The Slayton City Council met on Monday, November 1st. All members were in attendance and the meeting was called to order. There was one person present for open forum, Eric Pauli, Community Relations Manager with Xcel Energy. He wanted to touch base with the City of Slayton and let them know that they are aware of the City’s Franchise agreement being ready for renewal. Pauli recapped that he had spoken with City Administrator Josh Malchow over the last several months. The topic of adding a Franchise Fee was brought up, also was the inquiry of the possibility of the City of Slayton creating their own municipality. He inquired as to any issues that have led the discussion in this direction and if there is anything Xcel can help with. Malchow responded to Pauli, explaining that Xcel hasn’t done anything wrong, it is just something the City of Slayton feels they need to research and look into their options for the City’s Residents going forward. The best solution is being sought. This solution could be doing nothing, or it could be making a change for the future. At this point, it is in the very first stages of research on the City’s part. Pauli thanked the Council for the time and stressed that he is here to help in any way he can.
The claims for the month were reviewed and approved. There was one item under pending items. JD 17 has a need for repair and Malchow had heard back from Travis Radke, County Ditch Inspector, who said it wouldn’t happen any longer this fall.
Lisa Graphanteen was present to review the Small Cities Development Grant Application with the Council which needs to be submitted by November 17th. The Council approved the application for submittal. They also approved the resolution to designate a Slum and Blight district in the City of Slayton. They also approved a motion on Citizen Participation Plan. They next approved the local match resolution. Then, lastly approved the Mayor to sign all necessary documents. A public hearing for this was set for Tuesday, January 18th at the City Council meeting.
Next on the agenda was the new squad car request which is in the 2022 budget. The request is coming now because it takes so long to get items right now. They will be switching from Ford to Dodge this time around, partly due to State Bid cost and partly due to some mechanical issues with the Fords. The cutoff for 2022 will be happening in December this year. Police Chief Steinle did feel this was a good move, transitioning to the Dodge Durango and also stated they should be able to reuse many items from the old squad. The next item was the main
The next item was the maintenance and operations grant for the airport. This will be for FY2022 which started July 1, 2021, and FY2023 - Resolution 11-1-2021. The main item to note is the reimbursement of $15,569 for FY2022 and FY2023 for maintenance and operations.
Moving on to the next item of new business; the Council discussed the Broadband Grant RFP for the broad environmental assessment for the project. The Council approved the posting of the RFP to move forward in the project process.
Lastly, was the increase in price for the new 2022 plow truck. Weston Mahon, City Works Director was informed that the price went up by $3,297 and this needed to come back to the Council for approval. The Council approved this.
There was nothing else to discuss and the meeting was adjourned.
