Bellechester City Council Meeting Minutes
September 17 @ 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 City Clerk Lisa Redepenning, treasurer Kyle McKeown, and City Engineer Matt Mohs. Roger Ballstad, Jo Poncelet and Jackie Distad were also present.
Adjustment of Agenda – item added regarding building permits. It was suggested to add approval of agenda and include the opportunity to amend at the beginning of each meeting.
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 with noted changes. 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:
• Sanitary Sewer Improvements – Update – Matt presented PA #8 $37,636.38 which is to reduce the retainage from 5% to 1%. Punch list was completed June 4th. Final pay application will come in October along with change order #2. $9,170.16 will be the final payment. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Nick Keller to approve PA #8 for $37,636.38 as submitted. Motion carried. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Mark Gerken to pass resolution #2025-05 to accept the project as complete. Motion carried.
• Lead Service Line – Update – 6 properties have been idented as remaining. 2 were trailers, 1 was a vacant lot. Remaining 3 lots have been identified. We may have a possible contractor for the lead replacement line work. 11 properties need to be addressed. We have until 2033 to complete this. We have applied for funding, and we should know soon if we qualify.
• Gilsdorf Building Permit Update – permit was received. Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a 2nd by Jake Gilsdorf to approve the completed building permit. Motion carried.
• BCCA Building Update – ADA assessment was done and discussion is needed to give Rural Development our plan. We could possibly use remaining Rural Development funds on our CIPP project. We will find out what is remaining and if it should be used on upgrades for ADA on the Community Center.
• Fire Association Joint Powers Agreement Update – Rich recapped the progress done to date on the history of what this has progressed thus far on the process of updating the agreement. He discussed the changes that are currently being considered. Rich will distribute the current version to council to review. Bellechester currently pays a levy of 2.4% and that will be increased.
New business:
• Special Assessment Consideration List – List was distributed for letters to be sent as warning. Motion was made by Jake Gilsdorf with a 2nd by Mark Gerken to send letters that were on the list. Motion carried.
• Set Preliminary 2026 Budget – Motion was made by Jack Gilsdorf with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to set the levy at zero percent increase. Motion carried.
• Building Permit – 311 1st Street - Roof Replacement – Motion was made by Mark Gerken with a 2nd by Jake Gilsdorf to approve permit as presented. Motion carried.
• Special Meeting Information – clarification was discussed.
• Building Permit Process – Discussion on this topic was done. Checklist that could be included on the back of the permit was discussed.
• Motion was made by Nick Keller with a 2nd by Rich Majerus to approve the Poncelet Building (old creamery/feed store) permit as presented. Motion carried.
Engineer Report – see above.
Clerk Report – None
Treasurer Report – Bills will be sent out later this month. Past due list was distributed. Updated household count was requested.
Water/Wastewater/Facility Report – discharge will be done in November. We will ask Fire department will come in the spring to control burn around the pond.
Mayor Concerns: None
Council Concerns: None
Adjourn
Motion was made by Rich Majerus with a second by Nick Keller to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:42 Motion carried.
Submitted by Lisa Redepenning – City Clerk
