The Fountain City Council met in regular session on December 4, with all council members present (Ron Reisner, Dave Gudmundson, Chad Wangen, Terry Hanson, and Mayor Jim Schott). City Clerk Rhonda Flattum was absent, so Deb Schott recorded notes of the proceedings. No other citizens were in attendance.
The council returned to a previously addressed topic of truck routes on city streets. In August, the council had decided to remove all truck route signage within the city, due to concerns about Rochester bus traffic, which exceeded the five ton limit. In September, following an outpouring of concerns from citizens, the council rescinded the August decision. At the December meeting, Ron Reisner said, “I’ve had some complaints about it,” and several council members shared their opinions that the streets are thick enough to handle the heavier vehicle traffic. Mayor Schott added, “I think we should go with what we originally decided.” The council agreed.
The council discussed the need to advertise the upcoming city clerk vacancy, which will be created when Rhonda Flattum steps down from her position, effective May 28. The council hopes to have the position posted as soon as possible, so that a replacement can be hired in plenty of time for that person to be fully trained by Flattum. The city hopes to hire one person to fill the position, working the same hours that Flattum has worked. The council chose to advertise the position in the Fillmore County Journal through the holidays, with a closing date for applicants of January 6, so the council can review applications before the January council meeting, and possibly make a hiring decision at that time.
Mayor Schott brought up a concern, stating, “The trees by the Fountain Bank are rotted, so they need to be taken out.” Since the city has contracted with TNT Lawn Service for such matters, bids are not required. The council will ask Public Works head John Hanson to contact TN T to schedule a time to remove the trees and grind the stumps. Regarding John Hanson, Reisner stated, “John’s been doing a bang-up job.”
The council discussed a matter regarding Joan Clement, with Mayor Schott explaining, “She’s got that lift station there, and it’s hooked up to her electricity on her house… and it went bad, and the city needs to reimburse her for her electric bill.” The council unanimously voted to approve the reimbursement.
The 2020 fire department budget was approved, and the council approved a 2020 tobacco license for Beaver Bottoms Saloon. The council tabled consideration of two Conditional Use Permit requests for Beaver Bottoms, with Mayor Schott explaining, “We’re going to skip the zoning thing because Rhonda doesn’t have that ready. We’ll address it next meeting.”
The council approved Resolution #351, setting the city’s tax levy for the 2020 final budget. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m., with the meeting lasting only 10 minutes. Because of the New Year’s Day holiday, the next regular meeting of the Fountain council will be held on Wednesday, January 8. As always, the public is welcomed.
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