Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes
February 21, 2024 @ 6:00PM
Regular City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Jody Gordon at 6:01 p.m.
Pledge to the flag.
Roll call was taken: The council in attendance: Mayor Jody Gordon, Council people Rich Majerus, Kyle Blattner, Mark Gerken, Jered Buxengard as well as City Clerk Lisa Redepenning, Treasurer Kyle McKeown and Engineer Matt Mohs.
Minutes of January 17, 2024 regular meeting minutes were reviewed and motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Kyle Blatter to approve the minutes. Motion carried.
Bills were reviewed and a motion by Kyle Blattner with a second by Mark Gerken to approve and pay the bills as presented. Motion carried.
Old Business:
• Sewer Lining Project – update progress. We had a bid opening last week on our project with $920,269.50 was the lowest, which was below our estimate. VisuSewer was the lowest bid. Matt contacted Rural Development on what is next. Council needs to award the project, based on Rural Development’s approval. Contracts will be put together and sent to us for signature. It then goes to RD. No schedule has been provided by the contractor. Clean and televising on the Wabasha side will be done 1st due to a summer highway project. MN Rural Water will be contacted about construction loan, which is the next step. Water meter project will also be moving forward and sent to Rural Water for approval. Lead service lines – we provided more information on the water system, they will need to be scanned and uploaded to state. Curb stops were also looked at. Bolten & Menk will be locating water shut offs. Preconstruction meeting may occur in April.
New business:
• Award Sewer Lining Project - contingent on RD’s concurrence. Approve. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Kyle Blattner to accept the bid contingent on Rural Development’s approval as presented for our sewer lining project. Motion carried.
• 509 2nd St, Bellechester Building Permit - Review and Approve. Motion was made by Jered Buxengard with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to approve permit as presented. Motion carried.
• Local Mitigation Survey (LMS) form for Goodhue County – Looked at survey and recommended changes.
• LMCIT Property/Casualty Renewal – review/make changes/approve. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Mark Gerken to approve the renewal of the LMCIT property insurance renewal as presented. Motion carried.
• Summer mowing – We have a couple of interested parties and we will have them come back in April.
Engineer Report – Coming into construction, the contractor will need to notify of progress. Televising and cleaning will occur first followed by the remaining contractors that will be working on this during the summer.
Clerk Report – Billing for Primary Election - We will submit for reimbursement from the OSS and not bill Bellechester for the PNP. News Record Payment – It includes the franchise agreement with Xcel that was needed to post. Ross did ask if there was a charge for that and I forwarded him the costs related to publication of this notice. Goodhue Fire Department – inquired as to how we were going to spend the funds from State of MN for public safety – FYI.
Treasurer Report – Past due list was distributed as well as a shut off report.
Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – Quarterly samples will be done next month.
Mayor Concerns: Sewer backup issues was discussed.
Council Concerns: None
Adjourn
Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Kyle Blattner to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 6:51. Motion carried.
Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk
Goodhue County Board of Equalization meeting for 2024 will be held on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 4:30 pm at the Bellechester Community Center. The regular monthly city council meeting will be moved to this day also, immediately following.
