Lanesboro Council Hears Complaints About Civil Siren

At the opening of the February 3 Lanesboro City Council meeting, Mayor Alicia Pearson asked for input from the rest of the council on the addition of a number of items to the agenda. She recommended that a positive news report, updates on the Highway 250 project, and updates on the search for an EDA director be added as standing agenda items. The rest of the council did not feel those items would be a good use of their time during council meetings and so they were not added to the agenda. Mayor Pearson also asked that a discussion on a bridge building meeting between the council and library board be added to the agenda as well as a discussion on siren safety postings. Both of those items were added to the new business portion of the meeting.

Lanesboro resident Phil Dybing addressed the council about the civil siren and noted that the council, during its discussion of the matter at last month’s meeting, did not touch on the health and safety issues involved in his request to move the siren to another location. He spoke with a representative from FEMA who confirmed that anything over 123 decibels is harmful. Dybing also read a portion of the manual for the siren which stated that personnel should not be exposed to a level above 123 decibels as it can cause hearing damage. Dybing stated that the volume of the siren is well over that amount. “Bottom line, this is a serious issue,” Dybing said, “Do not take it lightly.” Several other residents who live near the siren also spoke out against its location due to the noise.

Coffee Street resident Kate O’Neary spoke to the council about a recent incident on her property in which she believes a drunk driver drove through her fence and destroyed it. She complained that the police would not include it in their report as they said the evidence was circumstantial.

The consent agenda was approved and included the accounts payable, a resignation from library board member Jon Buggs, the appointment of Curtis Hanson to the Lanesboro Fire Department, the appointment of Jon Kettner as training officer for the fire department, and a request from the Lanesboro Area Chamber of Commerce for the city to be the fiscal agent for a grant application. The 2025 lodging licenses were renewed, and four temporary liquor licenses for Lanesboro Arts and one for the LACF were approved. Donations to the library and fire department were accepted.

Jerod Wagner gave a report on the wastewater treatment plant. He believes that the issue causing the high CBOD test results has finally been identified, allowing the public utilities employees to address it and lower the levels. He and Mitchell plan to write a letter to the MPCA explaining the high test results. A $250,000 grant was received from Frontier Energy which will be used for a variety of projects.

Library Director Tara Johnson said that the Lanesboro school seventh, eighth, and ninth graders were able to visit the library to learn more about it. The Friends of the Library helped with that event and 71 library cards were renewed or created for the students. A program teaching crochet was well attended and there are requests to hold another one. Seventy-five people have filled out the library survey and the board will be reviewing the results at their next meeting.

Council member Mindy Albrecht-Benson reported that the Heritage Preservation Commission is looking into applying for a grant to help with the cabin restoration in Sylvan Park.

At the January meeting, Mayor Pearson had requested the possibility of holding regular town hall meetings. Walbridge reached out to surrounding cities for more information, and none of them hold that type of meeting nor do they recommend doing so. The council tabled the matter indefinitely.

Also at the January meeting, Mayor Pearson had asked about the possibility of forming a committee for the Highway 250 project. City engineer Brian Malm said that as the engineers are still in the process of developing the public involvement plan with meetings and hearings for the project, it would be best to hold off on deciding about a committee. He noted that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes and that regular updates would be very mundane.

In the past, Fillmore County has hosted medication drop-off days, but have moved away from that model as it only provided minimum time frames to do so. Sergeant Jesse Grabau reached out to the City of Lanesboro to request that a community medication drop box be installed in the lobby of the city office. There would be no cost to the city and the Preston Police Department would have the responsibility of retrieving the medication from the box and transporting it for safe disposal. The council approved the request.

The council discussed a proposed increase to the fire department pension. The matter was tabled to ensure that all procedural aspects of the request have been followed first.

A $20,000 grant was received last fall to refresh the city’s comprehensive plan. Three proposals were submitted for the council to review, and representatives from each of the three organizations were present at the meeting via Zoom. After discussion and questions for each of the representatives, the council decided to table their decision for further review.

The council approved a motion to accept letters of interest for Jon Buggs’ spot on the library board, which will then be forwarded to the board for consideration.

The council discussed the possibility of having a team-building time. Council member Chase Bakke expressed concern that doing so could violate open meeting laws and create issues with transparency for the public. A motion to table the matter to allow City Administrator Mitchell Walbridge time to reach out the League of Minnesota Cities was approved. Mayor Pearson’s suggestion for a bridge building meeting between the council and library board was also tabled.

Resolution 2025-18 accepting donations in the amount of $94,000 to the Lanesboro Fire Department was approved. The funds came from the gambling proceeds and will be used for equipment.

Mayor Pearson noted that there should be warning signs posted on the civil siren, but they are not there. Walbridge will find more information on the required signage and update the council at the next meeting.