Harmony resident disputes citation

The August 16 Harmony city council meeting opened with a public hearing on vacating a portion of 2nd Ave SW. Roxanne Johnson spoke on behalf of property owner Mavis Brunsvold. Brunsvold and all other property owners for the area in question have signed the petition to vacate and are in favor of it. The public hearing was closed.

The consent agenda was approved and included the minutes of the last meeting, the claims and July checks, the cash in the CD, and cash balances.

Resolution 22-12 vacating a portion of 2nd Ave SW was adopted.

Harmony resident Gary Ehler addressed the council regarding a citation he received on July 7 for blowing grass clippings into the street while mowing. He stated that he believes he is being harassed by a city employee. “This has been going on for two years,” he said. “Every time I turn around, there’s an issue with him.” City Administrator Devin Swanberg noted that there was no complaint received about the grass clippings from a city employee, but that the citation came from an email that Swanberg had sent out to law enforcement asking them to keep their eyes open for grass clippings being blown into the street so they could educate citizens and issue citations when necessary. Ehler said that he was still mowing when he received the citation and that he planned to clean up the grass clippings when he was finished. Mayor Steve Donney stated that he had spoken with the police officer who had issued the citation and was told that he had no intention of writing a citation, but that Ehler’s attitude and comments led him to do so. Ehler disputed that, claiming that the citation was written out before he even turned off his lawn mower. Mayor Donney said that while he didn’t know what exactly had transpired, he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt as Ehler mows quite a few lawns in Harmony and always cleans up the street afterwords. “I think it’s important to give people the opportunity to blow the grass back out of the street when finished,” he said. A motion was passed to dismiss the citation.

Ambulance Director Sam Grabau asked the council to consider approving on-call pay of $1.50 an hour for the ambulance service, pointing out that Harmony is one of the last in the area to begin offering it. “With on-call pay implementation, we hope to not only retain the staff we have, but also use it as a recruitment tool,” she said. She would like to start right away for the August payroll. The ambulance service is self-sustaining so the on-call pay would not affect the city budget at all. Council member Steve Sagen was unsure about the change, stating that, as it has always been a volunteer service, having an hourly pay rate would make it seem more like hiring actual employees. Mayor Donney explained that being a volunteer on the ambulance crew is a big commitment as they are unable to leave town or be more than five minutes away from the ambulance shed for the entire time they’re on call. “It’s a lot to ask,” he said, adding that with the current pay system, volunteers only get paid for going on calls. That means that if there’s no ambulance runs while someone is on call, they do not receive any payment for their time. The on-call pay rate was approved with Mayor Donney and Domingo Kingsley abstaining due to a conflict of interest.

Fire Chief Rod Johnson informed the council that he will be stepping down from his position at the end of 2022 after serving as the fire chief for 10 years. He also asked the council to increase the hourly run pay from $11 per man hour to $15. He would also like to increase the chief pay from $1,000 to $1,500, the assistant chief pay and secretary pay from $350 to $500, the training officer pay from $200 to $350, and the Civil Defense Director from $600 to $800. “We have not had a raise in pay for around 12-13 years,” he said. Sagen asked where the money would come from and Swanberg said that it would come from the fire funds which are supplied by the fees from surrounding communities that the fire department serves and levies. A motion approving the increased pay starting January 1, 2023, was approved with Kyle Scheevel abstaining.

The council reviewed a bill from Stantec for the splash pad. Last year, the MPCA told the city that the water could run off with no requirements, but this year, the city was informed that a geological study will be required. Swanberg noted that this was an unforeseen cost that no one could have seen coming as the MPCA decided to change its requirements halfway through the project. As it is an unbudgeted item, he asked the council where the money should come from to pay the bill. Mayor Donney said that the unexpected cost was unfortunate, but as the project has come so far already, it needs to be finished. “I think it’s going to be great for the city and the area,” he said. A motion to pay the $14,278.74 geological study bill from the Don Wilken fund was approved. Chris Johnson gave an update about the splash pad to the council. The dry deck and footing for all apparatuses are complete and now they’re waiting for the plumbing to be installed. “I think it’s going to be a great addition to the city,” he said, “Thank you for your support.”

Chamber Board member Lisa Miller asked if the city would allow the Chamber to purchase garlands and lights for the new lampposts on Main Avenue. Last year, they were told that the city would prefer not to put decorations on the lampposts for fear of damage. “I just think it would make our town look a lot nicer at night when people drive through. It really looked dismal last year,” she said, noting that the lampposts seem to be pretty sturdy and rugged. The Chamber would pay for the decorations as long as the city employees help to put them up and take them down. A motion agreeing to that was approved.

The flow meter on one of the city wells is not working correctly and needs to be replaced. A quote for a new one in the amount of $8,795 was approved.

Three EDA revolving loan requests were approved for Everybody Eats, a new restaurant opening in late September, On the Crunchy Side for their tuckpointing project, and Vita Partnership for replacing the wood chips on the playground at Harmony Kids.

The EDA is in the process of foreclosing on the Tin, Rust, and Harmony loan. They decided to bid at the upcoming sheriff’s auction in order to protect the EDA’s interest in the foreclosed loan. The city council approved a motion for the EDA to not exceed $24,000 in the auction.

Swanberg asked if two of the council members would be interested in serving on the comprehensive planning committee. Kingsley agreed to do it as did Mayor Donney.

The Park Board chose Cardinal Park to be the name for the new park behind the ball fields. They thanked the Lions for their donations to that park.

The Harmony library is in the process of fixing up their activity room.

The Harmony Fire Department would like to sell their 12-foot enclosed trailer as they no longer use it. The money will be used to purchase a 20-foot stationary enclosed trailer for storing the equipment for the fireworks. A motion to sell the trailer via sealed bids was approved.

The next Harmony City Council meeting will be held on September 13 at 7 p.m.