Mountain Lake City Council reviews variety of utility topics
The Cottonwood County Soil and Water Conservation District, represented by David Bucklin, is requesting, on behalf of the City of Mountain Lake, authorization to submit a grant for water storage and pollinator tree habitat to the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance.
The grant would be used to plant trees in the open area west of the Lawcon Park Shelter House, and for all trees planted in 2016 by the Tree Commission.
The entire 2016 Tree Commission budget could then be used to remove trees, allowing for the number of trees removed next year to be increased.
After reviewing the grant submission and other Tree Commission activities, the Mountain Lake City Council approved applying for the grant at their Monday, November 16 meeting.
Utility topics reviewed
Lynda Cowell, Utility Office Manager and Mountain Lake City Clerk/Administrator Wendy Meyer reviewed a sample utility bill with council members.
Discussion included the determination of rates, the electric power cost adjustment, base rates, average household usage, the Conservation Improvement Plan (CIP), late fees, the sewer infrastructure fee, late penalties and hanger, shut-off and turn-on fees. Information on those and other topics will be sent out to customers with their monthly utility bills.
Additionally, City Code related to Municipal Utilities and the utility’s shut-off policies, along with a League of Minnesota Cities information memo on securing payment of utility charges, were reviewed.
In other business
+ Discussed a letter from New Star Sales and Service informing the council that the company will be no longer be providing Information Technology (IT) services. Meyer is in the process of locating a new service provider.
+ Purchased a Ferris 3200 zero-turn mower from Midway Farm Equipment of Mountain Lake for the city’s Streets and Parks Department at a cost of $5,800, with discount and trade-in. Streets and Parks Superintendent Rick Oeltjenbruns had presented two quotes for the new mower, both from Midway.
+ Accepted the resignation of Matt Anderson from the Lake Commission, effective November 9.
+ Discussed the federal Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) and reviewed the production of the city-owned wind turbine.
+ Discussed the city’s outdoor skating rink. It had been the understanding of the city that the individual who had prepared the ice sheet in the past would no longer be doing the work. Because of this, no money was budgeted for a skating rink in the 2016 Draft Budget. However, the individual is still in interested in preparing the ice for the rink. Adding skating rink costs to the 2016 budget was discussed, with no action taken. The matter will be placed on the agenda at the next city council meeting.
+ Reviewed and discussed a presentation made by Andy Kehren of Bolton and Menk, the city’s engineer, at the Thursday, November 12 Utility Commission meeting. The presentation dealt with an overview of wastewater treatment facility alternatives and the preliminary engineering report of supplemental information on 2010-2013 infrastructure improvements.
City of Mountain Lake Meeting Dates
+ Mountain Lake City Council meets the first and third Mondays of every month at 6:30 p.m.
+ Utilities Commission meets the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at 7 a.m.
+ Economic Development Authority (EDA) meets the second Friday of every month at 12 noon.
+ Lake Commission meets the second Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m.
+ Library Board meets the second Wednesday of every month at 4:45 p.m.
+ Police Commission meets the second Thursday of every month at 7 p.m.
+ Planning and Zoning meets the last Monday of the month, if needed.
+ Tree Commission meets quarterly – January, April, July and October – at 7:45 p.m.
