The Adrian City Council met in chambers on Monday, November 25, at 7:00 p.m. All members of the Council, except for Mayor Faber were present along with Police Chief Langseth and Public Works Superintendent Adam Henning, acting Administrator Rita Boltjes and new Administrator Jill Wolf. Council member Ron Lonneman stepped in for Faber.
First on the agenda was the 2020 Truth in Taxation meeting. This meeting is to discuss and answer any public questions as to the 2020 City of Adrian budget. Bruce Heitkamp explained on behalf of the council that the city budget is reflective of what the 2020 taxes will be. He also shared that the home valuation meeting is normally held in April for the next tax year. The City of Adrian is asking for no levy increase for 2020, stating that it could work within the present amount of taxation. The final 2020 budget will be adopted at the meeting in December. There was no further comments and the meeting was closed.
The minutes from the October meeting were approved with no discussion. Councilman Von Holtum commented to the Council that the Park Board was very happy with the 2019 park/campground year. He stated that it was one of the best on record.
Permits were granted for the use of the firehall by the MPA for the distribution of the fruit and frozen foods on December 2 and to Sanford Luverne Hospice for the Tree of Lights ceremony on December 11.
The 2020 liquor license applications were discussed. No new business was applying. Rita told the Council that the City was waiting for proof of insurance from one of the bars and background checks, which Shawn told the Council would be completed soon. The Council approved the licenses for 2020. They also approved the Appointment of the Responsible Authority to transfer from Rita to Jill as items come in that have privacy concerns.
One item that came up for discussion was the concerns of the State of Minnesota in regards to firemen that are municipal employees. These employees are considered working overtime hours when they go out on a call. It was pointed out that it also could apply to the EMS personnel as well. Bruce explained to the Council that the State doesn’t want to match retirement for the overtime hours. He stated that there is a “small town exemption” that the State and Federal Government need to implement for small volunteer departments such as Adrian’s, and he felt that we would see it come into effect in the future.
Police Chief Langseth explained some of the items in his October Police Report. He also stated that Officer Mike Schei had begun to take hours in October.
A quick discussion on the land acquisition had Bruce explaining that the process was waiting on the City Attorney’s office. An e-mail is needed so the grant process can progress forward, but we are on hold. The delay will not cost anything, but the purchase was scheduled to be completed at the end of October.
Nuisance properties were discussed with no action taken at this time.
The Board terms for the PUC, HRA and the Park Board were briefly discussed. The only board that needed to find a new member was the HRA. The board had come up with a list of people to contact, and Rita was going to put an ad in the paper looking for a volunteer to serve on the HRA.
Adam Henning explained to the Council concerning a grant that needed the support of the Council that would cover the cost of looking at the township fire contracts to be sure they were fair and if any changes needed to be made. He ended stating there would be no costs to the city for this, just their support. The Council approved.
An FYI for the Council-the 2020 Presidential nomination Primary would be held on March 3, 2020.
The meeting was adjourned about 7:45, with the Council meeting in a closed session concerning City personnel.
