The Slayton City Council met in regular session on October 21, 2024. All members were present. The agenda was approved with one addition, to set the Canvass Board after the election. The minutes were approved with one correction, Councilman Dean Ackerman and Councilwoman Kate Hamsen were the ‘no’ votes on the Champ Drive vote. Claims and cash balances were also approved. Under Notices and Communications, City Administrator Josh Malchow confirmed that he and Councilman Blake Heronimus will be going to Minneapolis to negotiate with Xcel Energy on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.
In regard to Wonder World, Malchow reported that the county has committed to contributing a forgivable contribution, if the project is fully funded. The $750,000, which comes from their reserve fund, will be amortized over 15 years. EDA has proposed a similar arrangement of $100,000 from their surplus account. Also they are waiting to hear if ARPA can/will take $150,000 from what is left over from the Covid account. These combined with what the School District, City and REC have already committed to giving, brings the total to $1,000,000 from the county, which is very significant in regard to community participation. Wonder World Representative, Ashley Haken, along with Malchow, Justine Wettschreck and Jason Walker will be meeting soon with the architect Wonder World has been working with, to discuss zoning, parking and other regulations.
The council passed resolutions for the Maple Avenue Project, these include: Declare the Cost to be Assessed and Call for the Final Assessment Hearing.
The next topic was the city lagoon treatment plan and recommendations for treatment plans. The council had information from TEAMLAB on their product, T195 Mega Bugs Plus. They also met virtually, with Mark Wallette from EnBiorganic Technologies regarding a bioaugmentation solution. Following the short presentation, the council discussed the situation and ultimately decided to wait until we get the results on the feasibility study that is presently going on. There is no emergent need currently to make any decision on this.
Finally, they set as the time to meet on November 7, 2024 @ 7:30am to canvass the election. Meeting adjourned.
