Small Town News

DFA grant and agreement approved

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A grant application for Dairy Farmers of America was the subject of a public hearing at a special meeting of the Winthrop City Council on Monday evening.

After the meeting the City Council passed two resolutions, one for an economic development program and the other a residential anti-displacement and relocation assistance plan.

During the public hearing, six topics had to be discussed. Shannon Sweeney of David Drown Associates stated that the total amount of funds for the grant would be approximately $240,000 which would be in a loan to DFA as well as a portion to be a forgivable loan if DFA meets the job creation criteria.

The portion that would be paid back by DFA would then go into a local revolving loan fund.

Community development and housing needs were also to be discussed. Sweeney stated that the city recently created an industrial park which will create new jobs and tax base for the city and there is still vacant land on which more activity can take place. A few years ago, the city created a housing sub-division with several lots available and is also investigating an assisted living facility.

The jobs that will be created at DFA will be available to low-and moderate-income people and Sweeney said he does not anticipate anyone being displaced from their residence as a result of the program because the money will be used to purchase equipment.

City Administrator Mark Erickson said that the forgivable portion of the loan is $100,000 and that $140,000 would come back to Winthrop Economic Development Authority for the revolving loan fund.

The Council also approved an agreement with DFA for financing the electrical upgrades that are needed.

The estimated cost of the upgrade is $111,455 and the city had previously earmarked $15,000 for the project.

DFA would then pay for the remaining $96,455. Each month, the city will rebate DFA 10 percent of its monthly gross electrical bill. That practice will continue until all of the $96,455 has been paid back.

Change orders for the project will need to be approved by both the Council and DFA and those will be applied to the total cost of the project and be rebated back.

DFA has agreed to this arrangement in principal but it still needs approval from the corporate office.

Any minor changes deemed necessary by DFA corporate office may be approved by Mayor Dave Trebelhorn, Erickson and City Attorney Don Lannoye but major changes would need approval by the Council.

"This is a great project that benefits everybody," said Lannoye.

In other business, City Clerk Jenny Hazelton brought cuts to the budget recommended by city staff. The cuts totaled $38,500 which would reduce the requested tax levy to $541,522.

Of the proposed cuts, $10,000 will come from street structural repair. The fire department capital reserves make up the biggest portion of the cuts. A total of $20,000 will come from the building reserves, $2,000 from professional services reserves and $4,000 from major equipment reserves. Christmas lighting was cut $2,500.

Hazelton said in going over the budget with Fire Chief Mike Trebesch, the Department does not need any more money in the building reserves this year and the professional services item goes along with the building item.

The proposed levy was 15 percent higher than the previous year and the proposed cuts lowered the percentage to 7 percent.

The Council had asked to see a 5 percent increase and Hazelton said another $12,798 would need to be cut to reach that goal.

Hazelton said that looking at the current state of the city, the overall budget is a little higher than what it should be, meaning there will probably be no money left over at the end of the year to apply to next year's budget.

"I looked at what is left for this year and what we are looking at for next year and it's pretty tight," Hazelton said. She added that the operating budget for the coming year only showed an increase of 3 percent. The large increase in the levy was do mostly to cuts in local government aid from the State of Minnesota.

The Council will go through the budget in November and asked that a revised budget be complied to reflect the proposed cuts presented to them Monday evening.

The Council took action on a public nuisance at 307 N. Hennepin. It was informed at the regular October meeting that Police Chief Bruce Froehlich felt the property violated the city's nuisance ordinance with appliances, furniture, rubbish and debris in the back yard.

Lannoye said that with approval, the city will post on the door a document stating that the nuisance must be cleaned up within 10 days. If it is not, the city will come in and abate the nuisance and bill the property owner for the cost. If the total is not paid, the cost will then be assessed against the property for taxes.

Action is expected to be taken on the animal ordinance at next month's regular meeting.

Major changes to the ordinance require homeowners and renters to carry $50,000 in liability insurance coverage and that dog owners who have previously owned a dog deemed to be dangerous and do so again will be fined.

The big question for the Council was whether or not the insurance stipulation was too costly. The consensus was that anyone with homeowners insurance should have plenty of coverage already and that the cost to renters would probably be less then $10 a month.

Froehlich updated that Council that he believes that three people were bitten by dogs in the past year and two of the dogs were owned by renters without insurance.

The Council is also looking to pursue upgrading the current substation. Upgrades would mean expanding the substation area by 50 feet on both the east and south sides.

"In the future we are going to need more electricity," Trebelhorn said.

Alderman Pete Machaiek felt it was a good idea with the expansions going on in town and would like to see bids on building a line and adding transformers.

Erickson said that the current distribution line, the only one in town, is about at capacity.

The estimate for the expansion of the substation came in at about $360,000 and the cost of building a new substation has been estimated at over$l million.



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© 2010 Winthrop News Winthrop, Minnesota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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