The Preston city council held its first meeting of the new year on January 2. The relatively short agenda dealt with routine annual business.
City Administrator Ryan Throckmorton asked council members if they recommended any changes to the list of proposed 2024 appointments to the various boards, commissions and appointed positions. No one asked for any changes. Charles Sparks will continue as mayor pro-tem. The list of appointments was approved as presented.
There currently are two citizen vacancies on boards which will need to be filled by volunteers. There is one vacancy on the Tourism Board and one on the Parks and Recreation Board.
A resolution was adopted to authorize signatures for F&M Community Bank (mayor, mayor pro-tem, city administrator, and deputy city clerk). Two signatures are required on all checks. A second resolution was adopted to authorize the city administrator, deputy city clerk and city secretary to make necessary changes to the Merchants Bank Visa Card account.
The city’s fee schedule was discussed. The schedule was last updated in the beginning of 2022. Staff did not recommend any changes at this time. Throckmorton noted some changes may be recommended at a later date possibly by the Park Board. City Attorney Dwight Luhmann is working on a draft for regulation of ATVs. Changes are made by the adoption of an ordinance. The fee schedule was approved as presented.
Recurring ACH (automatic) payments were reviewed and approved that the city makes throughout the for year.
A list of donations received by the city in 2023 were reviewed and approved.
Approval was granted to pay the annual dues in the amount of $150 for Chamber membership.
The city council meeting was then closed for an annual performance evaluation of the city administrator per Minn. Stat. 13D.05, subd. 3(a). This statute reads “A public body may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of an individual who is subject to its authority.” At the next public meeting the city council will summarize its conclusions regarding the evaluation.
The city council will meet next on Tuesday, January 16 because of Martin Luther King Day on January 15.