Matthew Thibert, of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, reviewed plans for the proposed Trunk Highway 22/109 project with members of the Wells City Council at their meeting on Monday, June 13.

While a large portion of the Wells City Council meeting held on June 13 dealt with financial matters, the council still had many other items to deal with on their agenda.

Matthew Thibert, representing the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), was at the meeting to present the latest proposal for the proposed Trunk Highway 22/109 project and to try and get approval by the council of the concept layout for the construction project.

Bike lanes and parking along the highways remained as the more contentious issues.

“I have to admit,” council member John Herman said, “I have seen a lot of usage of the bike lanes which are currently on Highway 109.”

The latest drawing showed bike lanes on both sides of Highway 109 but only on one side of Highway 22.

“We also are allowing for parking on one side of each highway,” Thibert explained. “It would be on the south side of 109 and on the west side of 22.”

Council members could see that made sense on Highway 22 because parking would be allowed on the side of the street where St. Casimir’s Catholic Church was located.

“Now that the funeral home is no longer located on that highway, maybe parking on the east side is not so important,” Herman offered.

One point of possible contention remains an island in the street where the turnoff for the United South Central School is located.

“We are still waiting for the results of a speed study to see what is happening when people enter the city from the south before we make a final decision on the island,” Thibert commented.

Herman made a motion to pass a resolution giving approval to the concept layout as presented by Thibert. The motion was seconded and passed on a 3-1 vote with Herman, council member Josh Raimann and mayor David Braun voting in favor and council member Nancy Kruger voting against the motion. Council member Brenda Weber was not in attendance at the meeting.

The council also heard from city engineer Ben Rosol who reported construction progress was moving along at a very nice pace on the street projects.

Rosol asked for and received direction from the council to hold off on placing sod on the disturbed boulevards until September.

“It is much easier to start sod later in the year when it is not so hot,” Rosol noted.

Community Development director Tiffany Schrader was also at the meeting to update the council on the Housing Redevelopment Authority (HRA), the Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV).

“One of the bigger projects the HRA has been working on is the development of the City Center Addition,” Schrader said. “Out of the 12 lots which were created in this addition, three lots have been sold, two of which already have homes built on them. Two lots were developed by the HRA and also have homes on them which leaves seven lots remaining to be sold for more home development.”

She shared the HRA built a twin home on two of the lots and that the north unit has been sold.

“The south unit has had quite a few showings,” Schrader commented. “Once both twin homes are sold, the HRA will look at possibly doing a similar project on the other available lots.”

She also reported the HRA has acquired several tax forfeited properties.

“Several months ago, Faribault County gave the HRA the opportunity to purchase six properties which had been turned over to the county for tax forfeiture,” Schrader shared with the council. “The HRA now owns five of those properties and intends to own the sixth property but it is currently going through an eviction process.”

She shared the HRA is currently accepting proposals from individuals or developers who are interested in the properties.

Schrader also mentioned the Broadway and Park Place properties continue to operate smoothly with basically full occupancy.

Switching to the EDA, Schrader noted one of the board’s biggest priorities is to fill up the Wells Business Park.

“We are getting very close to accomplishing that goal,” she said. “The EDA recently sold three lots in the Wells Business Park to an out-of-town business. There are now only two lots which remain empty in the park.”

Regarding the REV program, which is meant to focus on finding and helping entrepreneurs, Schrader said the program is really gaining momentum.

“We will be hosting a learning event on Tuesday, July 12, at 7:30 a.m., in the Community Education room at the school,” Schrader commented. “Along with refreshments, we will have a presenter talking about social media as it relates to operating a business. The goal is to not only provide business owners with useful information, but also to hopefully learn who some of our local entrepreneurs are.”

The last item of business on the agenda was a performance review for city administrator Connor LaPointe.

Before turning in their score sheets, many members of the council offered their praise for the job LaPointe had done since starting the job last fall.

“I think you have done a very good job,” Kruger stated.

“You jumped right in and took the bull by the horns,” Braun added.

“I don’t give out a lot of fives on the scorecard,” Herman said. “But, you sure got a lot of fours.”

When all the scores were calculated, LaPointe received an average score of 4.78 out of 5 possible.

The council also:

• Received an update from Alissa Oeltjenbruns of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

• Voted to make a $500 donation to the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

• Set the first reading for Ordinance 22-04 for July 11 and the second reading for Aug. 8 at the regularly scheduled council meetings. This ordinance will change the required age for getting a golf cart permit.

• Authorized the Wells Municipal Airport to pursue a grant, in the amount of $48,068, from MnDOT.