Council Minutes, January 3, 2022

Posted: January 3, 2022

City of LeRoy MN – Council Meeting Minutes, January 3, 2022

A regular meeting of the LeRoy City Council was called to order by Mayor Ed Koppen on Monday, January 3, 2022, at 6:30 PM at the LeRoy Community Center with the following members present:  Mayor Ed Koppen, Council Members Ashley Huntley, Harold Shipman, Gerald Payne, Brian Thiel, Maintenance Employee Nick Sweeney, and City Clerk Patty White.
Also attending: Axel Gumbel, Caleb Hovde, and Leslie Kerr.  All stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Council reviewed the appointments to the standing committees.  Appointments to the standing committees for 2022 were made as follows:

  • Brian Thiel-Fire Protection; Service Award Recognition; Library Board
  • Harold Shipman-Streets & Alleys; Prairie Visions; Acting Mayor; Legal & Accounting; EDA
  • Ashley Huntley-Parks & Recreation; Ambulance Board; Cemetery & Tree Boards
  • Gerald Payne-Water & Sewer; EDA
  • Ed Koppen-Legal & Accounting; Public Buildings

Council reviewed the appointments to the appointed committees.  Appointments to the appointed committees for 2022 were made as follows:

  • Fire Relief Assn. Board Reps-Ashley Huntley, Patty White
  • City Attorney-Baudler, Maus, Forman, & King, LLP
  • City Auditor-Smith-Schafer & Associates, LTD
  • Official City Newspaper-Mower County Independent
  • Official Depositories-First National Bank, LeRoy; First State Bank Minnesota, LeRoy
  • City Engineer-Jones, Haugh & Smith
  • Fire Dept. Personnel Committee-Brian Thiel, Patty White, Caleb Hovde, Dan Feather
  • LeRoy EDA-Josh Diemer, Jody Morrow, Jan Dohlman, Sara Gerk, Axel Gumbel, Harold Shipman & Gerald Payne (council reps)
  • Library Board-Vada Dahl, Shirley Miller, Rhonda Newton, Leslie Kerr, Donna Johnson, Georgia Eastvold, Wendy Vikre, and Brian Thiel (council rep)

Motion by Huntley, second by Shipman to approve the appointments to the standing committees and to the appointed committees and to appoint Jan Dohlman to another term on the EDA board.  Motion carried 5-0.  Motion by Payne, second by Huntley to name Koppen, Shipman, and White as official signatories on city accounts.  Motion carried 5-0.  Motion by Thiel to allow read-only access to the city accounts for all city council members.  Second by Payne.  Motion carried 5-0.

Caleb Hovde presented the slate of officers for the LeRoy Volunteer Fire Department.  The officers include Caleb Hovde-Chief; Dan Feather-Assistant Chief; Brent Dohlman-Captain; Chase Huntley-Lieutenant; Nick Sweeney-Fire Marshall/Emergency Management; Jake Payne & Tim Freerksen-Training Officers; Jason Bastian-Secretary.  Motion by Shipman, second by Thiel to accept the election results and the slate of officers for the LeRoy Volunteer Fire Department for 2022.  Motion carried 5-0.  Hovde noted the department currently has 22 members; the service responded to 26 calls in both the city and rural service areas in 2021.  The extrication tools have been purchased and placed in service.  He does not foresee any large purchases on the horizon.  The annual dance will be held on August 28, 2022; the fire relief association will be conducting a raffle that will include a four-wheeler and some guns along with other prizes.  This drawing will be held during the dance.  Tickets will go on sale as soon as the gambling permit is received.  Hovde reported there are four students participating in the explorer program; this program is covered through the Boy Scouts of America.

Consent Agenda:

  • Motion by Huntley, second by Shipman to approve the items included in the consent agenda. Motion carried 5-0.
  • Sweeney reported the new generators from the DNR are here and are operational. Huntley noted she has heard good comments about the snow removal.  Council commended Sweeney and his crew for the snow removal.

Police Report:

  • There was no police report due to the absence of the assigned deputy.

Public Input Time:

  • No one present had anything to bring during public input time.

Standing Committee Reports:

  • Huntley noted she will bring the 2021 LeRoy Area Ambulance report to the February council meeting.
  • The EDA report was deferred to later in the meeting.

State Highway 56 Project:

  • White presented letters received from MnDOT pertaining to the Hwy 56 project.

Parks:

  • Koppen noted the restrooms in both parks could be improved; he would still like to see more people involved with park improvements. Payne questioned if a committee should be formed to further look at park improvements.
  • Sweeney noted the restrooms in both parks should be painted; some trees should also be trimmed. The hedge in North Baumbach Park also needs to be trimmed.

