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Wells City Council gets a clean audit report

Also receives news that police squad vehicle has finally been shipped

By Kevin Mertens - Staff Writer | Jun 16, 2024

The Wells City Council heard the final audit presentation for fiscal year 2023 when they met for their regular meeting on Monday evening June 10.

“We are issuing a clean and unmodified opinion which is what we want,” Layne Kockelman of Abdo told the council members.

One of the items Kockelman highlighted in the report was the city’s rising cost in the area of public safety.

“The city of Wells is facing the same challenge in that regard as many other cities,” Kockelman noted. “It is costing more for cities to hire and retain police officers.”

One recommendation coming from Abdo was to consolidate the city’s checking accounts.

“Currently, the city has multiple checking accounts,” Kockelman reported. “We recommend consolidating to have one checking account for all deposits and checks utilizing a pooled cash function. This will allow for timelier and concise information for presentation to the City Council. Additionally, the city would no longer have to transfer dollars between bank accounts which will also reduce risk for the city’s assets.”

City administrator Tiffany Schrader mentioned the council had previously discussed combining the checking accounts.

“With two banks in town, I believe the thinking was that the city wanted to support both businesses,” Schrader offered.

City engineer Ben Rosol was at the meeting and updated the council on a Water Service Inventory being conducted in the city.

“This is something that is mandated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency),” Rosol commented. “We sent out an initial letter and now staff is going door-to-door to complete the surveys. If people are not home we leave a letter with information on how to reply and complete the survey. We are really pushing to complete as many surveys as possible.”

Rosol also provided an update on lighting options for the Minnesota Highway 109/22 project.

“The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) prefers using aluminum poles,” Rosol said. “But, they would allow the city to use galvanized poles if that is the city’s choosing.”

Police chief Tim Brenegan was on hand at the meeting and shared some good news about the city’s new police vehicle.

“We have finally received word that the police squad has been shipped,” Brenegan shared. “So we look forward to it arriving in the near future.”

Discussion moved on to talk about the city’s cannabis ordinance.

“I will remind the council that the city’s interim cannabis moratorium is set to expire in August,” attorney Libby Kantner told the council. “Our recommendation is to schedule a work session in July and also to possibly extend the moratorium on higher strength cannabis products.”

Council members agreed that a work session was a good idea and asked Schrader to schedule one for July.

Street foreman Mike Pyzick attended the meeting and addressed a couple of maintenance issues with the council.

“I have two bids for sidewalk repair work,” Pyzick said. “One was from Preferred Masonry for $50,396 and the other one was from Smith Concrete Construction for $46,550.”

The board approved the low bid from Smith Concrete Construction who has done work for the city before.

Pyzick also told the council that a water valve at the swimming pool had to be replaced.

“Everything was fine for opening the pool on June 8,” Pyzick reported. “The repairs on the baby pool look great.”

The council also took action to repair the floor in the City Hall basement which had been damaged due to flooding.

“I have a bid from Strippers Floor Removal to grind and seal the concrete floor of the basement,” Schrader said. “Their estimated cost is $5,940 and it will be covered by the city’s insurance.”

The board approved the bid to have the work done on the basement floor.

“We also were not able to have the Flame Theatre open this last weekend,” Schrader commented. “The company performing the repairs and upgrades found a broken part on our projector. They were amazed that we have even been able to show movies. The good news is that everything should be ready to go by this weekend.”

Schrader shared a timeline with council members for working on the 2025 budget with a goal of adopting the preliminary tax levy and budget by the Sept. 9 City Council meeting.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, a resident raised two concerns regarding upcoming street projects.

“Between the Fifth Avenue Project and the Highway 109 project, I will lose six trees,” the person said. “I am also concerned about losing the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue.”

City engineer Ben Rosol explained that the trees on Fifth Avenue were being removed because they are ash trees and that MnDOT controls what is done along Highway 109.

“We are exploring options for tree replacement,” he added. “It is possible the city would reimburse property owners, up to a certain amount, to help pay for replacement trees.”

In other business, the City Council:

• Accepted the resignations of Brady Berg and Mitchell Stevermer from the Flame Theatre and approved the hiring of Christine O’Conner.

• Approved the hiring of Madison Passer to work part time in the library.

• Approved the hiring of Lily Neubauer as the manager at the Wells City Pool along with Riley Getchell and Gavin Bird as assistant managers. Also approved as lifeguards were Brennan Anderson, Jon Stanke, McKenzie Roberts, Byron Getchell, Kolt Bullerman, Avery Crawford, Brayden Swehla, Chloe Bullerman, Andrew Bullerman, Dylan Bonsack, Madison Meyer, Niya Gonzalez, Taylor Schroeder, Paige Roberts and Isabella Roberts.

• Voted to pass Resolution 2024-28 to accept donations in the amount of $800 from the Wells Lions Club to be used for tree planting and $100 from State Farm Insurance to be used at Thompson Park.

• Approved Resolution 2024-25 ordering preparation of a report on improvements for Trunk Highway 22/TH 109 utility improvements.

• Passed Resolution 2024-26 approving plans and specifications and ordering the advertisement for bids for the North Broadway/County State Aid Highway 60 project.