The Harmony City Council met on September 14 with all council members present in person, except for Tony Webber who joined the meeting via telephone.
Jay Jermier from Minnowa Construction addressed the council about the sewer line issues on Wickett Drive NW. At a June 17 special meeting, the council opened bids for the Dairyland Power Utility extension and accepted a bid from Generation X. Unfortunately, the company will be unable to get enough depth to do the sewer improvements on Wickett Drive. The city than sent a letter to Minnowa Construction explaining the project changes. Jermier was concerned about the high cost for the project as Minnowa will now need to do it themselves to fix the issues with the sewer freezing. They agreed to pay 50% of the total cost with the city paying the other half. Jermier estimated that the project will cost around $45,000. “We’ll pay up to 50% of that,” he said. “We have to work together.” Council member Jesse Grabau questioned how Jermier arrived at that amount. “Is that a realistic price tag with you guys doing a lot of the work on your own property?” Grabau asked, reminding Jermier that fixing the sewer issues would benefit both parties. Jermier maintained that it was a fair price as the employees working on it would still need to be paid at their regular rate. City Engineer Brett Grabau noted that the city was being asked to pay for 50% of the cost on a project in which they have no say over the contractor. The council agreed to have the Utility Committee discuss the matter further.
Harmony residents Sandy Tollefsrud and Lynette Fisher asked the council to consider vacating an easement for a potential road that goes between their properties. Mayor Steve Donney asked that they and other surrounding property owners submit letters of support for the vacating of the easement so the city can move forward with discussions about it.
The council discussed donations to SMIF. In the past, the city has donated $1,000 a year. A motion was approved to donate $1,000 for 2021 and the same amount for 2022.
The council reviewed the preliminary 2022 budget and adopted Resolution 21-16 certifying the proposed property tax levy at a 3.7% increase. The total amount of the levy comes to $804,070. It was noted that the increase should only minimally impact taxpayers, if at all as the tax base in Harmony has increased.
Mike Bubany from David Drown Associates reviewed the establishment of a TIF district for Dairyland Energy with the council. The city is paying a total of $315,000 for the project, but when the TIF runs out, that property tax will go towards payments for that amount which means that overall, the project will balance itself out financially for the city. However, in the meantime, Harmony needs to come up with the $315,000. Chris Giesen with the Harmony EDA found a loan program with 0% interest through MiEnergy, but there would be some attorney costs involved. Bubany suggested that the city finance the project primarily through MiEnergy and use First Southeast Bank of Harmony as the secondary source. The council approved the application for the loan from MiEnergy.
City Administrator Devin Swanberg asked for and was given permission from the council to spend up to $5,000 on Christmas lights for the new light poles on Main Street.
Swanberg asked the council how they would like to sell the city’s old fire truck, old squad car, tan van, and at some point, a city maintenance truck. The council agreed to sell the squad car through Enterprise and accept sealed bids for the other vehicles.
A public hearing was held to discuss the creation of a TIF district at Industrial Park for a commercial property being purchased by Jeff O’Connor. Harmony has a history of using TIF to offset costs for lot purchases. “It’s a very well-established process that we have,” Giesen explained. “The reason we do this, is if we don’t assist the project, it might not happen or it might happen somewhere else,” Bubany explained. “It benefits everyone.” However, the price of the property has recently increased to $65,000. In light of that, the EDA struck a deal with O’Connor to sell the property to him at $65,000 minus the TIF amount which brings his total cost down to $19,000. The EDA recommended that the council approve the sale and adopt Resolution 21-17 approving the establishment of the TIF district. There were no public comments on the public hearing. The council approved Resolution 21-17 and the development agreement.
The Park Board reported that the splash pad project is on track to proceed in the spring of 2022.
The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on October 12 at 7 p.m.
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