The Peterson City Council met an hour before their regular meeting time for their August 13 meeting to allow time for an open discussion about the city’s recent storm response. No citizens appeared to speak during this time, but the council members and city staff each spoke about the response.
Mayor Chris Stenzel felt everything went well; at midnight people were removing trees from the roads and at 6 a.m. volunteers were at the ready and began using chainsaws all over town by 7 a.m.
City Clerk Chris Grindland commented that the city needs to set up a command post, perhaps at city hall. He stressed that the first priority has to be getting the generator running so the sewer doesn’t back up. He suggested that all of the council needs to know where the keys are and how to start the generator.
Grindland and his wife Kristina plan to donate another generator to the city to be used at city hall during such emergencies so people can charge cell phones and the city can keep communications open.
“We were off power for 20 hours; this has never happened before,” Grindland commented. He felt an additional generator was needed at the well house. He also suggested the council set aside money to have available for storm recovery.
Tracy Seelbinder brought up that he felt they needed to have someone posted at city hall to give out information and keep track of citizens’ needs.
Stenzel was concerned that people were out walking around in the dark when there were power lines down. The council urged citizens to remain in their homes in such cases. The council agreed that citizens should text the city’s cell phone to communicate with city hall.
PWD Jeff Rein shared that he felt cleanup went smoothly, but agreed a command center was a necessity.
Gail Boyum shared that she was astounded that Peterson looked so good when she returned a day after the storm.
When Mayor Stenzel began the regular council meeting, he took time to “speak from the heart” about what the community had been through the past two weeks. About 30 citizens (15% of the whole town) jumped in and started clearing the damage to get the community moving again.
Stenzel specifically thanked Joe Jordan for removing the tree from the power line, Todd and Tristen Atkinson for the use of their equipment, Mike Boyum for his time and tractor to move
debris, Matt Atkinson, Chris and Cheston Price for their time and effort to help families with fallen trees, and the city workers who worked endlessly until electricity was restored.
In closing, Stenzel lauded the spirit of Peterson, “We are small but mighty!” He thanked everyone for their time, effort, kindness and heart, “You have shown that when Peterson faces a challenge, Peterson rises together.”
In the public comment portion of the meeting, Loren Rue asked that the council do something about zoning violations and property cleanup in Peterson.
Stenzel replied that with the recent storm damage, they needed to be more lenient, but agreed that the matter should be dealt with. The council discussed it later in the meeting and will be contacting property owners who are out of compliance.
PWD Jeff Rein reported that the valves are up and running at the sewer plant. Next week PWD will be replacing parts of the city well; the well will be down for a couple hours at that time.
Rein informed the council that Peterson does not qualify for a grant for a generator, but he had learned of a wellhead protection program that would share costs 50-50. Justin Simon asked what the ballpark figure might be for a generator. Rein responded with a ballpark estimate of $20,000.
Rein thanked Aasum Electric of Mabel for all their help with the electrical system in Peterson after the storm as well as the county employees for all their help.
New Business
In new business, the council:
- Accepted Violet Richardson’s resignation as city clerk;
- Approved Chris Grindland as city clerk and and public works employee; Grindland is now a full-time employee;
- Raised the trash rates from $20 to $22 a month in order to cover expenses;
- Considered the purchase of a skid loader; the cost was $47,000; after discussion, the council tabled this until Gail Boyum can check into any available grants for which the city could apply;
- Set up a $10,000 Emergency Fund with the possibility of adding to it in the future;
- Transferred $18,875 to the sewer fund for bond payment;
- Created a Crisis Committee; Gail Boyum and Tracy Seelbinder volunteered to serve on it and brainstorm a crisis plan to share with the council; Stenzel felt that the mayor should be the individual at the command center in a crisis.