By John R. Stone

Reporter

The city of Glenwood will be receiving a significant boost in Local Government Aid (LGA) in 2024 according to a presentation by Elizabeth Wefel of the Coalition of Great Minnesota Cities (CGMC)

Wefel, who was at last week’s city commission meeting,  said that it was a unique year in that the state had one of it’s largest surpluses ever. She said that initially not much was going to be done with LGA but eventually a significant increase was approved along with some changes in how the formula operates.

Under the old formula Glenwood would receive $729,073 in LGA in 2024, under the new formula it will receive $826,146.

LGA has not increased much over the past two decades, Glenwood received roughly $800,000 in LGA in the early 2000s but state budget issues through a couple of recessions resulted in LGA funding being cut significantly.

Wefel said that the CGMC is also working to get the state back on its bonding bill schedule, which is every even numbered year. For various political reasons there was no bonding bill in 2022, she said.

Another program which will benefit cities is funding of $240 million to get rid of lead pipes. The money is geared toward helping homeowners get rid of lead pipes. And there will be money to help cities with populations under 5,000 on some street projects.

She said the legislature will meet again starting February 12, 2024. She said the big issues will be the bonding bill and probably some adjustments to legislation passed this year.

“It was a busy year, a lot of bills were passed,” she said. “It always seems that when that happens there are some problems with legislation that need to be fixed.”

State bike race here?

The commission heard Dr. Tom Haus explain that the city’s new mountain bike trails would make a good stop for the Minnesota State High School League mountain bike team competition.

He said that 2025 would be a good target and said that the local Barsness Park trails built over the past couple of years are getting good reviews from people who have used trails elsewhere.

If the event were to be held here he said a big challenge would be parking since the event could draw several thousand people. It would also require coordination with police and emergency personnel. He said that if the city was OK with the idea he would be willing to pursue it with the league.

“This could be a huge economic boon to the community, said Haus. “It would put us on the map.”

Haus said that last week a team of 80 from an area community came and rode the Barsness Park trails and said they were among the best in the area.

Administrative penalties

The commission also approved a list of administrative penalties for everything from underage alcohol or tobacco possession by a minor ($100) to violating zoning permits ($100), campground violations ($100), animal fecal littering, dog barking or animal not on leash ($100), various traffic violations ($100) and nuisance and other offenses like public indecency, public urination, excessive weeds or vegetation or unmowed grass ($100), graffiti ($100) and more.

City administrator David Iverson said the administrative fees are to discourage certain kinds of behavior and also save the city from having to perform certain acts, such as mowing the lawn of a citizen who refused to mow his or her lawn.

“If we have to mow a lawn we usually charge $200 to $250 but there are issues with us using equipment on private property,” he said. “We’d rather not have to do it.”

In other action the city commission:

• Agreed to be a polling place for the upcoming Minnewaska Area Schools voting on Nov. 7, 2024 to extend its special levy for technology. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. that day and the school wants access to the polling place at 6 a.m. to get set up for the vote.

• Adopted a resolution to allow part time Glenwood police officer Darren Athey to become a member of the Public Employees Retirement Association Police and Fire Fund effective August 14, 2023.

• Heard city public works director Andy Jergenson say that the last day the splash pad in Barsness Park will be September 11 or 12. September 12 a crew from the company that installed the pad will come to show the city crew how to drain it and prepare it for winter.

• Accepted the resignation of Pat Harstad, the resident member of the Glenwood HRA that runs Glenhaven Manor. The commission approved a motion to notify all residents of the housing unit to see if any wish to seek the position.

•A pproved minutes of the meetings of July 26 and August 8 and bills from July in the amount of $218,257.22 and August in the amount of $563,129.48.

Commissioners also approved TIF (tax increment financing) payments of $82,923.22 for the first half of 2023.