mohs recommended that construction begin next year since the funding from PFA would come at that time. The council approved the master loan at this point.
Public Hearing
The regular meeting was closed for the public hearing on an ordinance establishing fees for emergency fire protection for rural areas. This would not change how things are done by the fire department, but was necessary in order to successfully bill insurance companies for the services rendered.
With no public comment given, the hearing was closed and the regular meeting was reconvened. The council adopted the resolution as their next order of business.
Minnesota Design Team Visit
The city was awarded $3,000 by the Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation to help offset the local costs associated with the upcoming Minnesota Design team visit in September,
Quinn shared that SMIF had pledged $1,000, and the Houston Chamber of Commerce and the Lions had each pledged $500. The American Legion and Houston Hoedown are possibly also pledging support.
Other Business
In other business, the council approved adding Arianna Weisbrod to the ambulance crew. Weisbrod had completed the EMT/EMR program at the school and gotten her EMT license.
The council approved an amendment to the contract with Waste Management which removed the fuel surcharge. Since garbage trucks currently serving the city run on CNG (compressed natural gas), there was no need to pay a fuel surcharge.
The cooler in the community center which had been purchased in 2000 by the city has failed. Staff requested and received permission to spend up to $5,000 to replace the cooler. Quinn informed the council that rentals of the center have been increasing each year.
The quote for asphalt to mill and pave Kilborn Street was accepted. The alley adjacent to city hall will not be done until further research is completed to provide proper drainage. Quinn commented that it might need to wait until Cedar Street is done.
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