Coryn Kluender and Ashley Ignaszewski of the Softball Association, addressed the Wells Council last Monday.

The Wells City Council discussed a wide variety of topics when they held their first meeting of the month on Monday, Feb. 10, including lighting along State Highways 22 and 109 and possible upgrades at Thompson Park.

Although some decisions have already been determined regarding the lighting for the two state highways, such as the spacing of the lights and the use of underground wiring, the type of lights to be installed remains undecided.

The two choices the council is considering are the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) standard base light or another MnDOT option which is a more decorative light.

Under normal circumstances, it would probably be an easy decision for the council to make because the decorative option would be cost prohibitive. However, because the decorative option is eligible for an aesthetic cost reduction, the final cost for the two options is very similar.

Another decision for the council to consider is whether or not to add seven additional lights on Highway 109 to extend the lighting of the highway to the western edge of the town.

The estimated cost for the city without the additional seven lights is $295,000 for the standard light option or the decorative light option.

If the council were to decide to add the seven additional lights along Highway 109, the estimated city cost would be a total of $331,500 for the standard lights or $351,500 for the decorative lights.

City engineer Ben Rosol presented the figures along with pictures of the two different options.

Mayor David Braun shared his concerns about the cost of maintaining the lights.

“The standard light’s pole is made of stainless steel. It will not rust. The decorative option’s pole is painted and is more apt to need attention to keep it looking good,” Braun said. “Plus, the cost to replace the stainless pole is $4,500 compared to $8,500 for the decorative option.”

Council member Brenda Weber was interested in knowing the lighting pattern and the amount of light provided by the two different options.

“I would actually like to drive through New Prague (where decorative lighting has been installed) and see what it looks like,” Weber commented.

Council member Crystal Dulas spoke in favor of the decorative option.

“We want people to move to this city,” she offered. “These streets are residential streets and I think there is a value to them looking nice.”

Braun also seemed frustrated by the number of times the council has looked at the options and wondered just how much this was costing the city to keep reconsidering the options.

“I work for the city,” Rosol said. “I am just trying to provide you with the information for the options that are available.”

With council member John Herman absent, a motion to table a vote on the lighting proposals passed unanimously.

Ashley Ignaszewski and Coryn Kluender, representing the local Softball Association, attended the meeting to share that their group, along with the Baseball Association, is interested in pursuing more improvements at Thompson Park in Wells.

“The Softball Association has been looking at ways to improve the softball field,” Kluender remarked. “One thing we have looked at is adding sprinklers to the softball field.”

Ignaszewski continued by sharing that one thing has led to another.

“What began as looking at ways to improve the softball field spiraled into another thought – why don’t we just improve the whole park?” Ignaszewski said. “The process would involve seeking grants and conducting fund raising.”

Kluender listed some other ideas the group has come up with which would improve all of Thompson Park.

“We would like to make it more handicapped accessible for fans to be able to get to the softball and baseball diamonds. We would like to see the basketball court repaired and the addition of pickleball courts. Another idea would be for the playground itself to be updated with new equipment.”

The association has already contacted the engineering firm of ISG in Mankato about possibly doing the design work and providing cost estimates for the improvements.

“These ideas were also presented to the Park Board,” city administrator Tiffany Schrader told the council members. “The associations are asking for help in splitting the cost of ISG performing the initial study, The Baseball Association and Softball Association would each pay one quarter of the cost. They are asking the city and the United South Central School to each pay a quarter of the cost.”

Council members raised the point that the city has Bolton & Menk hired as the city’s engineering firm and would like to see what they would charge to do the design work and wondered if they could do it cheaper.

“Bolton & Menk, on a community project like this, will often make a contribution towards the cost of the project,” Rosol offered.

“ISG is also willing to make a contribution if they end up doing the design,” Ignaszewski said.

The council made the decision to get a quote from each engineering firm along with the amount each firm would donate towards the project.

“In the end, we all want the same thing,” Schrader commented. “And that is to improve Thompson Park.”

In other business, the City Council:

• Approved the gambling permit application for St. Casimir Church to host a bingo event on March 7.

• Gave approval for parking plans during the 2025 Gun Show on March 8-9. It is sponsored by the Wells Rifle and Pistol Association. The parking plans will be the same as has been utilized in previous years.

• Approved Brian Townley to serve another term on the Park Board.

• Awarded the bid for care of the Wells Golf Course to Schrader Enterprises to do the work formerly done by the course superintendent.

• Voted to have Dulas Diesel and Repair perform the necessary repairs and maintenance on the city’s street sweeper.

• Awarded the bituminous seal coating bid to Pearson Bros. Inc., of Hanover, at a cost of $39,773 for 17,916 square yards of product.

• Accepted, with much appreciation, $100 in donations in memory of Bob Schultz.

• Tabled reviewing updated job descriptions until all members of the council are present.