Prior to the Spring Valley City Council’s Monday, June 8 meeting, a public hearing was held to review an ordinance violation in relation to three storage containers belonging to Patricia Reyerson, which were unlawfully placed on city property.
Despite the city’s continued attempts to resolve the issue with Reyerson, the containers still remain on the city’s property. The council approved a resolution declaring the containers a public nuisance and authorizing their seizure. Reyerson will liable for the costs.
Downtown Project Update
Drew Weber, of Bolton and Menk, said contractors finished the underground work for phase one (the northern section of downtown) and the gravel base has been prepped for the concrete curb and gutter. “They are still tracking somewhere around the end of June, beginning of July to make that transition from phase one to phase two (the southern section of downtown),” he said.
Councilor Chris Danielson stressed the need for residents to be careful around the Downtown Project.
Flood Study
The city and Spring Valley Public Utilities worked together to get a MPCA Small Communities Resiliency Grant for an updated flood study.
“Fortunately, we were successful and we were able to do a flood study and modeling,” Weber said. “This is a planning tool. This provides opportunities as other projects come in the future. We will lean on this tool and make educated decisions in conjunction with the project.”
Brady Nahkala, Bolton and Menk Water Resources design engineer, explained, “We were interested in looking at inventorying some of the sanitary collection system, as well as some of the Spring Valley Creek hydraulic structures with bridges and things like that to get some additional data on points of infrastructure and how that relates to flooding. The flood data that the city has is from the 1980s so it is dated in terms of rainfall data and the methods that are used to generate those flood maps.”
The study focused a number of areas with flooding concerns such as the power plant, Main Street and Section Avenue access, roadway flooding, commercial Flooding, Wastewater Treatment Plant access, the sanitary lift station and emergency services access.
Nahkala recommended adopting the study formally so it is recognized on file by the city so when grant opportunities arise they are ready. The council voted to approve the flood study.
Park Murals
Last month the Spring Valley Parks and Rec Committee was awarded a Paint the Town Grant for 90 gallons of paint.
The Spring Valley Area Community Foundation awarded the committee $4,200 towards the project, which will include three murals painted by local artist Andrea Hindt.
Two of the murals will be located within the pool facility and the third will be on the side of the concession building at South Park.
The board gave their support to the mural project and thanked members for their dedication to the community.
Councilor John Dols agreed, stating, “They are doing everything they can to raise money for our parks. They are not just representing one aspect of of the community, they are looking at ways to engage adults and senior citizens with different activities.”
Staff And Council Reports
Parks and Rec Director John Fenske thanked Public Works Director Chad Hindt and his crew for all their work on the Bobby Jones Volleyball Courts.
He also thanked the Osterud-Winter Foundation for their grant, which helped to purchase and new fridge and dishwasher for the community center. Rack’s Bar and Grill was also thanked for their donation of $4,600 for a popcorn machine for the South Park Concessions Stand and a new flag pole.
The main pool is now open to swimmers. Fenske stated they are working on getting the baby pool ready soon.
According to City Administrator Deb Zimmer, five individuals filed for the two open city council seats. This means there will be a primary election with the top four moving on to the general election.
Library Director Melissa Vander Plas shared the interior painting is almost complete and the construction committee will be meeting to discuss options from Bolton and Menk for the exterior project. The library’s Summer Reading Program has already had 75 children sign up.
Economic Development Authority (EDA) Director Chris Hahn was happy to announce there were already 42 vendors signed up for the Wednesdays on Broadway events.
The EDA website can now help residents access information on the Downtown Project updates and Little Huskers signup. The EDA will be working on updating and expanding their Housing Incentive program.
The ambulance department had 40 calls in May, with the second truck attending five calls. Their pancake breakfast was a success for the department.
Fillmore County Deputy Jackson Rindels stepped in for Fire Chief Dustin Johnson, stating the department was called to one chicken coop fire and one crash.
Rindels thanked the ambulance department for their assistance in the training last month. He then addressed the council to share the results of a recent traffic study that was spurred on by last month’s fatal crash. Sitting between Grant Street and the Sunshine Street area, every vehicle that went by from May 17 to June 1 was clocked, a total of 2,250 vehicles.
What the study found was 943 drivers were under the 30 mph speed limit, 1,482 drivers were clocked between 30 and 35, 93 were clocked at 36 to 40 and two were above 40 mph.
“The accident was extremely unfortunate and affected a lot of people. I have met with MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation), Sheriff DeGeorge and people in the city to work on what we can do to make things safer. Unfortunately, there won’t be any action until the State Patrol releases their report,” Mlinar expressed, “We are going to do everything we can to make people feel as safe as we can.”
Other Business
The council approved A-1 Contracting’s first pay application of the 2026 Downtown Project for $64,356.13.
Shelly Skindelien, representing the Spring Valley Business Alliance (SVBA), shared O’ Connor Court, which is located next to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), is nearing completion. The group hopes to have the park open to the public by July 1. The SVBA is still working on raising funds for light poles and furniture.
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