Slayton City Council met on Monday, August 2nd. In attendance were Councilmembers Kate Harmsen, Dean Ackerman, Blake Heronimus and Mayor Miron Carney. Chris Jacobson was absent. Also present were Josh Malchow, City Administrator and Kari Carlson, City Clerk.
The Council approved the agenda, minutes from July 19th meeting and claims for the week. Malchow did provide an update to the Council on the soil contamination at the GLC property. The official results aren’t back yet but he spoke with the individuals who did the samples. They did 5 total samples and just the initial one shows any level of contamination. The gentlemen didn’t feel it would be of huge concern by MPCA.
There was one item of old business to complete. This was the agreement with Lutheran Social Services for the meal site contract at the Senior Building in Slayton. LSS has agreed to replace, at their expense, any of their own equipment as well as pay 75% of the costs for replacement or repair of any other items in the kitchen. The Council approved the agreement with meals planned to start, open to the public, on August 16th.
Moving on to new business; the first item to discuss was the 2021 Murray County Ambulance Agreement. The cost to the City of Slayton (which is figured based on population numbers) is $20,100. The Council approved this contract and payment. They next approved resolution 08-02-2021 for the acceptance of the remaining COVID-19 funds in the amount of $104,441. This will be the second payment to the City of Slayton with the total amount being $208,882. Next was the approval for Carlson to attend the 2021 Advanced Clerk’s Academy. This is a 2 day training this fall. The Council approved this request. The next item on the agen
The next item on the agenda was the proposed concrete disposal permit for the city’s brush site. This was discussed at a previous meeting and now that the concrete pile has been cleaned up and moved away, the City has space to start collecting again. The Council hopes to see people utilize this for when they make improvements around their properties. The Council is working to have a permit that allows for this. Collectively, the group feels that not charging for small loads (less than 2 yards of concrete) seems reasonable. Councilmember Heronimus pointed out that it should be easy to use, not more difficult for the residents of Slayton. He also felt that encouraging them to improve their properties will also improve the look of our community. It was agreed that the proposed permit they were presented needed some adjustments still. Malchow will update the document and bring it to the next meeting.
The last item for the evening was an opportunity for Slayton to take part in a Small Cities Development Grant program. Lisa Graphenteen with DSI, was present to discuss the grant program with the Council and get their input. This is something Slayton has tried to do in the past as well. If they don’t get enough interest, they won’t move forward any further than the “Community Interest Assessment”. The program has options for Owner Occupied Housing, Rental Housing and Commercial. They also have new categories for Public Facilities, Street Scapes and Community Center. The financing options are based on income levels with everything from 100% deferred to a 70/30 split. The Council discussed different possibilities for the community and agreed to try and offer this program again. They passed a motion to move forward with the assessment and proceed from there.
With no other business, the meeting was adjourned. The next City Council meeting will be Monday, August 16th.
