The Rushford Village council will continue at with Mayor Gordon Johnson at the helm for at least another four years. The November 8 election did however see the replacement of incumbent Todd Baker (108 votes) with Mike Ebner (360 votes) for one of the two seats up for grabs. Incumbent Dennis Overland will serve another term as councilor after receiving the most votes (387). The council position vacated by Hamilton Peterson in October 2015, which was filled by the council appointment of Rich Smith later that year, will remain with Smith, who ran unopposed for the position.
At the Tuesday, November 15 council meeting, Mayor Gordon Johnson brought up the need to have councilors serve on additional committees. Johnson indicated that Councilor Dennis Overland has served on the Finance Committee and to some degree, the city’s informal technology committee. “I would like to see teams; look to each other,” said Johnson. He went on to suggest that Councilor Chad Rasmussen and in-coming Councilor Ebner serve on the Equipment Committee, as both have extensive background in dealing with equipment, needed maintenance and upgrades.
Johnson additionally stated he’d like to see Councilor Rich Smith serve with Overland on the Finance Committee and that he’d like to see both on a Personnel Committee. “I’d be pleased if you’d consider it, especially a dual role,” added Johnson. “I can be available as need be as a third person.” The council will make any committee appointments in January when the new council is sworn in.
The current council discussed needing to seek a new zoning board member to fill the position currently held by Ebner. It is a conflict of interest for a sitting board member to also serve on the council. Interested persons can contact the city or Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit.
There were no other major zoning issues for the month. One property is consulting with the zoning board about wanting to build a home. Currently, the site has two areas, one which needs to be subdivided to build a second house on, and another which is buildable as is.
Another unrelated site, owned by Kopperuds, saw dumping which was assumed as by Minnesota Department of Transportation. Councilor Chad Rasmussen, who works for MnDOT, stated the dumping had nothing to do with the state. It was determined that the issue was between the state and the landowner.
In relation to roads and bridges, Public Works/Maintenance Supervisor Travis Scheck indicated to the council that McHugh Excavating, who is finishing work within the city, was in town November 11. “They removed some trees and were working on their punch list,” stated Scheck. “I’m not sure how far down they got.”
Councilor Dennis Overland stated he’d looked at some of the areas that had been discussed recently and said things were looking good. The next pay application for McHugh is expected to be presented at the next meeting by Bolton & Menk project engineer Josh Pope. The council made no other mention of the roadwork.
Two properties in the Plummer Street/Darr Avenue area of South Rushford were noted by Scheck as having stakes up along the roadway where work was done. The stakes will need to be removed, according to Scheck. “First snow and they’ll all get clipped off,” he said. Scheck will make contact with the residents.
In relation to snow, the city has reaffirmed its decision not to plow private roadways for property owners. The city had discussed letting Scheck use discretion when requests to plow came in, however, it was indicated that the city cannot have both. The city reaffirmed that it will not plow at all unless to avoid substantial risk of injury to person or property.
“It’s common sense,” said City Attorney Tom Manion. “It’s liability protection. You’re not going to do it on a regular basis. You’re not for hire and not contracting ahead of time.” Manion went on to note instances must be legitimate and significant for emergency clearing.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is December 6, at 7 p.m., at the Village Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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