Add Wells to the list of cities in the area being asked to consider allowing residents to have chickens inside of the town’s city limits.

The topic was on the agenda at the Wells City Council meeting held on Monday, Oct. 24.

Nicole Meyer addressed the council saying her family had recently purchased a property located on Highway 109 on the western edge of the city.

“The property to the east of us is a cemetery and the property across the highway to the north is a cemetery,” Meyer explained. “We own a five-acre plot of land complete with a barn and other outbuildings. We had 18 hens where we lived before and would like to have them at our new place.”

City administrator Connor LaPointe said the current City Code does not allow for the raising of farm animals in town and a variance is not the way to handle the situation.

“We have already had people ask us if we would have eggs to sell,” Meyer commented. “We want to be good neighbors.”

Council members discussed what other cities, such as Blue Earth, had done with their ordinances to allow for chickens to be raised within the city. The council then directed LaPointe to investigate other city ordinances and report back to the council at the next meeting.

Discussion then moved to news the Wells Public Utility’s (WPU) power provider, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA), has approved a 15.6 percent increase to their wholesale electric rate for the coming year.

“I would anticipate WPU will be notifying us of their intent to pass along the rate increase to the city,” LaPointe said. “I think we will need to factor that into our budget.”

The council also learned the city of Wells will be hiring a new city attorney to begin working for the city effective in January of 2023.

“We sent out a request for proposals and Frundt, Lundquist and Gustafson did not submit a bid,” LaPointe said. “We did receive three other proposals and I think the council may want to take some time and study them before making a decision.”

The council members agreed and tabled the matter until Nov. 1, when they will hold a special meeting for the purpose of hiring a city attorney to begin working for the city in January of 2023.

Council members did, however, accept bids for the city engineer, audit and lawn mowing services.

Bolton and Menk submitted the lower of two bids for the city engineer.

“Bolton and Menk has a history with the city that dates back about 100 years,” mayor David Braun commented. “And their bid is the lowest.”

A unanimous vote accepted the bid from Bolton and Menk.

The accounting firm of Abdo (formerly Abdo, Eick and Meyers) was the only company to submit a proposal for audit services.

“I really thought we would receive more bids for the audit work,” LaPointe mentioned. “Abdo’s bid is $33,000 for the 2022 audit and $35,000 for the 2023 audit.”

The council voted to accept the proposal from Abdo.

Schrader Enterprises of Wells was the only entity to bid for the lawn care. They were awarded a three-year contract for the city’s lawn mowing needs. The new contract has a three percent increase for the first year and a two percent increase for both the second and third year of the contract.

Police chief Tim Brenegan was at the meeting and informed council members he had received a letter of resignation from Ryan Murphey, a part-time officer with the Wells Police Department.

“Ryan was also the School Resource Officer (SRO) for United South Central Schools,” Brenegan explained. “I would ask the council to accept his resignation and then give me permission to advertise for a part-time officer.”

Brenegan told the council he was working with the school to explore options to continue the SRO program at USC.

The council approved both of Brenegan’s requests.

City engineer Ben Rosol told council members he had received some more updates from the Minnesota Department of Transportation on the Highway 22/109 improvement projects.

“We may have to relocate some utilities at the junction of Highway 22 and Sixth Street,” Rosol said. “There is still plenty of time to make those decisions.”

Rosol also informed the council members there will be a good opportunity to provide sanitary services to the people who live along Highway 109 west of Half Moon Park when the water line to the city of Easton is installed.

Council members were told that one of the residents may have just installed a new septic system. The question was then asked if he will be assessed for hooking up to the city’s sanitary system after just updating his own system.

The council did not make any decision pending further investigation into the matter.

During his report to the council, LaPointe shared the city had solicited a quote to find out the cost of repainting the Flame Theatre sign.

“The quote came in at $1,500,” LaPointe said. “There is a chance to apply for the Our Town USA Community Foundation that would cover $1,000 of this expense. If the council chooses, I can submit this project for grant funding. We would like to see the work done next year.”

LaPointe closed his report by mentioning the office of Minnesota Management and Budget recently published its quarterly Revenue and Economic Update.

“According to the report, general fund revenues for the first quarter of the fiscal year are now estimated to total $7.024 billion, which is $289 million or 4.3 percent more than previously forecasted,” LaPointe commented. “However, with a recession likely looming, a large surplus could be necessary to weather the tides.”

The next regularly scheduled council meeting is on Nov. 14. A budget meeting will follow at the conclusion of the regular meeting.