Photo by Kirsten Zoellner
Rushford Village Planning & Zoning is reviewing its permitting fee structure and other modifications needed for 2026 and beyond. At the April 21 council meeting, Zoning Administrator Jon Pettit stressed that the board is not ready to bring the final proposed changes to the council for a decision. But, it’s clear changes are needed. Last year, the village spent $8,000 in zoning-related expenses. These include the hours put in by Pettit, engineering review, legal counsel, and notices to the public. However, permitting revenues only covered around $3,000 of that.
“We just don’t charge enough for the fees to cover all of the expenses and I don’t think that can happen,” said Pettit. “We’re still a service and there’s so many unknowns.”
He also highlighted the fact that there are “a ton” of no-charge permits. The rough draft of the fee schedule does away with no-charge permits. Several storms have ravaged areas of the village the last few years and these storm-related repairs, if under the $10,000 cost limit, didn’t have a permitting fee.
“They take time, so my time’s still there, but we’re not getting anything back on those. They do serve a purpose also,” noted Pettit.
Councilor Bob Hart expressed concern overcharging for accidental or storm repairs needed to properties since they’re essential, not cosmetic or luxury projects. He pointed out permitting that aren’t changing the footprint of a property, such as repairs to windows.
“We’re going to give you an outline,” he added. “There’s no problem making changes, not problem at all.”
The council expects further information on the proposed fee schedule at the next meeting.
The council considered a resolution for Fillmore County detailing how write-in votes will be handled during elections. Three options were suggested by the county. Option one requires anyone wanting to be considered as a write-in candidate to bring in an affidavit no less than 19 days prior to a general election. If none are brought it, no write-in votes will be counted. In option two, nothing would be required beforehand, but the total number of write-in votes tallied electronically would need to be equal or greater than the lowest count vote on the ballot to be valid. Option three would see the voting counts remain as they currently are, with all write-ins counted.
According to City Clerk Mary Miner, a discussion with the county indicated that many cities are utilizing the second option. This can save considerable time and money for cities during elections. There is quite a lot of work needed to go through every write-in ballot, determining if they are valid with issues, including intent, such as when names are spelled similarly, but incorrectly. There were some questions about whether or not the tally threshold would be for candidate or for position. City Attorney Joe O’Koren indicated these proposed changes come via the League of Minnesota Cities and could be clarified. If there were no candidates for a certain council seat, election judges would still need to review write-in ballots.
The council unanimously approved option two.
Public Works Supervisor Darrin Dessner provided a number of department-related updates. There’s still little updates on the Freightliner truck repairs. The company is testing the faulty part and will eventually update the village on the findings.
Road grading is now in full swing, as opposed to the slower spot grading that has been done until now. Dessner noted some decent moisture in the roads, which is helping, but the department is still having to hit some roads dry.
“We’re doing as many as we can. It’s a slow process,” he stated.
Cleaning up problem trees is also a continuous process. He described a big “supply” of tree cleaning on De Soto Road just that day, including three uprooted, one split, and a lot of cutting.
“That’s just going to continue. I mean, we’ve still got things that are gonna come down the side hill, same as the rocks,” he added.
As for utilities, hydrant flushing is completed. One, on Goodrich Street, was identified as having issues with is not draining. Previously, the hydrant had shown issues not closing. There’s also a casting at the intersection of Goodrich and Main Streets that needs attention. A representative from Minnesota Rural Water will be in the village next week and they’ll be reviewed and plans made to address them then.
Dessner also detailed how Chlorine levels in the water were reading slightly low. The department started with taking all tubings off the main and noted it was kinked. They cleaned them up, re-primed the pumps, and the levels are now coming back to the levels they should be at.
He also addressed fault reading that they’d identified last week. Since turning things to summer levels, there have been no fault readings. At the last meeting, Public Works Assistant Adam Johnson noted some concern with the meter sticking, but Dessner noted that doesn’t appear to be the case now. They have turned the pumps to shut off if a fault reading occurs, so no water will pump in without being treated, and they are monitoring the system daily, including the weekends, to ensure there are no errors.
“We’re learning a lot and we’re learning a lot fast,” he quipped.
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