Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2025 @ 4:00 PM
Call the meeting to order at 4:00. Meeting is recorded, and the recordings belong to the City of Bellechester.
Pledge to the flag
Open Board of Equalization Meeting
Lavonne Augustine opened the Board of Equalization meeting. Accompanying her from Goodhue County Assessor’s office was Rebecca Peters and Jeremy Laska. She gave a brief overview of how rates are determined in the county as it relates to home and property values.
With no residents present, the Board of Equalization meeting was closed at 4:34.
Close Board of Equalization Meeting
Open City Council Meeting
Acting Mayor Mark Gerken opened the regular city council meeting at 4:35.
Roll call was taken: The council in attendance: Acting Mayor Mark Gerken, Council member Jacob Gilsdorf, Nick Keller and Rich Majerus as well as City Clerk Lisa Redepenning, treasurer Kyle McKeown, City Engineer Matt Mohs as well as Nolan Boice from Bolton Menk was present. Mayor Jody Gordon was absent.
Minutes of the March 19, 2025 meeting were reviewed and motion was made by Jake Gilsdorf with a second by Nick Keller to approve the minutes. Motion carried.
Bills were reviewed with a motion by Rich Majerus with a second by Nick Keller to approve and pay the bills as presented. Motion carried.
Old Business:
• Update – Sewer Lining Project – Matt introduced Nolan who presented pay application #6. Chimney seals on manholes can be addressed and finished now that it’s spring. Sewer laterals needed to be cleaned and was done. Results of televising was discussed. 1 manhole cannot be lined and will be addressed. Extension of an existing line was discussed. The project is starting to wind down to completion which is anticipated to be June. The vendor will be coming back in May to fix and take care of cleanouts that may be in yard. Also flags and stakes can be removed from your yard. Next meeting will have an amendment request that will need to be approved.
• Update – Water Meter Project – Sustainably completed and working towards final close of this project. Retainage is the only funds left to pay. Motion was made by Nick Keller with a 2nd by Jake Gilsdorf to approve the change order #1 contingent on Rural Development concurrence submitted by Matt. Motion carried.
• ADA Fixes – There will be modifications to the report pertaining to the old bathroom at the Community Center and to remove the requirement to upgrade them. Landing and railing work on the back of the building will be needed. We will get an updated report at that time. We will need to present a transition plan to Rural Development on the planned changes to fix ADA changes needed.
New business:
• Pay Application #6 for $97,656.91, which includes a 5% retainage – Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Nick Keller to approve the payment. Motion carried.
• Goodhue County GIS Users Group – Agreement – This will be tabled until our project is finalized, and we get more information on this, and a full council.
• Transfer of funds to Savings Account – we will take a look at a possible CD to see which is better.
• Pay off interim loan – Motion was made by Nick Keller with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to pay off interim loan. Motion carried.
Engineer Report – Lead Service line – Matt is going to submit an application for Project Priority List which is due in May. It will come back to council in May if we wish to proceed.
Clerk Report – Transfer to Savings – since we do not have a street loan payment, I would recommend transferring $45,000 to savings out of general fund. Our current general fund balance is $284,355.86. The loan payments we were making each year were $47,000. The last payment was in 2024. This would double the amount we currently have in savings. We would then have $100,000 in a CD and $90,000 in savings, still leaving $200,000 (more or less) in general fund. Sewer Fund Balance – we received reimbursement from Rural Development for all the lining project expenses we were paying from our current funds. The sewer balance is now $118,139.67. Quarterly Reports – have all been done for 1st Qtr, 2025. COVID Reporting – has been completed. Payoff of Interim Sewer Loan – Now that we are nearing completion, are we at the point of paying off this interim sewer loan at Fransden Bank. We already have the funds to pay it off in an interim savings account. We were keeping it in case we needed it while the project was in progress. This amount will be included in our final bond we will have when this project is completed. We have earned $921.72 interest on this money since opening the account in June of 2023.
Treasurer Report – List was distributed and discussed how changes can be made to the report.
Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – fixed around hydrants, discharging in the beginning of May. We should take a look at cleaning our pressure tanks.
Mayor Concerns: None
Council Concerns: Discussion on field updates and the Lions are interested. A formal plan will be brought back to in the future.
Adjourn
Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Nick Keller to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 6:16. Motion carried.
Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk
