At their August 20 council meeting, the city counselors of the City of Rushford Village were asked to give their consent to a one-day temporary liquor license to be issued to Two Fathoms Brewing of Winona for an event at Featherstone Farms that was issued by Fillmore County. The county has made it clear that it will not issue another such license. The city is responsible for issuing liquor licenses within the city limits.
The village had let its liquor licensing framework go since they had little call for licensing — there are no bars or liquor stores within the city limits.
City Attorney Joseph O’Koren suggested that it was perhaps time to re-establish the ability to issue liquor licenses. If the city were to decide to not do so, the city would need to convert to a dry city. At this time, if a Minnesota city has not been converted to a dry city, it is assumed that they are a wet city.
O’Koren suggested that CRV could look into what Whalan does for liquor licensing since they also have no bars or liquor stores. Their liquor regulations are posted on their website for review.
Councilman Travis Link pointed out the popularity of craft brewing and microbreweries and agreed that it would be good to have a licensing structure in place in the event someone wanted to establish one in the city.
The council gave their consent to the temporary one-day liquor license for the Featherstone event and decided to explore re-establishing a liquor licensing framework for CRV.
Grant Application
The council was presented information that Rebecca Charles of CEDA had left regarding a letter of support for a SMIF Rural Improvement Grant. The grant application is for playground equipment, specifically a merry-go-round, to be installed at the city hall community center location. The grant would provide for an ADA approved merry-go-round and make the playground more inclusive. Charles also left sample pictures for the council to examine.
The council readily approved supporting the letter; Charles planned to submit the grant at once.
Budget Review
In the absence of Clerk Mary Miner, Treasurer Judy Graham presented the budget for review. She noted that recent increases in city expenses and contracts have taken the available funding.Graham encouraged the council to let them know if there was anything else that needed to be included.
Some items that the council mentioned were already budgeted for such as chip sealing and $30,000 for building work. A generator for the lift station was mentioned, but that expense would not come out of this budget.
The budget needs to be finalized at the last city council meeting in September.
Public Hearing
A public hearing has been set for September 3 at 6:45 p.m. at city hall for a proposed construction project planned by Branden Johnson. Planning and Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit informed the council Johnson had made some changes to the variance; 14-foot side walls are now being planned. The Planning and Zoning Board is recommending acceptance of the new version of the variance.
Pettit shared that the Planning and Zoning Board has not been able to get a quorum to meet the last two months. He reported that Eric Vitse has completed some work that had been previously permitted and there had been no movement on other projects at this time.
Public Works/Maintenance
With Trenton Chiglo away at a class, Mayor Dennis Overland presented his report which included a quote of $753.66 for road signs. The council approved the purchase of the signs.
Other items in Chiglo’s report included the fact that all ditches have been mowed and that there were no new updates on Gilbertson Road, which had been damaged in this summer’s flooding.