Stevie Ersland from Kasson raffled off a quilt she had made to raise funds for a future veterans home in Preston. She attended the October 7 meeting of the Preston City Council to donate the proceeds in the amount of $2,500 to the city.
Former Dairy and Farm site
City Administrator Joe Hoffman explained Scheevel and Sons have nearly completed their work at the former Dairy and Farm site. Scheevel and Sons have offered a quote in the amount of $9,510 to remove the foundation for the chemical building and for leveling the site. The quote includes the removal and disposal of the remaining floor and foundations for the fertilizer and chemical buildings and then filling the site to grade. There currently is a hole on site, which has water in it. Spreading road rock on the leveled site is not included in the quote. Scheevel will do the work this fall if weather permits.
The city has a purchase agreement with Dairy and Farm to purchase the site. Discussion centered on whether to purchase the property before the work. City Attorney Dwight Luhmann said they first have to get confirmation that the site is clean, that all Phase II work is done. He suggested they then could proceed with the purchase and coordinate the work on site.
Councilman Robert Maust questioned whether they should do work on the property before it transfers. Hoffman asked if the city should purchase the property with the hole open? Mayor Kurt Reicks suggested that they increase the purchase price by $9,510 and have Dairy and Farm pay Scheevel to remove the foundations and level the site.
The council voted to amend the purchase agreement to include another $9,510 for this project in the purchase price, so the city can purchase the property after work has been done and a leveled site is provided. This offer will now have to go to the Dairy and Farm board for their consideration.
Other business in brief
•At the September 3 council meeting the council approved the sale of a 10-foot by 22-foot piece of city owned parking lot to the owners of the Sweet Shop and Sandwich Shoppe so a walk-in freezer could be installed at the rear of the building.
Planning and Zoning has held public hearings to consider a rezoning request from R-3 (Multiple Family Residential) to B-3 (General Business) and a variance request to allow a rear setback of one foot (city code requires a rear setback of 20 feet). P and Z recommended approval of the zoning change and the variance.
Diane Ruud, Ruud Popcorn Stand, expressed concern over possible noise from the freezer compressor. Mike Eickhoff said the walls around the freezer should force any noise from the compressor upwards. He expects it to be comparable to noise from the current air conditioner at the rear of the building. Ruud asked what happens if it is really loud. Eickhoff assured her if it is loud he will do something to bring the noise down to a reasonable level.
The council approved both the rezoning request and the variance request.
•Andy Bisek requested the removal of a 15 minute parking zone in front of his business, Trout City Brewing, at 128 St. Anthony St. S. The council directed staff to remove the sign, as an ordinance creating the parking zone was not found.
•Councilman Charles Sparks’ training for the Local Board of Appeal and Equalization has expired. Councilwoman Holly Zuck’s training is still valid until July 1, 2020. Hoffman recommended that another member complete the training. Reicks asked if it was important to have a Local Board of Appeal and Equalization. Hoffman said he would look into it. No action was taken.
•The city’s franchise agreement with Mediacom expired in 2019. Mediacom has prepared a draft agreement that is unchanged from the previous 15 year franchise agreement. Councilman Robert Maust wanted to know if the city could get a few more channels, like WCCO, KSTP, and PBS from the cities. He said he would rather have more service. A motion to approve the draft agreement failed. Hoffman will look into the possibility of more service.
•Foremost Farms has requested a no parking zone on the 100 Block of River St. E. Vehicles that park here on River St. prevent semis from backing into the loading dock on the Foremost Building. They are requesting a no parking zone on the whole south side of River St. and the north end from their Bulk Powder loadout bay to their dumpster garage door. The council by consensus directed staff to have an ordinance drafted to create a no parking zone from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Leave a Reply