As part of the monthly Community Economic Development Associates (CEDA) report, the Rushford Village Council will take part in an upcoming virtual trail discussion. The Safe Routes to School grant, provided through the Minnesota Department of Transportation, is something CEDA Community and Business Development Specialist Rebecca Charles has pushed the village to utilize the grant to tie existing area trails to village land.
The informational meeting is set to be held Friday, March 22, from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. City staff recommended all council members attend, if possible. An MnDOT engineer will lead the discussion.
“I don’t know what questions to ask. That’s the first thing,” said Mayor Dennis Overland. “Fill me in on everything that’s going on.”
“This meeting, the planning and that, has no cost to it. So we can come up with all the ideas we want. That was my understanding,” noted Councilor Mike Ebner.
MnDOT is looking for possible routes through the more than 33 square miles of land encompassing the village. The April CEDA report will likely provide an update.
During the discussion of Public Works, the council determined the Personnel Committee should meet to discuss the workload of the department and part-time employee Jeff Michel. Department supervisor Trenten Chiglo indicated he’d been out trimming trees and cleaning out ditches during the warm, dry late winter weather. He and Michel do not necessarily work in tandem and the council asked for clarification of who’s doing what work and when.
Chiglo indicated he’s communicated to Michel when work is needed. In return, Michel has communicated which days he’s unable to come in. Chiglo estimated it’s been roughly eight to 16 hours a week for Michel.
“One of the biggest problems is he was signed up for life insurance and employees have to work at least 20 hours a week and he isn’t doing that,” noted Treasurer Judy Graham. The council tabled any further discussion until the Personnel Committee reviews and reports to the council.
In other news, Chiglo noted that the work on Village Road Bridge is slated to begin in April, depending on the weather. According to him, the county hauled in large equipment needed for the work to get ahead of oncoming spring road bans. The county will provide an official start date. The village informed Rushford Peterson School District and the city of Rushford of the work.
Graham provided a recap of the presidential nomination primary, which was held at the village hall.
“It was a lot better than the last one. Maybe 90 people that voted,” she said. “That’s almost double what it was, but it’s still just a terrible expense.”
The state of Minnesota does provide reimbursement for training and election judges.
Before the conclusion of the meeting, Councilor Rick Ruberg questioned the village’s ordinance for maintaining fence lines on agricultural properties. There is no village ordinance on this topic, so the state’s ordinances define their usage and related information. Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit recalled some change to the law regarding agricultural fences, but couldn’t provide specifics. City Attorney Joe O’Koren will look into the state ordinance and report back.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is Tuesday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the village hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
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