Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes
November 20, 2024 @ 6:00 PM
Call the meeting to order. Meeting is recorded, and the recordings belong to the City of Bellechester.
Open Public Hearing – 6:02.
Public Hearing – Small Cities Development Grant Program Update. City Engineer Matt Mohs provided a brief update on the project. Project is going quite smooth so far. Safety cone issue on a manhole was discussed.
With no public input, public hearing was closed. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Kyle Blattner to close public hearing. Motion carried.
Close Public Hearing – Public Hearing was closed at 6:06 pm.
Pledge to the flag
Open Regular Council Meeting by Mayor Jody Gordon at 6:06 p.m
Roll call was taken: The council in attendance: Mayor Jody Gordon, Council people Mark Gerken, Kyle Blattner, and Rich Majerus as well as City Clerk Lisa Redepenning, Treasurer Kyle McKeown, City Engineer Matt Mohs. Nick Keller and Jason Ferguson were also present.
Minutes of the November 11, 2024 Special Council Minutes and October 16, 2024 Regular Minutes were reviewed and motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Mark Gerken to approve the minutes. Motion carried.
Bills were reviewed with a motion by Kyle Blattner with a second by Jered Buxengard to approve and pay the bills as presented. Motion carried.
Old Business:
• Update – Sewer Lining Project
o Pay Application No. 3 – Matt discussed the charges that are included on this. Change order costs and extra cleaning and televising charges. Substantial contract completion date is mid-December. We are on track to meet this. Some minor items will be addressed. Motion was made by Rich Majerus to approve Pay Application #3 with a 2nd by Jered Buxengard. Motion carried.
o ADA Self Evaluation proposal from CRW Architects – City needs to hire an ADA specialist to do this evaluation. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Kyle Blattner to approve the proposal for work on to be done by CRW Architect to do this evaluation. Motion carried.
• Update – Water Meter Project – all meters are installed and we have the extras available as spare. Rochester Plumbing will provide and update. Permitting was done by the County. Finalizing the meter software program is next. Building inspection will be done this week. Anticipated date of completion is mid-Dec.
o Pay Application No. 1 – Motion was made by Kyle Blattner with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to approve the Pay Application #1 for the meter project. Motion carried.
• Update – Lead Service Line Project – completed and submitted to the state. More grant dollars will become available in the spring for the unknown lines that were identified in town. There were a total of 10. 8 Galvanized lines were identified. Grants will also be available for this. No lead lines were found.
New business:
• Building Permit – Jason Ferguson – Jason submitted plans for the building permit he was requesting. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Jered Buxengard to approve the building permit as presented and meeting all the regulations. Motion carried.
• 2024 Special Assessment Resolution 2404.5 – Approve for County Certification. Motion was made by Mark Gerken with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to approve the 2024 Special Assessment Resolution 2404.5. Motion carried.
• Resolution 2024.4 - Approve 2025 Final Levy & 2025 Budget. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Kyle Blattner to approve the 2025 Final Levy & 2025 Budget Resolution 2404.4. Motion carried.
• Water Rates –adopt water and sewer rates. We will set the rates after we get the water meters functional and compare to the current pricing at that time.
• Set Public Hearing for Pool and Spa Ordinance #36. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Kyle Blattner to set a public hearing for the December 18, 2024 meeting. Motion carried.
• Building Code Agreement with Goodhue County. Motion was made by Mark Gerken with a 2nd by Jered Buxengard to approve the 2025 Building Code Agreement with Goodhue County as presented. Motion carried.
• Prosecution Services Agreement with Goodhue County. Motion was made by Jered Buxengard with a 2nd Rich Majerus by to approve the prosecution services agreement with Goodhue County as presented. Motion carried.
Engineer Report – See above. A manhole issue was identified and discussed on 2nd Street. 1 segment of main line is left to do on this project.
Clerk Report – Water Rates - The council will have to adopt water and sewer rates based on water usage ($ per 1000 gallons). Election Results & information –
Registered voters at 7 am – 100
New voter registrations on election day – 1
# of accepted regular, military and overseas absent and mail in ballots = 79
Total # of people voting = 79
Voting Percentage = 79%
Mayor – Jody Gordon = 65 votes, 6 Write In, Lucas McGovern = 3, Erica Huneke = 2, Jeremy Mancilman = 1
Council – 100 write in Votes, Jake Gilsdorf = 39, Nick Keller = 28, Karyn Edelbach = 10
Jeremy Mancilman, Taylor Dowden, John Crosby, Edith Buck, Erica Huneke, Kim Gilsdorf, Kyle Blattner, Lucias McGovern = 2 each, Rick Buck, Rich Arendt, Jeff Buck, Paul Reding, Tim Huneke, Nick Huneke, Deidre Gilsdorf = 1 each. Municipal Impact (website) Price Increase for 2025 – FYI – from $665 to $737
Treasurer Report – Shut off letters will be sent
Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – discharging is done. Quarterly samples will be done in the next few weeks.
Mayor Concerns:. AG Partners dust control was discussed as a follow up.
Council Concerns: Junk ordinance will be visited at next meeting.
Adjourn
Motion was made by Kyle Blattner with a second by Jered Buxengard to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:07. Motion carried.
Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk
