Photo by Zech Sindt
Mayor Ryan Breckenridge called the Wykoff City Council meeting to order at 7 p.m. on October 13, with council members Barb Fate, Jeff Hare, Jane Baker and Missy Musel present, along with City Administrator Rebecca Schmidt.
Rick Whitney, the city’s water and wastewater superintendent, told the council that crews have started emergency repairs on the effluent line, the pipe that carries treated water away from the treatment plant, and that the city is asking for about $280,000 to replace the line. If the project stays at the state level, the state will pay 75% and the city will pay 25%. If it reaches the federal level, the state will pay 75% and FEMA will cover the other 25%, making it a full grant.
Fire Chief Mike Lund reported on the shed fire at 114 E. Fillmore Street on October 3, when a tanker backing into the driveway struck a fence, a water spigot, and a John Deere mower. The city billed the call at $1,000, the same as any other call. Lund said that was as it should be, noting that insurance should handle the damage rather than the city simply forgiving it. “We did it. We’re responsible for it. We’re not trying to get out of it,” he said. Lund also objected to a letter the city sent out that named the driver, saying that if anyone comes after the department, the focus should start with him at the top.
In other fire department business, the council voted to send the department’s charitable gambling money, such as pull tabs, straight to the principal on the fire truck loan instead of letting it sit in the truck fund. Paying the loan down early could save the city about $50,000 in interest over the five years of the loan.
Cory Bremseth reported that the first responders answered eight calls last month, but the crew is about to lose the man who has carried much of that load. Chris Schultz is leaving, and Schultz alone answered more than 40 of the crew’s calls. Bremseth is looking for one or two new members. He also reported that the crew can now give nebulizer treatments, using a machine that turns medicine into a mist the patient breathes in.
The council voted to spend $3,373.18 with Stender Enterprises to fix the heating problem at the community center, where the furnaces are too big for the ductwork, overheat and shut off, and run their fans day and night just to cool down. The work will add three heat registers and six boots along the north wall of the south side of the building.
The entryway floor at the community center also needs work. The wood floor, which a donor gave to the city, has buckled and humped up about six inches near the trophy case, and people can no longer walk on it safely. Polytek Surface Coatings has quoted $9,887.40 to pour a new floor across the entryway and kitchen, covering 765 square feet in total.
The Commons Meadow came up again, along with the city’s one-paragraph meadow ordinance, which says residents must keep weeds down and defines weeds as plants over 12 inches tall. People have complained about thistles blooming in the field during Fall Fest, and trees are also growing in it. The council voted to hire someone, possibly through the state, to walk the field and identify what needs removal. Members also agreed the ordinance itself needs work. “Anybody could come in today and say, I don’t have to mow my yard because it’s a meadow,” one member said.
The council passed Resolution 2026-16, which sends unpaid water and sewer bills to Fillmore County to add to the owners’ property taxes, though owners have until November 30, 2026, to pay the city directly first. The first list totals $3,856.45 across five residents’ accounts, plus $1,000 that Fillmore Township owes.
Two long-running items, the Lucas property and the Gateway, remain stalled, in part because the city’s attorney has been out of the country for three weeks. The search for a second city attorney is going no better. The city sent out nine requests that brought no response, and although an attorney from St. Charles, Minnesota, showed interest, they never sent in anything official.
Mayor Breckenridge reported that Gold Street residents have received letters from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and that the state will remove four trees there starting next week.
The streets committee reported that the stakes along Main Street mark a power line project that is burying three-phase lines across town. When crews finish the work, the city can switch power over from the east side of town if it ever loses the feed from Spring Valley. The snowplow for the new truck has also arrived.
In parks news, the committee reported that crews will remove the sand from the old playground and seed the ground, and the city should order new swings by February. The community outreach committee, meanwhile, is planning classes.
In other business, the council voted to renew the city’s half-page ad in the 2027-2028 Visit Bluff Country Magazine for $599, along with the $99 online listing. The city also received a $2,343 dividend from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust on its workers’ compensation insurance, and that money will go to the fire department.
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