The December 2 Lanesboro City Council meeting opened with the annual Truth in Taxation public hearing. There were no questions or comments.
Four Lanesboro residents spoke about the library board during the public comments portion of the meeting. Anna Loney said that she felt the lines of communication were still blurred, even after the mediated joint meeting between the city council and the library board. “We’re not there yet,” she said.
Peter Torkelson distributed a side-by-side comparison of the proposed ordinance regarding the library board with the state statute and noted that he found several discrepancies.
Stacy Schultz stated, “One thing I feel is missing is SELCO at the table.” She encouraged the council to reach out to Krista Ross at SELCO for help on how to navigate the issues at hand.
Sarah Pieper said that she was confused by the fact that the city council wanted to change the library board from a seven-member board to only five. “We can follow open meeting laws with seven and can accomplish more,” she said.
The consent agenda was approved and included the accounts payable, the depot building lease renewal with the DNR, a grant acceptance from Taylor Family Farms Foundation for emergency services, resolutions 2024-37, 38, and 39 accepting donations to the Lanesboro library, the Legion Lights, and the EDA; a Minnesota sales tax agreement, a gambling permit for the gun club, and resignations from fire department member David Haugen and park board member Alex Gehrig. Thanks were extended to Haugen and Gehrig for their time spent serving the community.
The EDA received a $20,000 grant from SMIF to support entrepreneurs in Lanesboro and a $6,000 grant for an environmental study for housing development. The EDA meetings will be moved from 10:30 to 10:45 to accommodate members’ schedules.
The new truck chassis for the fire department should be ready by the first quarter of 2025. The department received a $12,000 grant from Taylor Family Farms Foundation as well as a $5,000 grant from the DNR. Haugen has retired from the department after serving for 26 ½ years and will be missed. Applications, which are available at city hall, are being accepted to fill his spot, with preference being given to those who are available for daytime calls.
Mike Bubany updated the council on the financing bond issuance for the TH250 project. At the November meeting, the council had authorized Bubany to move forward with issuing bonds with certain stipulations. The next step was to begin having discussion with bond purchasers which went well. A pricing call took place after that, but the sales did not go as well and it took nearly three order periods to achieve the final deal. The council approved a motion to accept the bonding bill.
City Administrator Mitchell Walbridge was able to request information on the original sound study done for the placement of the civil defense siren, but unfortunately did not receive it until shortly before the meeting so the council tabled the matter.
The council reviewed the proposed 2025 CEDA contract. A 5% increase would bring the total cost to $15,962 for 208 service hours. Walbridge recommended exploring some other options for staffing structure before approving the contract. The council tabled the contract.
A street closure application for the 2025 Filthy Fifty bike race was reviewed. Council member Joe Goetzke met with a number of downtown business owners to discuss their thoughts on the race. Despite a number of concerns raised, the general consensus was that the race is a good thing for Lanesboro. Goetzke recommended that the business owners work with the event organizers to address their concerns. Council member Chase Bakke asked why Main Street needs to be closed for 10 hours since for at least part of that time, most of the crowds will be gone for the race. He also felt that the organizers should have attended the meeting to address safety concerns and answer questions. “That’s a red flag for me,” he said. Mayor Jason Resseman said that he had been in favor of the Filthy Fifty race since its inception and it has been wonderful for Lanesboro, but that it has been a challenge to work with the event organizer. He made a motion to approve the application as a sign of good faith. The motion was approved with Bakke voting against.
The 2025 final budget and tax levy were approved. The preliminary levy increase had been set at 9.9%, but after all the department budgets had been turned in, the levy was able to be reduced down to a 5.1% increase.
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