The Wykoff City Council held a regular meeting on February 10. All council members were in attendance (Lyle Morey, Richard Gleason, Mayor Al Williams, City Clerk Becky Schmidt, Mary Sackett and Mary Tjepkes).
Jason Moore addressed the council, asking to be allowed to keep chicken on his property. He stated, “In the spirit of wanting to be a good neighbor and decent citizen, I want to have chickens in Wykoff, and I’m told they’re not allowed, and I want to battle it out with you over it.” After Moore and council members laughed at his exaggeration, he continued, “Not very many, and I wouldn’t have roosters.”
Council members pointed out that the city has an ordinance that prohibits chickens within city limits, so that ordinance would have to be changed before anyone could raise chickens in town. Mayor Williams stated, “If we do it, we’d have to change our ordinance… and that, in my opinion, is going to let in everything else… we’re opening a can of worms.” He explained that citizens then could fairly argue to be allowed to have a wide variety of other animals.
Moore asked about the reason for Wykoff having such an ordinance. Becky Schmidt explained that the ordinance was adopted as part of the Minnesota Handbook that Wykoff adopted in 2018. She stated that if the council wishes to consider changing any ordinance, a public hearing would first be required, to get input from any interested citizens.
There was discussion about the zoning of various parcels of land within city limits, and whether or not that impacts what animals can be raised there. The consensus among council members was to look into the issue more, and determine what is allowed on land that is within city limits, but zoned agricultural. No formal action was taken at this time.
Another topic that included significant discussion was how to bill for water at apartment complexes or mobile home parks. Schmidt explained that Wykoff has traditionally charged just one base rate per meter, but she found out that many other cities charge one base rate per housing unit, which the landlord pays, and the landlord then can pass that expense along through rental rates. Water meters determine usage charges on top of the base rate. She said most cities charge these base rates regardless of the current occupancy, meaning that the landlord would pay for all units, even if vacant. After lengthy discussion, Richard Gleason stated that there seem to be “a lot of unanswered questions.” The council chose to set up a council “workshop” meeting to discuss zoning issues, Moore’s request for chickens, and the water billing question. The workshop was set for February 19 at 7 p.m. Depending on the outcome of that workshop meeting, a public hearing may be scheduled.
Andrew Forliti gave a presentation of the results of the annual audit of Wykoff’s finances, which was performed by the accounting firm of Smith Schafer & Associates. He summarized that the audit found no Minnesota legal compliance issues, and that the audit resulted in an unmodified “clean” opinion. Forliti went through the various revenue and expenditure categories that the audit reviewed. He pointed out that water fund rates are sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service requirements. Sewer fund received a transfer from General Fund of roughly $19,000 and from Water Fund of nearly $24,000 and continued operating at a loss.
The council opened the only bid received for the community hall ramp. The bid was from Philip Eickoff, for $7,316 to install an awning over the ramp. The council discussed having the ramp moved, and chose to table the issue for now, and to seek bids on moving the ramp.
The council voted to approve election judges for the upcoming March 3 Presidential Primary election. The next Rural Fire Board meeting was set for March 4. The council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. The public, as always, is welcomed.
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