KIESTER CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
Monday, October 14, 2024
THESE ARE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL
The Kiester City council held a regular meeting on Monday, October 14, 2024, at the Kiester Community Center.
Mayor Hope Bauman called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Council Members Present: Larry Dahleen, Kurt Grobe, Brandon Hagenson, Jason Kluender came in late. City Maintenance: Gary Skartland; City Clerk: Doris Troll; Members of the public: Marcia Dahleen, Bruce Thistad.
Agenda: Motion to accept agenda by Larry Dahleen seconded Brandon Hagenson by vote 4-0 motion carried.
Council minutes: motion to approve 9-9-2024 meeting minutes by Larry Dahleen seconded by Kurt Grobe, vote 4-0. Motion carried.
Claims: Motion to approve claims totaling $306,318.09 by Hope Bauman seconded by Brandon Hagenson Grobe vote 4-0, motion carried.
Financials: Motion to approve financials by Larry Dahleen, seconded by Kurt Grobe. Vote 4-0, motion carried.
Past Due Water Billing: Motion to shut off on 10-26-2024 if not paid, by Brandon Hagenson, seconded by Kurt Grob vote 4-0, motion carried.
Building Permits: Presented permits for F Moga, R Aukes, R Nesmoe, N Kuiper, D Halverson, J Olson. Motion by Brandon Hagenson Seconded by Hope Bauman to approve. Vote 4-0, Motion carried.
Ambulance: We will have a fundraiser on November 16, 2024.
Fire Department: the truck that they went to look at was not what we were told they were. The fire department
is still looking at other sources for trucks and financing. There are others in the area that will help us with the paperwork for any grants that we might qualify for. If we order one now they will want money down and delivery would not be until 2026. The fire department feels that they can pay it off in 7 years. It was also stated that the fire department has lost the contract for fire protections for Loagan township.
Library: September numbers were 78 adults and 25 children. They will start the candy corn guessing game again. We be handing candy out for trunk or treat. We will do drawings for turkeys for Both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The adult winter reading program will start in December and run through March.
Liquor Store: Carol was absent from the meeting. Larry went over the number that he has compiled for the Liquor Store, and they were down in sales again for the month of September. There were discussions about what to do. With no solid solutions to fix the problem. There was also discussion about having the clerk look into for what would need to be done if the council closed the liquor store. They would also like any information that she could get from the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement what we need to do.
EDA: Brandon presented to the Council that the Market Group has approached the EDA for loan. The EDA board has approved of a $10,000.00 loan for 5 years at 4% interest. The council had a discussion, and Kurt Grobe made a motion seconded by Larry Dahleen to approve the loan. Vote 5-0, motion carried. The clerk will have the paperwork drawn up by the lawyer.
They also are looking into having the Kiester sign updated by the ambulance garage, and are just getting bids for the update.
Public Comment: One resident was there to question the reasoning of the council’s choice regarding the animal control issue in town. It was explained to them that the decision was made based on the amount of money that it would cost the city, for the insurance to have a facility to house the animals, as well as to have a licensed representative.
One Resident also had a complaint about the construction debris that is being dumped. He was told that it would be a clean fill. However, pictures were shown that it was not clean fill. Gary and the complainant will have a talk with the on-site representative for Bolton & Menk on this issue.
One other resident asked why none of the department managers come to the meetings. It was also expressed that they should already look ahead into the budget years past 2025.
It was also noted that the Quilters Cottage will host an open house on November 15 & 16th, now that all the remodeling is done.
Budget Talks: minimum wage is increasing by 3%. The new insurance rates were presented. Would there be money to give dawn a raise for the work that she does with the website. There was discussion as to rising the water bills again for next year. A motion to raise water by $2.50 and sewer by $2.50 by Brandon Hogenson, seconded by Larry Dahleen. Vote 5-0, motion carried. The council is setting a budget working session for October 28, 2024 at 7:00 pm for city hall. The purpose is to work with the budget to help see where our final levy will need to be set at.
Maintenance: the city clean up day we had 28 people use the service and some of those came with over 1 car load. Gary has stated the fall discharge of the ponds. Gary reported that 6 people who received smoke test letters have not responded. The rest have either taken care of the issue or have a plan in place to. MN Rural water will come to take a video of those lines. Flushing of the fire hydrants will take place on Oct 28 and 29. Wea re trimming the trees in the boulevards and sweeping the streets as the leaves fall. Kieser is hosting A Rural water meeting on the October 22, at the community center. Gary will go out to the Olson pasture to finish the cleanup. Not that the ground is harder, and it stays dry.
Clerk Update: The camera for the city office is here. However, after reading more in-depth, there is not a lot of storage on it without a subscription. There is also for you to review for discussion next month, a policy as to the viewing of the video and where to store it. There is also information in your packets about the garbage collection and our contract is not really due until 2026, however, do we want to see if they will break the contract if they insist on going to all cans? The clerk will look into other possibilities for garbage collection.
Mayor update: Hope expressed concerns that the paper has not been to any of our meetings or major events in the community to have articles placed in the paper. Especially with our major road project going on in town.
Ordinances: Chapter 90 Health and Safety Regulations. The seconded reading of the ordinance was had, and the only changes the council felt need to be done were listing that the enforcement agency was going to be the Sheriff office. Motion by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Kurt Grobe. Vote 5-0, motion carried.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by Jason Kluender and seconded by Kurt Grobe. Vote 5-0, motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted by
Doris M Troll
City Clerk/ Treasurer
