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The Shafer City Council met August 2 for a regular meeting. The meeting began at 5:30 so the council could attend National Night Out festivities later that evening.

With four people in attendance and all council members present, the council heard from Shafer resident Shanasi Bagnariol. Bagnariol was asking the council if she could open a Facebook page for the City of Shafer. Bagnariol said that she would not charge the city because they would be one of her first customers and she is a resident of Shafer. Bagnariol told the council she would check and update the site daily.

Mayor Kyle Johnson told Bagnariol that he had reservations about the page because of liability issues. Johnson said the city can not control what the public posts on the website. Johnson also told Bagnariol that he would prefer issues about the city to be addressed in front of the council instead of on a website.

City Attorney Ted Alliegro told the council he would check with the League of Minnesota Cities and ask what their recommendation would be.

Council member Matt Dunham told Bagnariol that the city is interested, but they just want to do it the right way.

Council member Jesse Keene then asked the council about the next step for the warming house. City Clerk Lynn Jawish told him he needed to purchase a permit and submit drawings of the building.

The council then consented the agenda 5-0. They then moved quickly to pay the bills 5-0.

The council passed a resolution consenting and approving the assignment of the cable franchise and system to Midcontinent Communications. Midcontinent purchased the franchise from U.S. Cable. The council approved the resolution 5-0.

The council then approved a resolution to accept a donation from Lindstrom Wheelhorse for Shafer Days in the amount of $50. The motion passed 5-0.

In the Engineer's Report, city engineer Jon Herdegen told the council that whichever company gets awarded the rip rapping project, the company will have to sign an agreement stating they will fix the bike path (the bike path is the only way to access the four holding ponds) if damaged.

Herdegen also told the council he would like to have the rip rap job completed by November 1. Herdegen said the plan is to close the bike path during daytime construction and re-open when work stops in the evenings. Herdegen told the council he just needed their approval to put the work out for bids. Mayor Johnson made a motion which passed 5-0.

Herdegen then told the council the company that had been videoing the sewer system was nearly complete and should be done by friday.

On the subject of the new city generators, maintenance supervisor Eric Garner told the council they hope to have two functioning generators out of the three they purchased in the spring. They estimated there to be about $5,000 in work that needs to be performed to get them up and running. Garner told the council the third generator, after being parted out, could be sold for scrap at probably more than $500.

Side note: The Shafer Parks Board was at National Night Out on August 2 selling commemorative sock monkeys to raise money for the parks. Below: Makenzie Keene holds some of the 2011 sock monkeys being sold.

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