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The Taylors Falls city council celebrated the years of public spirit provided by Lynn Longnecker, by presenting him with the riverway steward honor, and adding his name to a city hall plaque that carries the winners’ names.

Longnecker will also be Grand Marshal for Wannigan Days this summer.  Rest assured this town celebration is on his calendar because he has been helping lead the town committee in resurrecting Wannigan Days since 2017.  Longnecker also was on the council about 1982 to 1989 and then he relocated for a bit-- returned and became mayor in 1991. He moved again and Jerry Spicer was appointed to fill the mayoral post.

Longnecker has also run pulltabs for the fire department and has been on the Historical Society in Taylors Falls for six years.

He told council he was honored receiving the award.  

Longnecker was attending the council meeting to give an  update on this summer’s Wannigan Days, so it wasn’t hard to lure him into council chambers to make what is usually a surprise presentation.  Wannigan committee members are arranging for activities and programs and adjusting some things that didn’t work last year.  The committee can always use helpers and ideas, contact city hall if you would like to get involved.

In other business council approved on a 5-0 vote a short term rental use of the house at 631 Bench Street.  The owners will continue to reside in the home and will go elsewhere on days or weekends that it is rented out.  Maximum occupancy is six.

The council agreed parking was adequate and the planning commission had also recommended approval.
A set of new security cameras and related equipment was approved for purchase at $2,947 for city hall.  Mary Jo Murphy represented the council on the committee and she said the firm CWS of St Croix Falls presented the most customer service and interior devices even though the quote was about $47 more than the other.

The public works maintenance worker Paul Stenger was granted a $1 an hour increase in pay retroactive to October, which was the annual anniversary of his hiring.  Council members all expressed great satisfaction with job performance.

In accepting the fire department list of 2020 officers and report; council learned the department  had been paged out to 119 incidents in Taylors Falls and 18 incidents to Shafer Township, which contracts for services.  There were 13 medical and five fire or rescue calls to the township.  

Shafer Township contributes to the department’s 2020 budget of $67,430 using a formula of estimated market valuation of the township, number of runs and population.  The township agrees to approximately $17,000 in payment for the year.






 

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