By Jenny Kirk The Slayton City Council approved five items of new business and a single item of unfinished business at its Monday, May 1 meeting at City Hall.
The council thoroughly discussed the fee schedule for rental of the community room and senior center, which are part of Ordinance No. 345. After opening and closing a public hearing, the council voted in favor of raising the community room/senior center rent to $75 from the previous amount of $50. Rental of just the library room remains $25. “The $75 is all-inclusive (rental of community room/senior center/library room), or it’s $25 for just the library part,” City Administrator Josh Malchow said. “With the $75 rent, $25 of it would go to the library account.”
The justification for the increase is due to the access of the bathrooms and that renters of one room oftentimes flow into a second room even though they didn’t rent it. The city has had to allow groups renting the senior center to also have access to the library room because that’s where the restrooms are located. The community room also has bathrooms, but it’s been reported that some people tend to use the senior center along with the community room without paying for both. If the library is already rented, the fee for the other two areas would be a total of $50.
In new business, the council approved a training request for police department secretary Jackie Jurrens. Council member Kate Harmsen noted that she had inquired about the training prior to the meeting and fully supports it. “It’s great because Jackie is the one handling the evidence and they’re kind of creating new policies and straightening that up a little bit, but I believe Day 1, Understanding Crime Scene Processing and Procedures is more geared toward officers themselves,” Harmsen said. “(Police Chief) Jeremy (Steinle) indicated that one of the sheriff’s deputies is attending this as well. I’m hoping (Jurrens and the deputy) can come back and share what they’ve learned.”
The council then approved the CDBG-CV Broadband Grant Admin proposal with Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership. Malchow said the city will pay $34,000 for the administration of broadband installation, administration of funds, data collection and reporting, technical assistance and mileage associated with the project, adding that the cost will come out of the $202,000 that they have for the grant.
A motion to approve the 2023 pool and park & rec hires also passed. The pool employees include 24 individuals, five of whom are new. On the parks side, there are seven hires, two of whom are new. Harmsen asked for clarification on Atalie Rosenbrook, who was listed on both areas. Malchow said he was extremely impressed with all the applicants, stating they were top notch. He then explained that Rosenbrook switched from full-time at the pool last year to full-time with park and rec this year but that she is also willing to be a sub as needed for the pool since she still has her lifeguard certification.
The council then approved three temporary liquor licenses, one of which is for Hospice of Murray Co for its Antique Car Show this summer. The other two were for the Murray County Agricultural Society for use during the Murray County Fair. Since the organization needs the license for five days and the state only offers a 1-4 day permit, a four-day license and a one-day license was necessary. Council member Dean Ackerman, who is vice president of the Ag Society, abstained from the votes.
Council member Chris Jacobson was absent from the meeting, which began with approval of the agenda, minutes and claims. The council then covered a wide range of pending items, with solid discussion on each of them. Malchow noted that Operation Prairie Venture has another meeting next week, so he should have more information on the possible Golden Living Center Redevelopment to report soon.
Malchow also updated the council about the Small Cities Development Grant, stating that pre-applications went out about a month prior. “We had a strong response,” he said. “It looks like with rental and owner- occupied, we’ll have more than enough applications. We have 19 owner-occupied, four rental and four commercial, which is great.”
In speaking to several golf course board members, Malchow said it appears that there is a consensus that doing a deep-rooted native prairie grass on the slope by hole 8 versus rip rapping would be a better solution. Not only would it be much cheaper, but there is also very little maintenance involved, he said. Mayor Miron Carney inquired about the possibility of qualifying for the pollinator program. Malchow said he would check into it.
Regarding the Maple Avenue project, Malchow reported that both engineers said that asphalt probably wouldn’t be a problem in terms of milling and overlaying but that any concrete, including curb and sidewalk, which are part of the project scope, would be tough to get done in 2023. “Concrete has been pretty booked,” he said.
With the reality that the project isn’t likely to get underway in 2023, the council then shifted toward getting an early start for 2024. Since the city can’t specially assess without a feasibility report by a certified engineer, the council directed Malchow to have both engineers prepare a proposal for a feasibility report on Maple Street. Council member Blake Heronimus suggested getting the project bid in November and December, so they can get on everybody’s list right away.
The next council meeting is slated for 7 p.m. on Monday, May 15 at City Hall.
