Wykoff Council Tackles Fire Truck Woes, Vacating Alleys, and Museum Repairs

By Zech Sindt

The Wykoff City Council meeting convened on September 12 at 7 p.m., with all council members and city officials in attendance, including Mayor Ryan Breckenridge, City Administrator Becky Schmidt, Administrative Assistant Luann Hare, and city council members Kaleb Himli, Lyle Morey, Barbara Fate and Jeffrey Hare. 

Mike Lund, representing the fire department, announced they have three applications for new provisionary firefighters, adding that they planned to hire two. He then brought to the council’s attention a significant issue with the fire department’s pump truck. “It ran really hot,” Lund explained, “and the last time we needed it, we were only using it lightly, and the pump burned out.” The repair cost was estimated at $17,300. After a brief discussion about the urgency of the repair, the council voted unanimously to approve the expenditure, with the expectation that insurance will cover the cost.

Moving on to parks and recreation, Councilmember Jeffrey Hare stated that he recently got a bid for new lights for the ball field. He expressed a desire to schedule a separate meeting dedicated to discussing the lighting project in detail. Councilmember Barbara Fate inquired about the possibility of selling the existing lights. After some deliberation, the council decided to explore whether the other lights could be repurposed at the skating rink.

The conversation then shifted to the upcoming installation of the skating rink.  Concerns were raised about the lack of volunteers for the task. Mayor Breckenridge acknowledged the issue, stating, “We’ll have to just pick a date and install it.” He confirmed that the installation was tentatively planned for the week following Thanksgiving, with the exact date to be determined later.  

The council then approved a new building permit without any significant discussion. They then reviewed the Fillmore County Sheriff’s report, which detailed 41 calls for service in the Wykoff area since August.  These calls ranged from alarms and traffic violations to more serious incidents like a missing person report and a MAARC (elder abuse) call. 

Mayor Breckenridge took a moment to congratulate Barbara Fate and Jane Baker on their recent election to the city council, welcoming them to their new roles. City Administrator Becky Schmidt then informed the council that she had received a letter from the MPCA (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency). “The MPCA will be formally meeting in January about approving the grant to clean up the L&L Grain Elevator site,” she announced. 

In a brief update, it was announced that the council has once again postponed the meeting concerning the proposed Cannabinoid ordinance. The new date was set for November 20th.

A considerable portion of the meeting was then dedicated to a complex discussion about establishing a formal policy for vacating unused streets and alleys. This topic arose from a resident’s previous request to build a carport over a portion of an alley. While the initial request was denied, the council had expressed interest in exploring the possibility of selling the alley, given its limited use by the city and the fact that it was primarily maintained by local homeowners.

Councilmember Jeffrey Hare raised a critical question, highlighting the lack of clear records regarding alleyways in Wykoff: “How many more alleys in this town are just lost?” he asked, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of the city’s alleyways.

City Administrator Schmidt expressed concerns about the potential financial burden associated with surveying and legally vacating alleys.  “In order to vacate, we have to have them surveyed, and that’s a cost to the city,” she explained. “Then we have to have a title search, and that’s a cost to the city. And then we have to have public hearings to vacate all of them in town, and that means contacting everyone that’s around them to vacate those alleys, and that’s a cost to the city. There’s a cost involved in all of this, and speaking as treasurer, money’s tight, we shouldn’t have to pay for someone to benefit by getting a piece of property. The only people benefitting are two people off of that alley. So why should the city pay tax dollars to vacate this?”

Schmidt argued for a policy that would shift the financial responsibility to those directly benefiting from the vacation of a street or alley.  “This policy is good,” she stated, referring to a draft policy modeled after one used in Minneapolis. “If they want it vacated, they can pay the $300 admin fee which would cover the cost of the newspaper and public hearings, and then they would have to pay to have any title searches and surveys that need to be done. It shouldn’t be on the city.” She advocated for a case-by-case approach, recognizing that the cost of surveying and conducting title searches on every alley in Wykoff would be prohibitive.

After a lengthy debate, the council decided to table the discussion to allow time to research the policies adopted by other small municipalities in the area.

The focus then shifted to Ed’s Museum, which had received $44,000 from the Minnesota Historical Society for much-needed updates. The city has already paid $30,000 towards the project.  It was clarified that the grant money was awarded to the city, which had written the grant application.  Currently, Ed’s Museum owes $8,250 to the contractor. The Wykoff Historical Society requested that the city cover this outstanding balance, with the understanding that the remaining grant funds, expected in December, would reimburse the city in full. This arrangement would ensure that no city funds would ultimately be used for the museum renovations.

The council was also informed that phase two of the museum renovation project, which would include replacing windows, repairing the door, and stabilizing the floor, was set to begin soon, pending the arrival of the remaining grant funds.  Any additional funds required for concrete work would be drawn from the jail fund’s surplus, again ensuring that no taxpayer money would be directly invested in the project.

In the final actions of the meeting, the council approved a liquor license application for Shooters of Wykoff.  They then addressed the final tax levy for 2025.  The following sums of money will be levied: $181,110 for general fund revenue, $24,915 for the 205 refunding bond, and $35,141 for 407 County 5, for a total levy of $241,166.