The Wednesday, October 11 Peterson Council meeting was a rapid fire 17-minute review of a bulk of old business. Included was brief discussion of the reclamation and repair of Park Street and River Street, purchase of a city truck, and the 2018 budget. Mayor Tim Hallum suggested the council wait until the first of the year to discuss the truck and it was determined that budget talks would continue at the November meeting when full council was in attendance. Councilor Gail Boyum was absent from the meeting.
The majority of conversation from the meeting was regarding utilities. In old business, the city remains frustrated with the number of parcels with past due balances. In 2016, the city began a process to add an interest rate to balances past 30 days due. In addition, a policy was made that allowed the city to certify unpaid utilities to a property’s taxes at the end of the year. Unpaid balances from renters are ultimately the responsibility of the property owner. The hope was that property owners would be spurred to paying the bills on a timely manner, rather than having the interest and amounts added to tax rolls.
“This is our second year of doing this. It doesn’t really look like it’s helped,” said Hallum. “We’ve talked about going back to doing disconnects. Moving forward, we’re going to have to look at spring disconnects, because this is out of control.”
Last month, Clerk Chris Grindland presented documentation about 14 parcels past 30 days. The collective amount past due was $10,139. New data from the agenda shows 18 parcels now past 30 days due. The collective amount has increased to $14,635.
After October 20, unpaid balances past 30 days and documentation of the parcels will be compiled. At the November meeting, the council will vote on whether to certify the amounts to the county. If it passes, the information will be submitted to Fillmore County November 9. The fee to certify the amount to the county will be applied to each property to cover time and required paperwork. The city has increased that amount to $50 per parcel.
Councilor Loren Rue suggested that the council could review the past due interest rate in January to consider an increase. “It might help move some people,” said Rue.
“We really have to take a look at this,” said Hallum. “$14,000 is a lot of dollars out of our general fund.”
“It’s not a loss, but it definitely is a lag,” added Rue.
The Rushford-Peterson School District has requested a reduced sewer and water utility rate since it is no longer occupying the former R-P Middle School on Park Street. The district currently pays $217 per month for sewer service and $393 per month for water.
Councilor Rue questioned whether the district was looking to have service shut down or just see the rate reduced due to occupancy. According to the phone call information from Superintendent Chuck Ehler to Clerk Grindland, the district is only looking for reduction due to occupancy.
“What gets reduced here gets transferred onto businesses and citizens,” cautioned Hallum. “We need to look at the whole picture before we drop anything.”
Rue suggested the city study the information and take a look at the impact. He also noted other locations in town that are in a similar position, remaining the owner of a property, but continuing to pay full rates despite being unoccupied.
Grindland also noted the city would need to monitor the sewer system to see how it performs without influx from the building. “Rates might have to be increased, just based on how it’s performing,” he noted.
In other news, a note of good information for the city came via a state Lead/Copper Tap Water Monitoring Report. Five random residences were tested for levels. According to the report, results indicated Peterson was in the 90 percentile level. This indicates the water system has not exceeded the action level for lead or copper.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is Wednesday, November 8, at 6 p.m., at city hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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