At the April 8 meeting of the Caledonia City Council, the board spent a considerable amount of time focused on the proposed roundabout at the intersection of State Highway 44 and 76 and N. Kingston St. and the lack of a manager and lifeguards to open the city pool on June 4.
Mayor DeWayne (Tank) Schroeder called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and led his colleagues and the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Schroeder confirmed that all council members were present, Robert (Bob) Klug, Amanda Ninneman, David Fitzpatrick, and Ryan Stenzel.
The meeting minutes from March 24, regular city council meeting was approved.
The council unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included paying the bills, purchasing a computer for city hall at a cost of $2,712.28, hiring Storm Davis, a current part-time police officer, as the city’s fifth full-time police officer, and accepting a proposal from Apex fence for $4751.00 to install a 12’ – 14’ gate to the north end of the pool for maintenance purposes.
Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) District 6 Project Manager Tom Austin, and two colleagues, District 6 Public Engagement Coordinator Cindy Morgan and District 6 Traffic Operations Engineer David Tsang attended the meeting to continue the conversation on the proposed roundabout.
There have been 13 accidents recorded at this intersection between 2016 and 2020. Of these, 62% (8 out of 13) were right-angle collisions, also known as T-Bone accidents. Among these incidents, one resulted in a serious injury with life altering consequences, four caused moderate injuries, four had possible injuries, and four led to property damage. It’s worth noting that six of those eight crashes were from N Kingston Street turning left.
Compared to crashes at other rural intersections, the thirteen crashes in five years at the intersection in Caledonia is ranked 26th out of 431 rural intersections in Southeast Minnesota. The fatality or severe injury crash rate is 7.88%, which is 35 times the state average of 0.22%.
In a follow-up email, Austin reemphasized that MnDOT’s goal “is to reduce the chances of a crash and to manage the circumstances of those crashes that do occur to reduce the severity.”
Austin mentioned that they plan on hosting a public meeting in the next month to six weeks, most likely June.
At the end of his presentation, Austin stressed that he welcomes calls and emails from constituents if they have questions or comments. His email address is tom.austin@state.mn.us and his phone number is (507) 286-7559.
The pool’s lifeguard and managerial issues were a hot topic at the city council meeting and on social media, since the city received just three lifeguard applications while needing at least 15 lifeguards to maintain last year’s operations. Several factors are contributing to this situation including low wages, lack of information regarding classes and the upfront cost of taking the classes, as well as behavioral problems that lifeguards have had to deal with over the past couple of years. After a thorough discussion, the board voted unanimously to increase wages by $1.00 per hour.
The city will host a lifeguard instruction course on May 23 and May 27 to certify up to 14 new lifeguards. Spring Grove will be hosting a class on June 10 and 11 but it is not a Water Safety Instructor (WSI) course.
Mayor Schroeder recommended that a police officer stop by every hour and walk around the pool and talk with the kids. Their presence would help with behavior problems.
Additionally, the city did not receive any applications for the manager and assistant manager. Dickson explained that traditionally the city required a manager and assistant manager to always be on site plus managers were also lifeguards. The council was open to the idea of a non-traditional pool manager. In this scenario the manager would not be required to be a lifeguard but would be responsible for running concessions, scheduling, and discipline.
In other business, the council:
- Gave the green light to Richards Sanitation’s request for a setback variance, allowing them to proceed with plans for a new dumpster repair shop.
- Passed ordinance 2024-03, reestablishing a planning commission. Interested residents can apply to serve on the commission, with interviews and selections to follow by the council.
- Approved spending $89,975.00, slightly under budget, for the construction of a 60-foot by 120-foot combined tennis and pickleball court. Public Works/Zoning Director Casey Klug expects the court to be finished within a month.
- Approved Wastewater Treatment Facility Pay Request No. 26, deducting $253,000 for liquidated damages. It was noted that there is still no contract.
Since there were no questions or comments about the overtime reports for the pay period from March 18 through March 31, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
The upcoming Caledonia City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 22 starting at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at city hall, 231 E. Main St., located in the heart of historic downtown Caledonia. All members of the public are welcome to attend
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