Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes
October 15, 2025 @ 6:00 PM
Call the meeting to order at 6:00. Meeting is recorded, and the recordings belong to the City of Bellechester.
Pledge to the flag
Mayor Jody Gordon opened the regular city council meeting at 6:00.
Roll call was taken: The council in attendance: Mayor Jody Gordon, Council member Rich Majerus, Mark Gerken Jacob Gilsdorf, and Nick Keller as well as treasurer Kyle McKeown. Absent was City Clerk Lisa Redepenning and City Engineer Matt Mohs. Jo Poncelet and Jackie Distad were also present.
Approve or Amend of Agenda – Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Nick Keller to approve the agenda. Motion carried.
Minutes of the August 20, 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 Nick Keller with a second by Rick Majerus to approve and pay the bills as presented with not paying Banyon bill. Motion carried.
Old Business:
• Visu Sewer Change Order No. 2 Approval (contract balancing change order – required by RD). This is a contract balancing change order. The final contract amount is $917,015.60. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Mark Gerken to approve Change Order No 2 contingent on RD concurrence. Motion carried.
• Visu Sewer Final Pay Application Approval – Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by to approve Pay Application #9 in the amount of $9170.16 contingent on RD concurrence. Motion carried.
New business:
• Lead Service Line Replacement project planning and timing – documents will be forthcoming from Matt in November.
• BCCA Discussion – Matt had a list of priorities that he will provide to us. We have estimates at this point for upgrades. There was discussion on the future of the building.
• 2025-2026 Snowplowing – Brian Gordon is interested in providing this service. He will provide us a quote.
• Utility Rate Discussion/Update Household count – Tabled.
• Approve Prosecution Agreement with Goodhue County Attorney’s Office. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Mark Gerken to approve the prosecution agreement with Goodhue County. Motion carried.
Engineer Report – None
Clerk Report – Goodhue County Prosecution Agreement - FYI - $60/month currently, increasing to $63/month for 2026 and $66/month for 2027. Previously was a 1 year agreement, now it’s for 2 years. Assessment Warning Letters – FYI – there are only 2 remaining unpaid. Rural Development Update – FYI – we were told that we need to wrap up our project and submit invoices by end of November. Matt will have more information on this at meeting. Mower Purchase – if you were going to do this with the funds from our grant, it better get purchased now if you want it to be submitted for reimbursement. Paid Family Medical Leave – FYI – the State of MN is requiring this. There are no small business exemptions, we have to do it. Since our payroll is low, the cost per year will be less than $100, and starts in 2026. Office Supply Purchases – FYI – I purchased toner, copy paper, window envelopes and file folders. Quarterly Reporting done – FYI – Fed withholding, state sales tax, state unemployment and county building permits are filed and paid.
Treasurer Report – None.
Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – Flushing hydrants on the 24th of October. MPCA will come to inspect on October 30th. Discharge possible mid-November. Continued work on GIS mapping.
Mayor Concerns: None
Council Concerns: Fire truck association hired a lawyer to look at agreement. The association board is taking over for the committee.
Adjourn
Motion was made by Mark Gerken with a second by Jake Gisdorf to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 6:43 Motion carried.
Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk
