Photo by Charlene Corson Selbee
Newly elected council member Ryan Stenzel and returning councilman David Fitzpatrick were sworn in by Caledonia City Clerk/Administrator Jake Dickson at the council’s regular meeting on January 9. Council members extended a warm welcome to Stenzel.
Council members in attendance include Mayor DeWayne (Tank) Schroeder, Robert “Bob” Klug, Amanda Ninneman, David Fitzpatrick, and Ryan Stenzel.
Mayor Schroeder called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and led the council and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. The board approved the minutes from the December 12 regular city council meeting.
With one swift motion, the consent agenda was entirely approved, including the city’s payments and disbursements from December 14, 2022, plus the request for payment from Wapasha Construction Company of $379,098.07 for work completed at the wastewater treatment plant. The city’s official depository of funds for 2023 is Merchants Bank, and the official newspaper of record is the Caledonia Argus.
Last fall, the city applied for a grant through Gundersen Health System for the tennis and pickleball court at Veteran’s Park. The $7,000 grant award and funds from the Municipal Liquor Store fund will be used to fund the renovation project. Dickson informed the board that the staff plans to continue looking for more funding and is tentatively planning to break ground this fall.
Also approved was the purchase of 600 feet of fire hose to replace the hoses damaged fighting the True Value fire in Spring Grove on December 22. Property insurance or the city’s insurance through the League of Minnesota Cities is expected to reimburse the city for the hose and other fire-related damages to the trucks and apparatuses.
Smith Schafer will audit the city’s financials for 2022.
Public Works/Zoning Director Casey Klug reported on the street department. “It has been an interesting six weeks, I guess. We had one retirement and one other out on leave. We have made it through. Thank you to Matt and Nathan in the electric department, Pete in the sewer department, and Dan up here for helping to get us through plowing. We had a lot of snowy days and windy days over the holidays. These guys worked really hard throughout that time to get us through.”
Clerk/Administrator Dickson reported, “We have been doing a lot of reading about some potential ordinance changes that we would like to bring this year. One of them, I kind of mentioned this in July or August when it happened. I think we need to consider copying another city’s ordinance just to establish THC licensing. Right now, with it not being taxed, we don’t know what the plan is. We do want to license it just like you do cigarettes or alcohol.”
In other business, the council:
• Accepted Mayor Schroeder’s appointments to the various positions, boards, and council committees;
• Approved paying Ryan Stenzel’s travel expenses and registration fees for the League of Minnesota Cities Elected Leaders Institute on February 10 and 11. The classes are held for newly elected officials;
• Approved hiring Alex Betz for the position of street maintenance technician. Betz’s first day on the job is January 30;
• Reviewed the overtime report for pay periods November 28-11, 2022, and December 12-25, 2022.
The council jokingly told Stenzel not to expect short meetings in the future. This might be the only short meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m.
The next regularly scheduled Caledonia City Council meeting is Monday, February 13, at 6 p.m. at the Caledonia City Hall, 231 E. Main Street, Caledonia. The public is invited to attend.
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