At the April 1 Lanesboro City Council meeting, council member Autumn Johnson brought a report released by the National Governors Association to the attention of the rest of the council. The report, titled “Rural Prosperity Through the Arts and Creative Sector,” mentioned Lanesboro several times as a model of how to successfully promote the arts as a community. One of the examples cited was the 2014 resolution that the city council passed which recognized the whole town of Lanesboro as an arts campus. The report has received national attention. It was noted that former President of the Lanesboro Arts Council, John Davis, was invited to speak at an event in Kansas because of the recognition. Johnson encouraged the council to continue to promote the arts within Lanesboro.
Mayor Jason Resseman read a proclamation declaring April 7-13 to be National Volunteer Week in Lanesboro. That week, appreciation will be expressed for the many volunteers in different organizations who help make Lanesboro such a great community.
At the last Lanesboro EDA meeting, Elaine Edwards was appointed as president and Phil Dybing as vice president. A fundraising letter from the Lanesboro Public Library will be sent out in the utility bills for various needs that the library has.
A motion was approved to remove Jeff Sanders and Joseph Goetzke from the list of ambulance volunteers as they have dropped off the service.
The Heritage Preservation Commission will continue to hold monthly meetings to discuss the city’s upcoming 150th anniversary. Mayor Resseman noted that there was a good turnout for the March meeting. “It will be kind of a year-long celebration so we’re looking for lots of ideas,” he said. “We look forward to a nice event.” The meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the community center.
A lot split for Parcel 19.0084.000 and 19.0085.000 was approved by a unanimous vote at the Planning and Zoning meeting. The council also approved the split.
The city’s Comprehensive Plan RFP was approved by the council. An updated community center rental contract was also reviewed and approved. “In light of recent events, we thought the rental agreement needed to be a little bit more comprehensive,” council member Autumn Johnson said. The council had previously received and denied a request from a music group to hold a smoke show during their performance at the community center. It was during that time that the standard contract was found to be needing more detail to ensure that the attendees and the center are fully protected during events.
City Administrator Michele Peterson asked the council if they would like to conduct the annual staff reviews in the same way they were done last year, with two council reps sitting in on the review process. “The format worked really well,” council member Tom Smith commented. The rest of the council agreed, and it was decided to continue the practice.
A permit for the Chamber of Commerce for a Buffalo Bill Days raffle was approved.
A cooperative agreement with the DNR was approved allowing the city to be reimbursed for expenses they incur while renovating the area near the south fishing hole.
The League of Minnesota Cities’ annual conference will be held in Duluth at the end of June this year. Several council members are interested in attending.
The next Lanesboro City Council meeting will be held on May 6 at 6 p.m.
Leave a Reply