by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The Garretson City Council met in regular session on Monday, February 14. While the public portion of the meeting was brief, the Council covered quite a bit of ground, opting to seek bids for water main placement on Dows and approving a reimbursement to the museum.
Jessica Fueston, filling in for the city finance officer, began with a report on natural gas prices. Garretson's price was down to $1.07 from $1.12, which should help relieve some of the pressure on natural gas customers.
Costs are still substantially higher than prior years and are not likely to decrease any time soon. There was no update on how much gas has been used so far this winter, but Mayor Greg Beaner pointed out that Garretson did lock in rates at 100% of its normal usage. This means the city is not seeing some of the cost increases that other communities are experiencing, and the higher market price will help the City recover some funds when it comes time to sell back any gas that wasn't used. This should help reduce prices later in the year.
Mayor Beaner then introduced the council to Paetyn Dreckman, who has been hired as City Finance Officer. Dreckman will replace longtime employee Anna Uhl, who accepted a position with Alliance Communications at the beginning of the year. Dreckman was previously employed at Wellmark/Blue Cross Blue Shield, and is married to Luke Dreckman, the manager of Palisades State Park.
Maintenance Supervisor Ryan Nussbaum gave an update to the council regarding a slurry seal project the city was going to pursue this spring for the roads in town. They were initially planning to piggyback with the City of Sioux Falls on the project. Normally, this reduces prices for smaller communities due to bulk pricing. Approximately 15 towns were signed on to this project.
Unfortunately, Nussbaum recommended pulling from that project. He pointed out the low bid was from ASCO, which was the same asphalt company that did 3rd Street. It is affiliated with Haarsma Construction, and with the multitude of issues the company caused Garretson, city employees and Mayor Beaner were extremely hesitant to utilize them again. The council concurred, asking Nussbaum whether another bid could be sought or if waiting a year to re-seal roads in Garretson was an option. Nussbaum responded that waiting would work. After a request from councilor Bill Hoskins to find out who the second-lowest bidder was, he agreed to find out whether using that company was an option.
He and Maintenance Supervisor Jordan Doane then gave an outline of their plan to connect the water main from Railroad Avenue to the fire hydrant in front of Nordstrom Storage on Dows. Currently, the main dead ends on each side of the railroad tracks. The stated benefits include not only giving water access to Central Valley Dairy, but would also help with water circulation and pressure to areas along Highway 11 between Dows and 5th Streets. The council gave the okay to pursue putting the project out for bids.
Next, the council considered a liquor license request from Anne Weber. Weber will be opening a new version of Annie's Coffeehouse in the Depot Square building on 3rd and Depot in April, and intends to serve wine and beer among her other offerings.
"This is really good news for our community," said Mayor Beaner.
After approving the 2022 contract for animal control with the Human Society, the council voted on a proposal to continue services with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department. The contracted hours were the same, with a slight increase in cost to $82,620 from $78,000.
Maintenance Supervisors Doane and Nussbaum then presented a request to eliminate their city cell phones and receive a stipend to use their personal cell phones instead. Prior to the meeting, they each carried two cell phones for personal and city business, and also traded off an emergency phone weekly. They were requesting to eliminate the city business phone and have their personal cell numbers given out. The council agreed to give a monthly stipend of $40, to be paid in a lump sum at the end of the year.
Doane next requested the council publicly voice their support in order to seek a grant from the Municipal League for flashing signs, which would give up to $2500 and allow the city to purchase two more school zone signs to be placed on Center Avenue by the daycare. The first two flashing light signs placed on Main were deemed successful in ensuring traffic slowed near the school. The council agreed, and voted in support of pursuing the grant.
The Garretson Historical Society then presented a request to provide a $1,000 subsidy and a $2,690 reimbursement for window repair on the museum. The window repair was due to the street project done on Main, as the building foundation was disturbed when the sidewalk was removed. Society president Bruce Brown explained that either a backhoe or jackhammer had moved five foundation blocks while removing some metal bracing, which broke two windows and their framing supports. The foundation had already been repaired and reimbursed by the city. As it was a cost incurred due to the construction, the council approved the request.
The final items on the agenda were the appointment of Sara Rogich to the Park Board, which had a new opening, approving a payment to Crooks for improvements on the natural gas pipeline junction, and a bid to repaint the shop attached to City Hall.
Rogich had indicated an interest to serve a while back, and Mayor Beaner thought she would make a good addition to the group.
The council agreed to the appointment, and agreed to the gas pipeline expansion. Funds had been set aside previously for the $56,000 cost, as Garretson is already operating near the top of pipeline limits. Further growth in natural gas usage is expected as the city grows, and this preventative step will ensure there isn't an interruption in services. Crooks operates as the financial head of the partnership formed between Garretson, Hartford, and Crooks for natural gas. Crooks will be contributing the bulk of the cost, and Hartford will be contributing the least.
While understanding that the shop is in desperate need of a new paint job, and that construction of the new city hall is at least two years out, the council requested at least one more bid be sought for painting the shop. The first bid had come in at $5,789 and did not include the City Hall portion of the building.
The council then voted to enter executive session. Upon exiting, they voted to increase Fueston's yearly salary to $43,000.
The next meeting of the city council will be held on Monday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Legion. The community is always invited to attend, and time is set aside for public comment as needed.
