KIESTER CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Monday, November 14, 2022
THESE ARE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL

The Kiester City council held a regular meeting on Monday, November 14, 2022, at the Kiester Community Center.

Mayor Rich Goggin called the meeting to order to order at 7:00 pm. Council Members Present: Larry Dahleen, Jason Kluender, Brandon Hagenson, Hope Bauman City Staff: City Clerk: Doris Troll; Maintenance Gary Skartland Members from the Public: Marcia Dahleen, Judy Goggin, Katina Thrond, Carol Rinehart, Michelle Gurung, Bruce Thisted, John Sonnek from Bevcomm, Dawn Flaskerrud, Niclole Swason, Karen Busch and Al Bauman.

Agenda: Motion to accept agenda, by Jason Kluender seconded by Hope Bauman, vote 5-0 motion carried.

Council minutes: Motion to accept the October 10, 2022 regular meeting minutes and the October 24 2022 meeting minutes. With corrections By Hope Bauman, seconded by Brandon Hagensen Vote 5-0, motion
Carried.

Claims: Motion by Hope Bauman seconded by Rich Goggin approving claims totaling $35.447.25 Vote of 5-0 motion carried.

Financials: Motion by Larry Dahleen, seconded by Brandon Hagenson approving financials as presented. Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Past Due Water Billing: Motion to shut off on 11-23-2022 if not paid by Brandon Hagenson, seconded by Jason Kluender Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Michelle Guting: Michelle was present to ask the council about the issues that have been happening with the internet. John Sonnek from Bevcomm was present to Inform the council of their plan on not charging for the service, but the taxes will have to be charged until they get the fiber optic installed next spring. They have already checked with Bolton and Menk. They will just have to get a map to them of what they did. Michelle asked for a liaison to Bevcomm from the council Brandon Hagensen said he would do this.
She also asked if they should continue to call in troubles. John said yes and they will be still be doing service calls and what they can to resolve those issues.

Ambulance: None.

Fire Department: None, other than the jaws of life, are here and paid for.

Library: Dawn reported that the number of people in the library for Sept was 73 and for Oct was 117
They will host coffee and cookies for Saturday mornings. At least to the end of November. They will have a drawing for 2 turkeys at the end of November. They have had 2 hams donated for a drawing closer to Christmas. The Legion Riders’ group, along with the Library Board, will be having a soup supper with the donations going to the Library. We will hold this Dec 10 at the Kiester Legion. Dawn also stated that they had items that they would like to be donated to the Historical Society. Those items include Auto clave, wooded media cart metal shelving and a cabinet that was to stay at the clinic as long as it was a clinic.

Liquor Store: the last 3 weeks have been busy with lottery sales as the jackpots got high. They have been busy moving inventory as well as rearranging the store. They will do a wine tasting on the 19th and will have specials running. The distributors will donate items for sampling and for drawings. They also have moved the wine cooler that they have to be more out front in the store and closed the registrar area up more so customers could not just cut through that area. They had a discussion about how the store looked.

EDA: they talked about the extra monies that the city will receive do due the rent monies that they will receive next year from the Market and the Goettes and Michele Biddle. They then had a discussion about the heating and electrical work to be done in the City Hall garage area for the historical Society. It was asked if the council would at least approve the electrical to continue to keep the project. Motion by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Jason Kluender to awarded the electrical bid to Reindal Electric.

Public Comment: One resident asked this I put in the furnace for City Hall. Would the monies come from this year’s budget or the next years? They also feel that it sounds like conversations tonight that the Liquor Store committee members and the Manager have a breakdown in communications.,
Have the council members considered going to pay the business in town a visit to say hi and how is it going? Do the council members even know of all the business that are in town, not on main street but in the homes? The department’s come with their wish list of items, but is there ever talk about what they could cut from their budget to keep the levy from going too high for the residents?

Historical Society: with the library having items for the Historical Society, the city also feels that the safe in city hall would be a great addition. A motion to give the Historical Society the following items 1 autoclave wooden media cart, metal shelving, and a medical cabinet, and the Safe Motion by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Jason Kluender to give above items to the Historical Society. Vote 5-0 Motion Carried.

Budget: The clerk reported her finding on the H S A information and that the total maximum between employer and employee contribution is $3500.00 per year. She is still waiting for another quote before the council needs to make the final decision on it. She also wanted to know if they plan on residing the community center next year. And if they were planning on dropping any of the houses that were condemned? Hope had inquired if the clerk had a number for the PERA increase for the ambulance. The clerk told her she had given a very rough number that was high last meeting and that her notes were not with her from that meeting. The council also had a conversation about what we did last year and what we are looking at for this year.

Maintenance Report: Gary was waiting for a quote for a brush for the bobcat. Hydrants have been flushed, trees have trimmed up as much as possible. They will need to have Bernie Schulz come in and clean up the rest. Bolton & Menk need to have a couple of spots in town to be videoed as they have not. The Christmas decorations are up. Gary is discharging the ponds. New snow fenc3e is in and will be put up. They will replace a water line in front of Bermas next week. It was asked Gary to contact the Sheriff’s department as to the speed of cars driving over the speed limit on 22. This is a state issue and the state patrol will have to be contacted. Gary was also asked if he had been in contact with Bricelyn about the mosquitos

Clerk Update: canvasing of the elections. Number of registered residents at 7 am were 316 number of registered on election day 9 number of absentee ballots 17 total number voting 216 for mayor race Goggin 99 Trytten 103
Wrte ins 9 Council members Kluender 168 Dahleen 134 Write in 16 Motion by Hope Bauman seconded by Brandon Hagenson to accept as presented. Vote 5-0, Motion Carried.

Mayor update: Even though I did not win, I will serve the rest of my term, and then go back to retiring.

Motion to adjourn made by Hope Bauman seconded by Brandon Hagenson Vote 5-0, motion

Respectfully Submitted by
Doris M Troll
City Clerk/ Treasurer