At the Tuesday, December 18 meeting, the council formally approved the 2019 budget and levy in the amount of $435,000. The preliminary levy had been certified at $450,000 in September. This was $25,000 more than the 2018 levy.
There were no comments at the Truth-In-Taxation hearing and the Village is banking for some major equipment upgrades in the coming years. “I don’t see us needing to be at $450,000, but I don’t think we can stay at $425,000 either,” said Councilor Rich Smith. “We need a marginal increase.”
“I agree,” added Acting Mayor Dennis Overland, standing in for absent Mayor Gordon Johnson. “I would rather make some smaller jumps now instead of big increases later.” The council opted to split the amount and settled at the $435,000 amount.
The City has taken a cooperative step forward at the idea of possible development on a piece of land that sits on the eastern border of Rushford Village and the City of Rushford. Community and Economic Development Associates representative Bryce Lange brought forth two letters, drafted to the City of Rushford and the landowner, Lorraine Woxland. Overland noted the idea came about after a meeting with CEDA and Village December 17.
“It says we’re willing to partner on some things,” added Lange. “A lot of good could come from it.”
“It’s kind of in line with what we want to do; up straight and forward,” noted Councilor Mike Ebner. “We’re reaching out to both parties saying, ‘Hey, we want to do something cooperatively.’” The council approved the letters unanimously.
The city has also approved a recent report from KLM Engineering regarding a recent water tank inspection. The firm also submitted a list of recommendations and repairs in the report, as well as a 10-year contract proposal.
“We have very clean water going into our water tank,” said Public Works Supervisor Travis Scheck. “It was cleaned out five years ago and there’s very little sediment; you can still see bottom clearly.”
The repairs are items which should be addressed within one to two years, according to Scheck. Some of the items are safety changes to meet new Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards for the exterior. “There aren’t set deadlines to accomplish suggested improvements,” added Scheck. “We’ve got time.”
The contract is for $6,000 for 10 years and includes, two inspections at $3,000 each. Currently, the city has been paying $2,700 per inspection and the price is only expected to go up each year. The contract can be cancelled by the city at any time. It was suggested by KLM Engineering that the city budget $600 per year to minimize impact of the cost of the contract. The first billing will be 2023 at the next inspection.
In other Public Works discussion items, the council heard that a street light on Highway 43 and 16 had been replaced with an LED bulb, by NES, at the direction of Mayor Johnson. There are approximately 3-4 lights remaining and the city has opted to replace the remaining lights with LED bulbs as well. Ebner noted that billing for replacement is typically done per hour, with a two-hour minimum, and suggested the city would get more bang for the buck by finishing out replacement at one time.
Council representatives met with Scheck December 17 to review goals and expectations for 2019. A contingency plan, in the event of Scheck’s absence, was decided. “He had some pretty good goals for next year and good ideas for making it easy on himself, too,” said Overland. “I’m pretty happy with what he came up with.”
Lastly, the city has approved a contract with Inspire Tech for computer backup. Previously, the city has utilized CCS Technologies, but the company is no longer in operation in Minnesota. The Inspire Tech quote was $30, including a $10 per month per computer charge, in addition to a $20 charge for proactive monitoring of workstations with anti-virus protection.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, January 15, at 7 p.m., at the Village Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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