KIESTER CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Monday, February 10, 2025
THESE ARE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL
The Kiester City council held a regular meeting on Monday, February 10, 2025, 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. City Maintenance: Gary Skartland; City Clerk: Doris Troll; Members from the public: Marcia Dahleen, Dale Haukoos, Al Bauman, Michele Alphs, Christopher Leistra.
Agenda: Motion to accept agenda, with the additions of houses on State & 2nd street. By Jason Kluender, seconded by Kurt Grobe, vote 5-0 motion carried.
Council minutes: Motion to accept January 13, 2025, minutes with corrections, by Hope Bauman seconded by Jason Kluender, vote 5-0 motion carried.
Claims: Motion by Hope Bauman seconded by Brandon Hagenson approving claims totaling $74,332.67 vote 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 2-26-2025 if not paid by Kurt Grobe, seconded by Brandon Hagenson, vote 5-0, motion carried.
Building Permits: Presented permits for J Olson. Motion by Brandon Hagenson Seconded by Kurt Grobe to approve. Vote 5-0, Motion carried.
Church Building: Dale Haukoos and Christopher Leistra, were present to inform the council they have a potential buyer for the Methodist church building, and they were wondering if the council would let the property be classified as residential and further down the road to a multi-purpose use? Motion by Brandon Hagenson Seconded by Hope Bauman to let the building to be classified as a residential building. Vote 5-0, motion carried.
House on State and 2nd Street: Brandon had talked to another community about what they do about the houses in disrepair. He reported they send a letter with pictures with a timeline of securing the property or taking it down. They can also contact the city to discuss the possibility of turning it over to the city. They give them a 30-day deadline of responding in writing to the city what their plan is. Those houses are not currently condemned. The clerk received a request to draft a letter and send it with the pictures certified. And then we will proceed from there.
Ambulance: Hope reported the ambulance would like permission to add Lisa Sunding to the squad. Brandon Hagenson moved to add Lisa to seconded by Kurt Grobe, vote 5-0, motion carried.
Fire Department: Michele was present to ask that the council roll over the 2 CDs that they have maturing into a 6mo high-rate interest CD. The clerk had a resolution 2025-02 to roll over CD 6824 Motion by Jason Kluender, seconded by Hope Bauman, vote 5-0, motion carried. The clerk had a resolution 2025-03 to roll over CD 6978, motion by Jason Kluender seconded by Brandon Hagenson, vote 50, motion carried. The clerk will roll them over when they get to their due date before the next meeting.
The fish fry had a great turnout. They had ordered 120lbs of fish more than last year and we did not run out.
Library: January’s number were 88 adults and 1 junior. The winner of the monthly adult reading program was Al Bauman. The reading program goes to the end of March. The library is asking anyone who is interested in the event on May 15, 2025, Ann Peterson, who is the Former Museum Manager at Minnesota State Public School in Owatonna. To please contact the library so they can know numbers to find here presentation.
Liquor Store: David has drawn up ads for the sale of the Liquor Store for the city to review. This is if they were interested in putting the liquor store up for sale. After discussion, it was determined that the city would like to see if there is any interest from an outside party in purchasing the store and inventory. The additions to the as added Larry and Brandon as point of contact. Motion to run the for-sale ads by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Jason Kluender, vote 5-0, motion carried. The clerk was asked to run the ad on the city website, Facebook page, and paper. She was also asked to get a copy by posting up on the EDA Facebook page. They also wanted the public to know that the store will be open through this process.
Eda: There are still monies left for the facade grant and the Legion was thinking about replacing their sign.
At our next meeting, we will view the electronic sign and how it works. The office space at city hall has been rented out. There is a “Paint the Town” grant from SMIF that we are looking into for the crosswalks and picnic tables. There is also a grant out there by the Taylor corporation for a healthy community. And we are thinking about applying with the thought of putting up a pickle ball court and a basketball hoop up at the park. Celia from CEDA has been in contact with the owners of Lil Rebels in Wells and has thought of expanding. Now we have to look for a spot for them. There was more discussion of the electronic sign and at this time, both the council and the EDA will table it.
