At the February 4 meeting, the Rushford Village Council received a summary of the recent Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities meeting held on January 30. City Clerk Mary Miner, who attended the meeting with councilors Mike Ebner and Rick Ruberg, noted a lot of good information, including updates on Emergency Medical Service funding.
“That was interesting,” noted Miner. “They’re trying to find ways to put money into EMS.”
According to Miner, one of the options discussed included taxing every cell phone $.69 per month. This action could raise $50 million per year for local ambulance services.
“The only kicker is that the only people allowed to apply for that are services in the red. I don’t agree with that,” she added. “It penalizes those that have been doing a good job.”
Mayor Dennis Overland agreed, stating that it almost incentivizes services to function at a loss to qualify for funding.
When the discussion turned to legislative policies, Miner and Ebner ranked the village priorities. Local Government Aid is the highest priority, with emergency medical services second, and bonding for roads, water, bridges, and housing third.
“It was a well-attended meeting,” noted Ruberg. “There’s a lot of stuff they want to take to the state.”
Councilor Bob Hart asked whether the discussion had focused on the state government buying land, an ongoing concern for the village. According to Miner, it did not.
Miner did add that the group will consider forming an additional southeast “corner” contingent. Currently, there is funding available, but without a focus on the southeast, these areas can’t apply for that funding.
During the meeting, the council also rehashed the current ordinance regarding unkempt grass. The current 1999 ordinance notes grass at eight inches or higher as a nuisance. Currently, properties out of compliance receive a letter regarding the issue and steps to remediation within 10 days. Following a discussion from last month, the council is looking to change that to six inches in height and just seven days to bring it into compliance. If the issue remains unresolved, the village is considering having city staff mow it at the rate of $175 per hour, for man and machine time. If unpaid, the amount would be certified to the property tax rolls.
Some councilors did suggest increasing the amount to $300 if there is no action taken after the first citation. However, Councilor Joe O’Koren cautioned the council to be careful about fees being punitive as opposed to covering costs. He also suggested a reasonable cap on the amount, but still enough to force their hand and see a resolution. He acknowledged the cost associated with the use of the equipment, truck, trailer, fuel, mobilization fee, admin work, postage and more.
“There’s a way to break it down to say why it’s reasonable, but I’d caution against punitive fees,” said O’Koren. “We don’t want to be in the lawn mowing business either.”
Area cities have a notice period between 48 hours and 10 days and some hire a contractor to mow rather than having public works do it. This does create an issue of payment, however, where the contractor would be paid by the city and the property owner would reimburse the city for the cost whether through fines or tax assessment.
“We don’t want to be charging people, but that’s why that exists. It’s a pretty standard across the board. Unfortunately, just one of the issues cities face,” continued O’Koren.
The city will work on updating the ordinance. The village will publish notice of any changes and hold a public hearing. O’Koren expects to have a draft ordinance crafted by the next meeting.
The village is also reviewing the employee guide for 2025. The updates largely revolve around the updates to Paid Time Off and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s Earned Sick and Safe Time.
One other change is employee insurance, which is now covered 100% by the village. The council previously did not set the percentage of coverage for family health and dental. The council unanimously approved setting both at 50%. The council will review the amount annually, during budget review, to make adjustments as needed. The council will take action on the final draft of the employee guide at a later date.
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