KIESTER CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Monday, March 8, 2021
THESE ARE APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL

The Kiester City council held a regular meeting on Monday, March 8, 2020 at the Kiester Community Center / Fire hall.

Mayor Rich Goggin called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Council Members Present: Hope Bauman, Larry Dahleen, Jason Kluender, Brandon Hagenson; City Maintenance: Gary Skartland; City Clerk: Doris Troll; Members from the public: Marcia Dahlen, Judy Goggin, Vickie Savick, Carol Rinehart, and Anne Nichols.

Agenda: Motion to accept agenda, by Hope Bauman seconded by Larry Dahleen, vote 5-0 motion carried

Council minutes: Motion to accept the February 8, 2021 council meeting minutes with a correction of Gary has a very vague job description. By Rich Goggin seconded by Hope Bauman, vote 5-0 motion carried.

Claims: Motion by Brandon Hagenson seconded by Hope Bauman approving claims totaling $ 28,094.13 Vote of 5-0 motion carried.

Financials: Motion by Larry Dahlen, seconded by Rich Goggin, approving financials as presented. Vote 5-0, motion carried.

Past Due Water Billing: Being aware of the Minnesota peace time order, we cannot shut off water, however the past due letters are still going out. Also, the $25.00 late fee has been added back to all late bills not paid by the 25Th of the month.

Annie Nichols with The Faribault County Eda. Is here to introduce herself, as well as offer any help we may need with setting up our Eda. The County Eda holds it meeting the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 3:00 pm they are currently held at the Ag Center in Blue Earth, with the option of virtual meeting. If anyone is interested, please let her know.

Fire Department: The fire department has received a grant for a smart TV for Trainings from Landis Coop of Rake, IA. The new washer and dryer are drifting with the plumbing all in just waiting on the machines now

Liquor Store: Carol has received information from the MMBA as to inventory. With the more you can purchase, you may receive bigger discounts. Carol feels with the POS system she will take advantage of some of these larger buys. Also She informed Gary that one of the gas covers has come off by the till area and is afraid of a customer getting their car stuck. Gary has already found and replaced it.

Public Comment: 1. The question was, do the City offices have a voicemail system for residents who are calling when no one is in the office during business hours? The answer is yes, there is one, and someone checks remotely it when the clerk is out of the office for an extended amount of time.

EDA Board: Mayor Goggin has found out that the council can appoint people to the Eda Board. He already has one on Board and one to talk to yet. Hope mentioned that Al would be a part of the EDA Board.
There will be more discussion next month.

Maintenance Report: The fire hydrant that was damaged, I had issues with getting to turn off all the way because of the main connector to the water main had been bent. When it was fixed, we had to turn off more streets than we had expected and left people wondering why the water was off. We had posted on social media that we would turn the water off. After finding out that number of people without water, the next time an issue like this happens, we will go door to door and having it aired on the radio.

The water tower was having an issue with the chlorinator, going though the system, It looked and it replaced a leaky valve as well as one injector for it. The catch basins are open, so if we get rain here should not be any pooling of water. Mason City Recycling has picked up any remaining equipment that belonged to them.

Gary has a copy of what I gave to him when he started as far as a job description and vacation and sick pay. He will get copies to the council.

The city is no longer needed the 3 point blade and Gary is asking to have the city sell it by sealed bids. The ok away given to sell it with all bids having to be in by April 10, 2021 by 5 pm. To have opened on 4-12-2021 during the council meeting.

The Pollution Control and Gary will be have a conference call this week regarding their audit remotely this year,

Clerk Update: I asked the clerk to check to see how much money we had to keep the in-lottery checkbook per the lottery. I informed her of the amount that is needed for the upcoming sweeps.

Liquor store loan repay: we have not paid the 2020 interest payment. And will need a resolution on. Motion to make a resolution to move the $500.00 from the Liquor Store fund back to the general fund account for the 2020 payment by Brandon Hagenson, Seconded by Larry Dahleen. Vote 5-0, motion carried.

The condemned houses. A party has approached the clerk regarding wanting to purchase the property, knowing hat it needs to come down. David has informed the city that the Batchelor’s could do a quick claim deed to whoever wants to buy it.

I will hold clerks Conference June 15 to 18th in St cloud and Doris is planning ongoing.

The Final Audit report from Burkhardt’s will be given to the city on March 23rd at 7 pm do we want the meeting to be held. After a discussion, it was determined that holding it at City Hall would be ok. The clerk will post the special meeting, as required by law.

Fire contract: the clerk does not know what to charge for fire protection and does not have any signed contracts to verify the amounts. This was a new item that the auditors. Doris wanted the council members to know that I have not given the information to her for this year yet.

Mayor Update: He mayor has received many calls regarding the flag that is on Hey 22 that has a profane word on it and they were offended. After calls to the county attorney and to our attorney, the only thing that the city can do is ask politely to have it removed.

Motion to adjourn made by Jason Kluender and seconded by Brandon Hagenson. Vote 5-0, motion carried. Mayor Goggin adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted by
Doris M Troll
City Clerk/ Treasurer