Budget: the audit is next Monday, and I am working on getting everything ready. Doris also want the council to be aware that there was a clerk at the Liquor store that went over the $5100.00 threshold for us to be collecting and paying into Pera. The clerk checks the numbers at the 6 and 9 months into the current year to make sure no goes over and everything was good.
Public Comment: A resident brought up that even though we are done with the budget for 2025, we need to look at it for 2026. None. They also feel that all the department heads need to get together for a meeting to see what they all want and need and which department could go with less to make it easier on the overall levy. This resident also commented that they think it is great that the council is trying to keep the taxes low for the community. There was also a resident comment that they feel the electronic sign would not be a good idea.
One of the council members had a resident ask them if there was anything that could be done about the drug deals they see going on in town. The only thing that can be done is to notify the Sheriff’s department.
Maintenance: We had a water leak on a State street by the bowling alley that has been repaired. This is also a line that will be replaced during the infrastructure project. The 1st quarter water samples have been sent into the state. There is a resident on a 3rd street that needs to replace the valve in the basement of their house. We will have to have the pipe froze for them to work on it as the curb stops in out under the tree in front of the house. The state will come to get samples for the PFAS. Up at the park there has been damage to the slide. Gary has presented estimates for the part. The council has asked him to see if there is anywhere else that they could get the part from. It was also brought up to check to see what our deductible is for the park equipment, so see if we should file a claim. Gary also presented the quotes for the drop ceiling and lighting for the community center. Motion to go with the least expensive of the two bids was made by Brandon Hagenson, seconded by Hope Bauman, vote 5-0, motion carried. Kapplinger Street is not included in the infrastructure project and Gary is working on bids to have the lines replaced from the main to the curbs. And there are three lots have lines stubbed in and are asking if the council wants those also replaced, or to get the bid without them. It was determined that they can be left out and if someone is going to build those lots, the city can address it. The slide at the park has been damaged and there is a quote for repairs. One question asked why wasn’t this in the budget for this year. The quotes were not given to us in time. We also looked back at the tapes to see if we could determine who did the damage, however nothing was found. It was also noted that the maker of the slide has changed the design, so you have to buy the whole slide, not just a part of the slide like in the past. The quote that was given to the council was $4200.00. There is a way that the slide could just be eliminated. However, the price for that piece Gary did not have a quote for it. The council asked Gary to look to see if there is somewhere else that might sell the part for less expense? As well as seeing what the insurance deductible is to see if maybe we should file a claim. There was a discussion about replacing the ceiling and lights at the community center. Gary was waiting on a quote yet and he was informed to take the low bid. He was about to let Hope and Brandon know what the outcome was.
Clerk Update: The clerk asked the council to decide on one property that we need for the infrastructure project. Jason from Bolton & Menk gave the council 3 suggestions.
First, is the do-nothing option. We could just stop the project at the existing manhole on the north end of East Street and not touch the existing easement or sewer line out in the Hummer field.
Second, we could try and replace the existing casting with a lower profile casting or try and put a flat plate on the structure and try to seal it up to make it waterproof.
The third option would be to realign the sewer so that the sewer line angles across the field to the west edge of the field and put a new manhole where that line would intersect the existing line. This would eliminate the manhole that is out in the middle of the field, but the new manhole would potentially need to be farmed around on the edge of the field. We would keep the manhole outside of the existing farmed area, if possible, but to keep the new manhole off the Olson property we may encroach on the existing farmed area a little bit and the new manhole will stick out of the ground as well. My recommendation is still to try and proceed with the currently planned alignment but second would be to realign the sewer to the west edge of the field. If option three is desired, we would need to do a change order for the contract and work with Hummer to revise the easement agreement again.
Motion to go with the third option by Jason Kluender, seconded by Kurt Grobe, vote 5-0, motion carried
The clerk informed the council that she will be out of the office on Tuesday pm and Wednesday for a funeral and then back in to finish up what the auditors need for the start of the audit next Monday.
Mayor Update: She is waiting on employee evaluations from council and also would like Gary to do for Adam.
Motion to adjourn made by Jason Kluender and seconded by Brandon Hagenson. Vote 5-0, motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted by
Doris M Troll
City Clerk/ Treasurer
