Spring Grove City Council members met Tuesday, August 19 at 168 West Main Street in room #100. Mayor Bryan Wilhelmson called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. then led with the Pledge of Allegiance. All council members were present in addition to City Clerk/Administrator Jana Elton.
Councilor Morgan Buckland moved, seconded by Mike Hagen, to adopt the Agenda. Motion carried.
No participants spoke during Open Forum.
Old Business
City Clerk/Administrator Elton briefly shared the WHKS memo from City Engineer Tim Hruska. Then the regular meeting closed to move onto the Public Hearing.
Public Hearing
The first public hearing entailed a variance application. Elton informed that the developer is supposed to finish the street, but will no longer do so as the street is the city’s responsibility. Since the city has maintained the street, the street became the city’s by default. One resident asked about the street not currently having a name. Elton said this is something the city has not run into before. Mayor Wilhelmson added, “We started maintaining it, now it’s our problem.” The maintenance of the street began long before the current city council members started their terms. Councilor Trent Turner informed that after seven years, the street became the city’s. One resident requested the street to be paved.
“We’re just trying to do the best we can,” responded Elton, in that the city will try to get the street done when they can. The council unaninmously approved resolution 25-30.
In the second public hearing, Elton shared that she spoke with developer Nate Sherburne about the easement between lots four and five, and moved it back between lots three and four. The easement had been for water and sewer to go to the back lots. Rosolution 25-31 received full approval.
The third public hearing consisted of rezoning specific plots from agricultural to residential, to which the council approved in a 5-0 vote. The public hearing closed with the council meeting getting reopened.
New Business
Sheriff Brian Swedberg addressed the council with the office contract and budget. Council members briefly discussed about going from two officers to one. Mayor Wilhelmson stated that the city is very happy with the existing service, with the discussion to reduce down to one officer being nothing to do with service, it is just cost related. Sheriff Swedberg informed that the schedule would remain the same, just with one less officer. Buckland commented that is a long time without an officer. Councilor Hagen asked to table this. Wilhelmson agreed in tabling this until the next meeting so the cost figures can be looked into. Councilor Turner moved, seconded by Hagen, to table until September’s meeting. Motion carried.
The 2026 Animal Control Contract with $4,500 budgeted to pay Isaak Solum for his services received full approval.
Elton is waiting to hear back in regards to The Leary Firefighter Foundation Grant she applied for.
Pickleball players, daycares, and indoor walkers received approval to use the Fest Building from January 5 to March 31 from 7 a.m. to noon. The daycare kids will be allowed to run around and play on the east side.
Mayor Wilhelmson informed everyone the childcare study for Spring Grove will be completed within the next few weeks. He wants the numbers and information to be available for the public, in addition to have someone explain what the numbers mean. Hagen agreed that he, too, would like to see the numbers. Councilors discussed the pros and cons of the city owning the daycare building. Hagen expressed concern about the city being responsible for certain things in regards to the building. “There’s a lot of options out there,” said Wilhelmson, adding that the model where the city owns the daycare is the direction a lot of rural communities are moving towards due to ongoing childcare challenges. Hagen stated he is not opposed to the city owning a daycare, he just does not want this to be a huge expense for the city. Wilhelmson recommended possible fundraising options. Elton mentioned that Wilhelmson already takes his children out of town for daycare and that other people are taking their children to out-of-town daycares as well. With kids spending more time outside of Spring Grove, they have less opportunity to interact with the kids in Spring Grove. Wilhelmson ended with the numbers being the biggest thing and asked if there should be a city meeting held to share the findings. Hagen moved, seconded by Buckland, to discuss this as a public meeting. Motion carried.
The non-conforming properties language got ammended for Chapter 1100 Zoning.
Council members briefly presented their meeting reports.
The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.
Leave a Reply