Photo by Kirsten Zoellner
At the April 13 meeting, Public Works Director Roger Knutston spoke in details to the city council about both current and future department projects and goals for 2026. While many of the Public Works items, including are routine maintenance, there were areas that saw more discussion.
The Rushford Area Historical Society has undertaken a large renovation project at the Rushford Depot. Public Works will be assisting with some finish items. Near the depot, the former Himlie building is slated for removal. The site is city-owned, but it’s unclear if there are deed restrictions on usage. According to Mayor Leigh Volkman, details on the final lease agreement were updated.
At the airport, a major changeover is needed for the underground fuel tanks. At the time they were put in, the then-council voted to allow AV gas and jet fuel in the two tanks. There’s no current demand for the jet fuel, which can’t be left long term. Unfortunately, the tank also can’t sit empty, due to federal regulations. When the jet fuel is pumped, it needs to go through an above-ground filtration system that unfortunately ends up wasting the fuel between the tank and the output. Gas cannot remain in the hose in between and is a contaminant if dumped, so the fuel needs to be collected from the hose and disposed of.
Knutson recommended the city convert the jet fuel tank to AV fuel. This removes the filtration system. The estimated cost is $32,000. New City Administrator Hayden Stensgard plans to meet with Bolton and Menk engineer Matt Wagner, to discuss state or federal funding for the project.
In other airport news, the airport property boundaries are undergoing a $200,000 survey this summer. The city is responsible for just $5,000. This will determine boundaries with fencing on adjacent Department of Natural Resources land and will verify the airspace around the area.
The city is planning upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant following a recent visit from Tonka Water, the company that built it in 2009. Public works is getting estimates on upgrades that will need to happen in the next five years or so.
“They’re going to come up with an overall upgrade to the facility. That might be a couple of years, a project, and it might be significant money,” said Knutson. “We would know about it, plan for it a few years from now. We’re fixing what they said we need to fix and then we’re moving forward with a kind of overview of what we should do next.”
Knutson also spoke to the condition of the city’s pumps. Minnesota Pump Works comes annually to inspect the city’s seven sanitary lift stations, three storm water lift stations, and all pumps that operate on the levee system.
“We are very fortunate that we’ve caught up. We have everything up to date and have very few issues,” he said, noting funding found to replace all pumps on the levee system in recent years. “All lift stations are in really good shape.”
At the former Win Cooperative site, the city learned they did not get grant funding for an overhaul of Elm Street.
“Nobody wants to do it, but at some point, we’re going to have to,” pointed out Knutson. “About every five years we do street projects. It wouldn’t hurt to start thinking about it in the next year to get it on the radar.”
As for the site itself, the city has started on some minor work, but is unsure about the next move. The department worked with Braun Intertec to get inspection reports and get paperwork updated. When applying for a demolition permit, there were stipulations regarding removal of some items which the city was able to sell, putting the money in a co-op fund.
“Once Hayden is settled, we should do a walk-through there,” suggested Volkman.
Stensgard provided an update to some of the tasks he’s run with since starting. This includes meeting with the Economic Development Authority and seeking out some grant funding for the co-op site.
He also spoke in detail about a high priority to get ambulance billing settled. The council learned earlier this year that the company that formerly did the billing went under, leaving the city’s ambulance billing open and uncollected. Stensgard has completed the re-application for Medicare and collected the information from city accounts to make sure there is an active status, which he said is the first step in getting outstanding bills dealt with.
Lastly, Stensgard noted the pool will be up and operational the first full weekend of June. The city is currently reviewing summer employment and management. He noted the starting pay may be lacking and is digging into seeing what changes could be made. He expects to have the information at the next council meeting.
Volkman praised the work city staff has been doing since the massive changes last fall. “You have been doing a good job,” he stressed. “We all understand you’re learning a vast amount of information quickly. It takes time. Just keep at it.”
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