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The Caledonia City Council met in regular session Monday, May 23, from 6-7:55 p.m. at city hall. Mayor DeWayne “Tank” Schroeder led the council and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council members in attendance included Mayor DeWayne (Tank) Schroeder, Robert “Bob” Klug, Amanda Ninneman, David Fitzpatrick, and Brad Rykhus.
The minutes from the May 9 regular city council meeting, a $100,136.71 payment to Wapasha Construction Co. for work related to well house no. 8, hiring Owen Denstad and Grace Privet as lifeguards for the upcoming season at the Caledonia Aquatic Center, and hiring Storm Davis and Gabe Morey as part-time firefighters for the Caledonia Fire Department were all approved.
Matt Mohs, principal engineer with Bolton & Menk, Inc. out of Rochester presented the council with a draft of the proposed assessment policy that is short and sweet. The policy crafted by city staff and Mohs is a combination of several assessment policies from cities of comparable size, and input from the new city clerk/administrator, Jake Dickson, and abides by Minnesota state statues. Mohs highlighted the maximum term of assessment is 15 years and the committee recommends that the interest is one point higher than the bond net effective rate or if bonds are not issued, the interest rate is one point higher than the interest rate if the city had borrowed the funds. The staff recommends a cost-share of 75% city and 25% property owner of all costs attributed to the project. The distribution of assessments “gives a little bit of a break to the residents versus business or commercial property owners,” stressed Mohs. “At the end of the day the goal is to be fair. The State of Minnesota has a program in place to do it equitable.” The assessment was approved with one change.
The council approved the revised task order agreement submitted by Bolton & Menk, Inc. for the S. Marshall St. and E. Grove St. project.
The council unanimously approved the revised contract with Richard’s Sanitation for residential solid waste collection services. Mann mentioned that the totes will be delivered to residents the last two weeks of July with an effective day of August 1. The city plans to send out information including where to place the totes, and a map in the July 1 bills. The monthly combined garbage and recycling fee is $15.83; separately the fees are $8.67 for garbage and $7.15 for recycling. The contract permits Richard’s Sanitation, to “temporarily collect a surcharge on the service fee when the Minnesota average for diesel fuel prices exceeds $4.00/gallon.” The contract allows for a 2% to 5% increase in surcharge depending on the price of fuel.
Director Klug confirmed that the intergovernmental agreement with Caledonia Township to repair a 300 foot section of Green Acres Drive did not include sealcoating. Klug stated that he has been impressed with how well it is holding up, but he should not be surprised because they built it like a 10-ton road.”
Houston County Commissioner Bob Burns and Houston County Engineer Brian Pogodzinski attended the city council meeting to answer any questions regarding the proposed encroachment agreement on East Washington Street and the new parking lot design submitted by the county. The project will not happen until 2023, giving the city and county times to finalize all the details regarding utilities, light poles, and the costs. The council approved the encroachment agreement between the city and county and the proposed parking lot design.
The city received six applications for the position of custodian. Two of the applicants completed the application process and were interviewed by the personnel committee. The city accepted the committee’s recommendation to hire Dan Muenkel as custodian.
The next regularly scheduled Caledonia City Council meeting is on Monday, June 13, at 6 p.m., at Caledonia City Hall, 231 E. Main Street, Caledonia. The meeting is open to the public.