KIESTER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Monday, September 11, 2023
THESE ARE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL

The Kiester City council held a regular meeting on Monday, September 11, 2023, at the Kiester Community Center.

Mayor Hope Bauman called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Council Members Present: Larry Dahleen, Brandon Hagenson. Jason Kluender, Kurt Grobe, City Maintenance: Gary Skartland; City Clerk: Doris Troll; Members from the public were Vickie Savick, Marcia Dahleen, Tina Thrond, Carol Rinehart, Shelia Grobe, and Nicole Rosberg.

Oath of Office: The clerk gave the oath of office to the new Mayor Hope Bauman and to the newly appointed council member, Kurt Grobe.

We had a moment of silence for the victims of the 9-11 tragedy.

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

Council minutes: Motion to accept the August 28, 2023, by Brandon Hagenson, seconded by Larry Dahleen. Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Claims: Motion by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Larry Dahleen approving claims totaling $16,903.68 Vote of 5-0 motion carried.

Financials. Motion by Larry Dahleen, seconded by Hope Bauman, approving financials as presented. Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Past Due Water Billing: Motion to shut off on a 9-25-2023 if not paid, by Brandon Hagenson, seconded by Kurt Grobe Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Ambulance: the ambulance will a hold pork feed on Sunday, September 24 at the community center.

Fire Department: none

Library: We will have an author in October.

Liquor Store: We are finishing up the fundraiser for area fire departments. The new hours of Monday and Tuesday 3pm to 8 pm, and Wednesday to Saturday Noon to 8 pm. are in place.

Animal Control: we will have to move the animal cages as the Fire department is ready to put the old truck away. There was a discussion as to where to move the cages. We talked about using the recycling center, however there are too many keys out for the building. There is also no heat in the building. There was a talk about in the city garage.

Gary will have a conversation with Bruce to see if they could work something out.

Public Comment: On resident asked about the committees and missing those meetings. When they chose the committee, it was a commitment to be at the respectful meeting. She was told there is nothing about missing committee meetings, however, this is for council members to miss more than 3 meetings in a row.
Another Resident expressed she feels the cats would not to be in a heated building it is just one for a day, they would be at least out of the elements.

Maintenance Report: Minnesota Rural water is in town for a general inspection and logging of the items that we have. An example are the fire hydrants, curb stops, they will then put together a listing of what we have and hand it over to the city to keep updated, this will allow the city to do long-term planning with what will need to be replaced and when. It will give us the cost when new what and how much to depreciate so we can keep better track of repairs to each property and the major lines.

Clerk Update: The monies that you want to move from the lottery account to the main liquor store account,
How would you like me to do this, an electronic transfer, or a physical check? The council had chose to have a physical check written out for the move.

The proposal for setting up credit card processing for the water billing and automatic withdrawal each month. Banyon is waving the $900.00 module fee and all we would have to pay on the banyon side is the $195.00 support fee a year. To process a credit card, the fees would be processed and charged to the resident. Motion by Hope Bauman Seconded by Brandon Hagenson to go ahead and set it up Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Medical insurance, we are waiting on the rates for next year, the employees will have a choice of if we want the conventional policy or a HSA policy. The council will have to figure out what they want they would like the city’s contribution to be.

401K still waiting for information.

Items that will need to be set by ordinance if the council wants. I am still looking for examples to raise fire rates; Fires from $1000.00 to $1500.00 and Car accidents from $500.00 to 750.00. Raises for the council.

There is a copy of ordinances that we would like to put into play to help with making the town look better.
Please read them and get back to Doris by 9-20-23 so she has time to compile all the responses so that we may have a first reading at the next meeting,

The Clerk reread the moratorium on Cannabis. Motion to accept and republish by Hope Bauman seconded Kurt Grobe, Vote 5-0, motion carried, the clerk will republish and then it will be in place after the paper comes out.

Mayor Update: We are working on the budget and composing a letter to send to the residents who we feel need to clean up their yard. There was a question regarding the smoke test. There are no letters out there for samples to let the residents know. So the clerk will have to create one.
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Jason Kluender seconded by Brandon Hagenson, Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Respectfully Submitted by
Doris M Troll
City Clerk/
Treasurer