Seven members of Boy Scout Troop 67 were present at the February 4 Lanesboro City Council meeting to learn more about how local government works and what roles, rights, and responsibilities youth have in the community. Mayor Jason Resseman explained the role of the mayor and council members to the troop and encouraged them to take active roles in the community of Lanesboro and surrounding communities.
The 2018 audit agreement from Smith Schafer was approved along with the 2019 Fillmore County ambulance subsidy contracts. Heidi Dybing resigned from the Lanesboro Public Library board and Phil Holtegaard and Sarah Pieper were appointed to the library board. Steve Snyder was appointed to the Planning and Zoning committee.
It was noted that there was an error on the 2019 meeting schedule. The Park Board meeting for February will actually be held on February 26.
Police Chief Matt Schultz and Sergeant Blaise Sass presented the end-of-the-year report for the department to the council along with a report for the month of January. Recently, the police department has purchased a new squad car and replaced the computers in their office.
Chief Schultz expects to lose two part-time deputies this year and will be adjusting staff accordingly. A suspect is in custody for the string of burglaries that occurred in Lanesboro last year.
“2018 was really a productive year for the chamber and, as far as I’m concerned, the town,” Lanesboro Chamber of Commerce member Don Lukkason said in his report to the council. He informed the council that Andrzej Zalasinksi has been hired as the new executive director for the chamber. “We cordially invite your new director to attend our council meetings if and when he can. Ideally, that would be every month,” Mayor Resseman said. “We appreciate the input of the Chamber.”
Ambulance director Deane Benson presented three applications to the council for review from community members interested in becoming EMTs. The council approved all three applicants. The Lanesboro Ambulance service will be holding a pancake breakfast on March 10. Benson also noted that Scheel’s is willing to donate some funds for warm weather gear to the crew. He is waiting to hear how much before making any decisions.
City Administrator Michele Peterson asked the council to review a sample policy that would specify a threshold for her to spend on expenses that come up during the month instead of having to wait for a city council meeting for approval. “It seems like going forward, this would be a good thing to have,” council member Bridget Harvey noted. The rest of the council concurred. The matter was tabled until the March meeting to give the council time to do more research and consideration on the proposed policy.
A music event to be held at the community center on March 30 was approved by the Park Board. The band asked the council to grant them permission to turn off the fire alarm system so they can include a smoke show during the concert. They suggested that they be allowed to hire two firemen to be present during the event to monitor the situation while the
alarms are turned off. That suggestion was turned down as the council felt that it would leave too much room for human error. The council denied the request to turn off the alarms due to safety and liability issues.
With the melting snow over the last week, the roof and ceiling in the water treatment plant have begun leaking significantly. The water is dripping out of the light fixtures and onto the mechanical and electrical equipment. It is believed that something blew out of the roof during the recent high winds which allowed the melting snow to drip into the insulation and leak into the building. The council granted Peterson permission to move forward with working with the original contractor and the city’s insurance company to resolve the situation.
A meeting with the Heritage Preservation Commission will be held on February 20 at 7 p.m. to discuss the upcoming 150th anniversary celebration of Lanesboro. Members of the community of Lanesboro are encouraged to attend the meeting as well.
The open portion of the meeting was closed to discuss staff performance reviews.
The next Lanesboro City Council meeting will be held on March 4 at 6 p.m.