The Mabel City Council unanimously agreed during the council’s March 12 meeting to hold its annual spring cleanup day on Saturday, May 10. The event will run from 8 a.m. to noon at the wastewater treatment plant.
Acting Mayor Kirsten Wyffels called the meeting to order at 6 p.m.
Council members in attendance included council members Kelly Sand, Valerie Arnold, Tina Bakke and Kirsten Wyffels. Mayor Adam Wilder was absent.
The cleanup day prices are as follows: $20 for electronics, $20 for mattresses, and $15 for a truckload and $25 for a trailer load.
City Clerk Karen Larson announced that Mabel’s tornado drill day is scheduled for April 10. The siren will sound at 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
M-C Superintendent Gary Kuphal shared information on the upcoming $8.94 million bond referendum. Voting takes place on April 8. Kuphal reviewed the six projects that will be funded by the bond: adding air conditioning to the high school gym and the rest of the school, building a new career and technical education (CTE) area, renovating identified classrooms, expanding the school lobby, replacing roof sections and repairing tuckpointing, and updating locker rooms. There will be a community meeting at 6 p.m. on March 18 at the M-C school, where Kuphal will give an in-depth presentation and be available to answer questions. In conclusion, Kuphal emphasized that he was not there to tell anyone how to vote, but is hoping that they will vote as an informed person.
The minutes from the February 11 meeting and financial reports were approved as presented.
Under old business, Public Works Director Bob Mierau informed the council that work at the EMS building due to the lightning strike will be completed by next month and then the city will settle with the insurance company. City Clerk Karen Larson said that the city received the claim check for the water damage at the community center, the work has been done, and it looks nice.
In other business, the council:
• Accepted the resignation of fireman Jeff Rein, effective March 1.
• Approved the hiring of Jacob Rogich and David Palmer to fill two of the three vacancies at the fire department.
• Approved the updated Fillmore County Cannabinoid and Hemp Ordinance.
• Approved Richard’s Sanitation contract with a 3% price increases for 2025 effective March 1. The 2025 prices effective March 1 are: small tote – $16.22, medium tote – $17.91, large tote – $19.61, and only the recycling tote – $4.56 per month. Larson reminded the council that the city does not mark up the price.
• Approved the $6,000 2025 Ambulance Subsidy contract with Fillmore County.
• Approved switching to Midwest EMS Billing LLC for the city’s ambulance billing company effective April 1. The motion is contingent on a meeting with Midwest EMS Billing later in March.
• Appointed Mitch Aasum of Aasum Electric LLC to the Economic Development Authority (EDA) board. It was noted that there is still one vacancy on the board.
The council unanimously accepted the following three recommendations from Miarau:
• Accept the trade-in quote from Midwest Machinery Co for the city’s skid steer/track loader for a 2024 John Deere 318G skid steer for a balance of $4,500.
• Accept the $9,000 Star Energy Cost of Service Study quote.
• Renew the software maintenance program with ESRI at a total cost of $1,035.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m.
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