A regular meeting of the Wykoff City Council was held on May 14. All council members were in attendance (Rocky Vreeman, Mary Tjepkes, Mayor Al Williams, City Clerk Becky Schmidt, Mary Sackett and Richard Gleason).
Tom Wente, representing the accounting firm of Smith & Shafer, gave the council a summary report on the recent annual financial audit of Wykoff. He said the audit resulted in an unmodified clean report. He noted a few areas in which more segregation of duties would be preferable, but said virtually all small cities face this challenge simply due to the number of staff.
Mary Sackett brought up a suggestion to allow the city’s part-time employees to “bank” hours when they work more hours than regularly scheduled, so that the employee could later get paid for those banked hours. She explained that since part-time employees do not have vacation pay, it is tough for them afford to take a vacation without pay, but that her suggestion could help solve this. It was discussed that the banked hours would be paid at whatever rate they were worked (regular or overtime). No action was taken on this issue.
Mayor Williams shared his opinion that the situation is “getting out of hand” with citizens asking the city to forgive or adjust a portion of their water/sewer bills when leaks happen. He said Wykoff is struggling to cover costs of the water and sewer operations, so he suggested the city set a date and notify citizens that these adjustments will no longer happen after that date. He said such leaks are not the city’s responsibility. The council discussed the issue, and decided to inform citizens that starting June 1, these adjustments will no longer be granted.
The council discussed the fire department’s participation in parades, and the amount of candy bought annually by the fire department. Some felt that $600 is an excessive amount to spend annually for candy for the five parades the department usually participates in. Others felt that, as Rocky Vreeman stated, “The candy’s for kids, and the parades are for kids.” Fire department crew members said they’ve gotten positive feedback from other towns for participating in surrounding parades, but that it can be tough to have enough helpers to allow someone to walk along and hand out candy, which is the reason that often the driver will toss candy. After discussion, the council agreed to limit parade candy to $500 annually.
Missy Mussells addressed the council to oppose the idea of allowing Kingsland to have an area turned into a native grass field, because of the various nuisance animals this will attract. Richard Gleason said he prefers that the area not be exempted from the city’s ordinances regarding grass and upkeep. He added that there’s been no actual communication between Wykoff and Kingsland staff yet about the idea.
After discussion, the council voted to accept the bid from K & J Baker for the new salt building, at a price of $35,369. The council also discussed Mary Sackett’s suggestion to take down “Ed’s garage,” since she says, “It’s an eyesore.” Her suggestion is to replace it with trees, a fence and a park bench, to look like a backyard. No action was taken at this time.
Becky Schmidt shared that the recent results of the city’s drinking water report are in, and, “We passed with flying colors.” She said the report is posted on the city’s website and also at the bank and post office. She also said copies can be provided for anyone interested. The council approved adding Casey Bates to the city’s fire crew.
A public hearing on the proposed adoption of the Minnesota Code Book will be held May 31 at 7 p.m. It was suggested that due to the timing requirements related to the upcoming street project, it would be advisable to reschedule the next regular city council meeting. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Due to the opening of bids on the street project June 11, the council’s next regular meeting will be Tuesday, June 12 at 7 p.m.
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