by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The Garretson City Council met in regular session on Monday, December 12 at the Legion. While the biggest news was a land acquisition that would allow for future development, the council also heard the results of a water study, previewed a commercial that promotes Garretson, and rejected an off-sale liquor license application from The Gulch.
Two council members were absent, which made for a small council that required unanimous votes in order to pass any decisions. This came into play later in the meeting, when an application for an off-sale liquor license was heard on behalf of The Gulch Bar & Grill.
The meeting opened with an approval of natural gas rates, which were at $1.11/ccf for this month, down significantly from the $1.23/ccf of the month before. This is due to the change to winter strip pricing, which is locked in at 100% of normal usage. Seventy-five percent of that was locked in well before the surge in pricing that occurred in early 2021.
After approving the pricing, the council agreed to a special meeting to finalize any changes in finances before the end of the year on Thursday, December 22 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
They heard a quick update on the 5th Street bridge, which saw some construction begin last month with the installation of rip rap, which are rocks that prevent erosion and help with drainage. While the construction company had hoped to get further with their work than they have, they were delayed by the early onset of snow and severe weather. They plan to install lifting beams under the bridge prior to the end of the year, but is otherwise on hold for the rest of the winter. The construction will reduce the bridge down to a single lane until the full project is completed.
Mayor Greg Beaner then introduced the newly-hired code enforcement officer, Doug Winstead, to the council. The code enforcement officer is responsible for responding to nuisance complaints and conditional use violations, as well as enforcing any ordinances that are in effect in Garretson. Winstead, a former high school teacher, was described by Mayor Beaner as a good fit for the position and will begin the first of the year.
After hearing the results of the water study (see separate article in this week's Gazette) the council voted to approve the purchase of land slated for future development.
The specific area is 15.14 acres, and widens the "top of the boot" to what would be Center Avenue if the street had continued south. "The boot" is a tract of city-owned land from Sarah C Street south to 254th Street that is, literally, the shape of a boot.
When the purchase is complete, the former landowner will be renting the land back from the city to farm it until it is developed, which is a win-win situation for all involved.
"We don't have to borrow money to do this [purchase]," said councilor Bill Hoskins.
In all, the city will pay $302,800 for the fifteen acres, which is a cost of $20,000 per acre.
While this does not guarantee that the future community/events center and city hall will be built on the newly-purchased land, it does open up options for development and is a large step in that direction.
"[This land provides for] other public structures, if needed," said councilor Hoskins.
One item it could provide for, other than the new city hall and events/community center, is space for the fire department to build a new structure.
Fire department representatives Tad Heitkamp and Levi Schmid were in attendance, and the council wanted them to know they would now have another option other than Dows and Center for the new fire hall.
Heitkamp and Schmid had requested permission in both October and November meetings to move ahead on having engineers explore the area, but the request was tabled both times and was tabled again at last week's meeting, frustrating the representatives.
The council had first asked for the extension in order to review the size of the building on the land, and had extended it again in order to talk with the city's attorney on the procedure to move forward. Despite the extension, the council hadn't made much forward progress over the past month, and during the meeting, revealed that any kind of structure on that corner could worsen drainage issues in that area.
"My personal opinion is that we want to support the fire department in any way that we can," councilor Hoskins said. "We want you to have the best site, and I don't know if the city's new land acquisition... will give you other options to consider."
"[The water drainage issues] are evident because where I live, that's the start of the water flow," said Heitkamp. He pointed out that the engineering part would help overcome that concern. Potential solutions such as a retention basin were discussed, but the representatives asked that the city be ready to make a decision sooner rather than later.
"Bottom line, we want the first right of refusal," said Heitkamp.
"Realistically, we have to move forward with this project," said Schmid. He reminded council members that it was not a project that could be accomplished in a year. Acquiring the land and doing the engineering study was the first big step.
One of the difficulties appeared to lie in determining whether the land would be gifted, leased, or sold to the department. The councilors also didn't know the exact process they would need to follow to even allow the department to explore it and hadn't acquired that knowledge from the attorney.
Mayor Beaner asked if Heitkamp and Schmid could attend the Thursday, December 22 meeting to allow for time to talk further with the city attorney, to which they agreed.
"I think we're all working towards the same goal," said Hoskins.
The council then fielded a request from Schmid to install two antennas on top of the water tower for county emergency radio usage. He stated the request was coming from Metro Communications, and it would not damage the water tower.
"It would be a nice benefit for emergency responders in this area because they'll have service," said Mayor Beaner. The installation would come at no cost to the city, but since it is city property, the approval would need to come from the council. The council voted to allow the installation to proceed.
After doing first readings on supplemental appropriations and adding a district for church, government, and school property zoning, the council considered an application for off-sale liquor from The Gulch Bar and Grill.
The Gulch held an off-sale liquor license for a while after opening its doors, but had since allowed it to lapse. Despite not finding any reason to disallow the license, there was concern about it being the last license held by the city.
"There was discussion about building a new facility," said councilor Bruce Brown. He did not specify who he was discussing, whether it was the Gulch or another facility in town.
Mayor Beaner responded that it "would come off the old one" if a business were to move or open a second location. Despite that assurance, councilor Brown voted to reject the application. With two councilors not in attendance, the non-unanimous vote meant the application did not pass.
After approving the agreement for Blue Dragon Academy to lease city-owned land for a dumpster pad, the council voted to continue to contract with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department for 2023. The contract stipulated 43 hours per week at a total cost of $89,328.20.
Economic Development Director Jessica Fueston then presented on issues that have occurred with utility meters, pointing out that it would be a good idea for the city to look into getting a new meter company and new meters for gas and water.
Despite the large financial commitment this would need, the city's utility meter readers have been consistently having issues, and support from the company providing the readers, Badger Meter, has not been good, according to Fueston and City Maintenance Supervisor Jordan Doane.
They agreed to develop a game plan on cost and a timeline for replacement at the request of the council.
Before previewing the commercial that had been commissioned by the council to promote Garretson, they went over the Annual Report for 2020 and 2021, a project that was quite large, according to Finance Officer Paetyn Dreckman.
The commercial itself, which had a business version and a visitor version, was presented by Shad Quissell of Q Productions. The council requested he put together a cost package for placement on television and Facebook, which he agreed to do.
At that time, the council adjourned into executive session. The next regular meeting of the council will be held on January 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Legion and a special meeting is tonight (Thursday), December 22 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
