The City Council met on Monday, June 6th. In a previous meeting they approved the hiring of Jackie Giesen as the new City Deputy Clerk.
The agenda was approved with additions and corrections. The claims were approved. There were no notices or communications to report but City Administrator Josh Malchow wished a warm welcome to Jackie Giesen to the City crew. Malchow also reported that he will be getting in touch with the roofing company to get that fixed as the building is very dirty in appearance.
The first item of unfinished business was the Rupp Variance Appeal. Malchow felt the topic that has arisen is what the City is going to do with the sewer issue in that area. Malchow also felt Doug Rupp hasn’t pressed the issue lately and the City just needs to decide what they are doing. Blake Heronimus feels that no matter what happens with the sewer, the variance request makes the property usable otherwise it is kind of a “useless” property. Malchow also feels that there needs to be something on the record regarding the sewer location on this property. Heronimus suggested approving the variance appeal as presented with the stipulation of 10 feet on center utility easement on the sewer main.
Malchow also reported that the City of Slayton received a phone call from Xcel regarding the data information they had requested. They gave the city a single sheet letter with very little information saying the value was 20 million dollars and really just delayed the request and was a waste of time. The Council is very frustrated and feels Xcel is pushing them off. The question was asked if it’s worth having someone from Xcel come to a meeting to explain how important this issue is. The Public Utilities Commission is who will determine the value if the City of Slayton decides to break off on their own. Heronimus suggested going on our own to get the information that the city wants. This will be an expense to the City, but this way the information is done by an independent party. Malchow will get the cost estimate for the Council for their next meeting. They also requested having John Marshall with Xcel present to explain the letter they sent.
The Council moved on to new business. The city wells are inspected every three years and the drop pipes are replaced every time because of the corrosion on them. Changing over to plastic drop pipes will require variable frequency pumps placed on the top of the well pumps. Mahon is requesting they be replaced with plastic piping to prolong the length of life for these. He provided some cost analysis and the Council approved moving forward with this project.
The RV wastewater dump in town, which is located near the public works shop, was used recently and a basement near the location had sewer backup in their basement. They had to jet out the line and this fixed the issue. Mahon had a list of costs that this residence incurred and is asking the Council to consider covering these costs. The Council felt this was unfortunate and understands the frustration, but agreed that it is not the responsibility of the City to pay for. They passed a motion reflecting this.
Hospice requested a liquor license to sell liquor during a car show event at the fair grounds on July 16th. The Council approved this request.
The last item was the ongoing issue with some of the civil defense sirens in the City. They aren’t always going off and are glitchy. City Works Director Weston Mahon is working with a local electrician and siren specialists to get this working again. It does appear that some of the poles these are on may need replacement, so is something to consider. They are going to look into other options, such as updating the technology they are using for the sirens. There is one at the fire hall that could be moved somewhere else if they wanted to consider that.
With no other business the meeting was adjourned.