Land Use Permits:

  • There were no land use permits for council to review.

Communications File:

  • Koppen reported he received a telephone call from a constituent about the audit bills from the past three years. These bills will be available for review at the February meeting.
  • There was nothing else in the communications file to review.

City Positions-Maintenance Department; Clerk Assistant?:

  • This was deferred to later in the meeting.

Street Project for 2022:

  • Sweeney reported he has not heard anything from Colton from Heartland Asphalt.

Strong & John Street-Right of Way Infringement:

  • There was nothing new to report on this topic.
  • Koppen noted he had received a comment about the lack of snow removal at the property located at 102 East Main Street. White will send a letter to the record of owner.

Security Cameras Update:

  • There was nothing new to report on this topic.

Service Award Recognition:

  • Koppen commended Blas Avila and his brother-in-law for the prompt cleanup of the roof that was blown over in the December 15 storms. This property is located at 133 West Main Street.
  • Koppen commended Dwayne & Sandi Anderson for their very beautiful Christmas light display. This display brings so much joy to those people driving through this.
  • Koppen commended the city maintenance department for the excellent snow removal and for watching the weather. He also commended White for gently prodding Mr. Avila to get the roof cleaned up.
  • Axel Gumbel gave a shout-out to all the businesses and individuals that donated prizes to the EDA Advent Calendar promotion.

Nuisance Properties:

  • Council questioned if there had been any further conversation with Jay Hardecopf. Koppen noted he had not seen Mr. Hardecopf for some time.  Council felt the need to keep this conversation going.  Council also reviewed a letter from Alexander Lucas about his two properties here in town.

Snow Removal:

  • Sweeney reported he did try out a snow pusher for the skid loader. This pusher was too big; Sweeney reported he would like to build a snow pusher, but he hasn’t had the time.  He noted a box blade would be handy to push the snow.  Koppen felt if the snow is being moved now, to keep doing snow removal as it has been done, and utilize Cordell Stockdale with his payloader when necessary.

North Speed Limit Sign:

  • Sweeney hopes to get the sign installed within the next week.

ARPA Funds:

  • There was nothing new to report on these funds.

Councilor Huntley left at 7:51 PM.

EDA Report:

  • Payne reported a new administrator has been hired at Wildwood Grove. She will start after the middle of January.  The EDA is in the process of bringing all the accounting back into WWG.  He did note this will take some time.  WWG is working on getting the accounts payable and accounts receivable back to a current status, but Payne noted this is a work in progress.  He felt WWG and the EDA is moving in the right direction with this.
  • Koppen noted he is still concerned with the handling of funds at WWG. He feels it best to create a second position at city hall to oversee the day to day at WWG.  He felt the workload at the clerk’s office could be spread out.  Koppen is looking at this for the long-term; he noted this could be looked at or towards the end of the year to get this budgeted for.  Payne felt it best to work through where things are at now; the council and EDA can continue to monitor the situation between WWG and city hall.  Koppen also questioned if it would be possible to combine positions between the maintenance department, city hall, and WWG.  Sweeney noted this could become an issue with licensing for another maintenance department employee.
  • Thiel commented that any city-owned senior housing facility would most likely be subsidized by the city. Council would like to see where WWG is at be the middle of the third quarter to further review these issues.
  • Thiel felt WWG should hire the people they need to cover the financial facets of the facility. Koppen noted he is encouraged by the changes being made.  Shipman noted the city council needs to give their full support to the EDA.
  • Council also discussed the maintenance department and how best to handle the duties of the department with the long-term illness of John Jones.
  • Payne reported the Ford and International buses have been sold. An offer on both Freightliners has been received in the amount of $120,000.
  • Koppen questioned about the mobile home court; he noted this does not appear to be an active court since it is not being advertised as such. Koppen questioned if there were a non-compete clause in place that would hinder anyone else from beginning a mobile home court.
  • White reported CEDA Coordinator Rebecca Charles is working on a redevelopment grant for the 127 West Main Street property (the former Wheels To Go building). Motion by Shipman, second by Payne to pass Resolution 2022-01, a resolution for the municipality approving the application.  Motion carried 4-0.  Motion by Thiel, second by Shipman to pass Resolution 2022-02, a resolution Committing Local Match and Authorizing Contract Signature.  Motion carried 4-0.

Being no further business to come before the council, the meeting was adjourned on a motion by Shipman, second by Payne at 8:30 PM.

– Ed Koppen, Mayor

– Patty A. White, City Clerk-Treasurer

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