On March 12, the city of Peterson unanimously approved the hire of Jeff Rein as Public Works director following the resignation of former Director Tim Hallum in late February. Rein has seven years of experience in the role having previously worked for the city of Mabel. While he no longer has his water license, he will begin the process of regaining it.
“He is well certified and experienced,” said Mayor Chris Stenzel. “We’re very lucky Jeff is available. We’re very impressed.”
Part-time Public Works employee Chris Grindland also recently secured his Class C sewer license and was congratulated by the council.
“That’s a big accomplishment, so thank you for your time and effort. I know it’s not easy. We appreciate that,” said Stenzel. “You’re locked in for 20 years,” he jokingly added.
The council also discussed fees. While it’s too late to adjust it this year, the city will take up consideration of rental fees for the ball field at the city park. One group has already asked for continued usage of the baseball/softball field on Monday nights. The city is checking in to see if Rushford-Peterson Schools intends to use the fields again and what their schedule will be.
Public Works drags the field at least once a week or before games. There was no comparison data offered for other municipalities that rent their fields.
“It’s a way for people to come to Peterson,” pointed out Councilor Gail Boyum.
“I’m not totally on board with renting, but organized events… if we’re taking time out of our day to maintain it. It would just be interesting to know how these new leagues are organizing,” added Councilor Justin Simon.
“I just know, coming from Rochester, teams paid a lot of money for Park and Rec,” responded Stenzel. “We’re using our equipment and our personnel.” He suggested the city could charge $25 a night.
“I know they’re probably putting money in together. I’m cool with organized leagues, because they’re going in there all the time, but someone at the campground, of course they’re not going to get rented. It’s free use. Some could definitely take advantage of that since they can’t play other places because there’s normal sports seasons going on,” added Simon.
“If they want to rent the fields for the weekend, we should have a fee figured out,” said Stenzel. “I just want to start you guys thinking about it.”
“My only fear would be if we charge and other ballfields don’t, then we’re losing business that comes to the legion afterwards,” stated Councilor Kristina Grindland. “It would just have to be offset and we’d have to see if other towns started charging, did they lose that population of people. It’s worth looking into. I would rather not send people away if it would deter them from coming.” She further suggested the city encourage donations for the use of the field.
“No, I don’t want to lose anybody or anything like that. I just want to look at ways we can recoup a little bit of our cost,” replied Stenzel.
Public Works’ Grindland noted he schedules in dragging the field at least once a week to keep the weeds down. “It’s alright for us to do. It’s part of our normal duties.”
“It’s great it’s getting used. We love that,” added Stenzel. The council will take up the discussion again at the start of next year.
The city is expecting some additions to its normal historic bandstand event usage this year. Normally used in July and August for its music series, it’ll be used for a special three-act musical play titled “The Shop.” Put on by a new theatrical group, the play will be held on Friday, May 23.
The group will come in and erect a large 100-foot by 30-foot canopy and bleachers for the audience for the evening. It will run three nights in total – first in Lanesboro at the St. Mane Theatre, then Peterson, and lastly in Rushford. It is free to the public. The group is making a donation to the fundraising group Friends of Peterson for use of the area.
“The musicians are mainly out of the cities and one of the people played with Prince at Paisley Park and at First Avenue. It should be an interesting and lovely group, a really fun group,” enthused Boyum. “It’s been described to me and I just think it’ll be really great.”
Boyum went on to note that the funding the city normally applies for and receives for their regular summer music series isn’t available this year.
“This group wants to do this,” she added. “It’s a start for them.”
In other news, Boyum asked that the topic of Local Government Aid be added to the agenda to discuss briefly how much the city receives and what it’s based on. It is included in the city’s annual budget planning.
“It’s a general purpose aid to be used for any lawful expenditure,” explained Boyum. “It’s also intended to be used for property tax relief. The Department of Revenue certifies LGA for cities based on current statutes. It can change any year.”
Peterson will receive $52,509 in 2025. Nine percent of the funding will come this month. The remaining amount is split in payments received in July and October.
Lastly, the council approved the donation of $5 per property decorated for the holiday season. There were 65 buildings decorated last December so the city will donate $325 to the local food shelf. That amount is being matched this year by, if given in March, by an anonymous donor.
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