By Jenny Kirk After adding an item to the agenda, correcting the meeting time on the minutes and then approving the agenda, minutes and claims during its Monday, May 15 meeting, the Slayton City Council had a lengthy notice and communications discussion revolving around next steps to take regarding a nuisance ordinance violation.
Police Chief Jeremy Steinle reported that Slayton Auto owner John Boynton was served notice on April 7, noting that the letter detailed the nuisance violations, what he needed to do to come into compliance with the nuisance ordinance, the time frame of 30 days to get that done and his options for contesting the nuisance or appealing it. “As of this point, he did not follow through on any appeals of the violation,” Steinle said. “It’s 30 days past, and he has not done anything to correct the nuisance violation. So I met with (Murray County Attorney) Travis Smith, to go over the procedure of how we’re going to go forward with it.”
According to Steinle, Smith said that the city can, without any court order, go in and abate the nuisance on its own, based on the abatement procedure.
“We’ve already given him the 9509C, or if the city should retain its own engineer. Steinle said the nuisance official does have the proper authority and that Smith solidified his recommendation after seeing the structural photos, which were taken during an inspection on May 12.
Council member Kate Harmsen said she was glad they do have photograph evidence. She then questioned whether tearing the whole thing down or doing just the minimum was the right way to go. She also noted that the presence of adjoining buildings made things even more tricky.
City Administrator Josh Malchow reported that there are two engineers already involved in the snow-damage incident that caused the initial collapse of Boynton’s structure, with both Boynton and Carla Goedtke, whose business is next to Slayton Auto, having engineers representing the interest of each individual claim, not together. Steinle said the engineers did initial reports but that he believes both are working on follow-up reports as well. He, as well as the council members, wants to see those reports, though he doubts Boynton will share it with anyone.
The council discussed what type of costs might be incurred if the city intervenes. Some of those present believed the cost could end up being well into the six-digit range. Steinle pointed out that after abating the property, an assessment is done. “A judgement can be filed against the owner of the property along with that,” he said.
Councilman Blake Heronimus questioned whether the city could buy the property if a lien is put on it and Malchow clarified that the city could do the special assessment process and not the lien. “I think it’s likely we’re going to end up paying for this either way,” Heronimus said. Harmsen said she liked the idea of trying to save money, such as court costs and so on, but believes the council still needs the critical information because of the adjoining buildings. “Right now, it seems to be a fight between their insurance companies,” she said. “If we go forward with your plan, their claims could be exacerbated by what we do. Would Grinnell then sue the city for additional damage that we did? This is a really big can of worms.”
The idea of negotiating via a “hold harmless” agreement was mentioned, as was the probability that other communities have gone through similar scenarios and that more advice should be sought from those sources. Steinle said City Attorney Merlyn Anderson was agreeable to offering recommendations as well.
Steinle said he thought it was appropriate to, at a minimum, charge Boynton with a misdemeanor violation of the nuisance ordinance because he did not follow through with what he needed to do. Heronimus said he didn’t think that would be out of line. “A few weeks ago, I maybe was not in favor of (the misdemeanor charge), but with the lack of cooperation and effort here, I think it is appropriate now,” Steinle said.
Malchow pointed out that the city would likely be setting a precedence. “Any action that we do take judiciously is ammo for any future proceedings,” he said. After a few more minutes of discussion, the council decided to hold off on action until more information is obtained.
Malchow then updated the council on a variety of items pending. He reported that the next steps for Operation Prairie Venture, Lynn Johnson’s group that has been focused on the assisted living/memory care project, includes a call/ meeting with USDA to “really dive deep into the nitty gritty” of what does funding resources through them look like, whether it’s a loan, grant or otherwise. Malchow added that the Broadband Grant is rolling along nicely, that they recently had a wonderful Zoom meeting with every stakeholder with the Housing Partnership and that the creek bank at the golf course is looking pretty good. Malchow finished the updates by highlighting a few of the preliminary findings for comp and class.
In new business, the council approved an assessing contract with Erik Skogquist, a Senior Accredited Minnesota Assessor. “For the years of ’24 and ’25, it’s a 5% increase,” Malchow said. “They do a fantastic job.” The council also voted in favor of submitting a Letter of Interest in regards to an electric vehicle (EV) Charger Grant. Carney said he met with Jason Walker recently about the grant opportunity. “There’s been a number of other communities in the region who got these,” Carney said. “I think it’s a Level 2 charging station. From what I understand, the grant would get the infrastructure in place, but then the city would be responsible for the operation and maintenance.”
The council also approved a request to take employees Clayton Hartle and Wyatt Staples off probationary status. Afterwards, the council went into closed session to discuss a possible offer of real property (owned by Xcel Energy) within the city of Slayton.
The next council meeting is at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 5.
