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Shafer City Council met December 5 for a regular meeting.  The meeting followed a Truth in Taxation hearing which no residents came to.  All members were present with attorney James Monge and engineer Lucas Jones joining via Skype.  The meeting began with a resolution passed by the council approving the 2023 Levy.  The levy for 2023 will be $527,660.00.  The resolution passed unanimously.  The 2022 levy was $495,580.

The council then passed a resolution accepting Shafer/Franconia Fire gambling revenue percentage tax  $6,628.26.

The council then had a brief discussion about garbage service and SRC rates rising. The city has a quote from Chisago Lakes Sanitation for $118 a month.  SRC raised its rates from $119 to $137 a month.  The council agreed to switch to Chisago Lakes Sanitation unanimously.  The bill is for city hall, maintenance shop and parks.

In the  engineer’s report Lucas Jones told the council Pember Construction has completed all of the punchlist items and the utility work is now complete.  Pember is seeking a final payout of $11,882 which includes a year warranty on their work.  The council approved the final payout unanimously. The utility project came in $72,711 under budget.

The council then had discussion about the painting of the water tower which was preformed by Osseo Construction.  Council member Brad Swenson and Nick Brehm both voiced their displeasure with the final product.  They told Jones the lettering on the north side of the tower is very crooked and looks bad.  Jones told the council that KLM who was overseeing the project told his firm MSA that everything looked good.  Brehm and Swenson disagreed and Jones told them he would come up during the day to inspect the lettering.  

Jones then told the council city clerk Joan Ciesler and the public works department will be training on the new GIS software after New Years.  Training will take around four hours.
In the public works report, maintenance supervisor Dan Cooper told the council the compost site is now closed.  

Cooper then discussed storage at the warming house.  The warming house is in need of storage for tools for flooding the rink in Shafer Meadows.  Copper presented the council with two options, the first being build a new storage shed by the warming house which would cost around $4,300 including electrical.  The second option would be a caged storage locker that would be installed inside the warming house that would run the city $469.  The council supported the storage locker.  The council then had a brief discussion about the volunteers at the warming house and the rink.  Council member Patty Mattson told the council the volunteers last year were drinking on more than one occasion and things were broken on their watch.  Mayor Paula Hanson assured Mattson the volunteer the city has this year is an “upstanding citizen of Shafer”.

Cooper then presented the council with a wish list for the maintenance department.  The list includes an 85 inch snowblower attachment for $8500, a ten foot wide snow bucket for the skidsteer, a snow pusher blade for the utility cart, new tires for the tractor, new tires for the city truck and front fenders for the tractor.  The council discussed and agreed to allow the snow blower $8500, and the snow bucket $2,200 along with fenders for the tractor.   Council member Brehm asked Cooper if he is planning on coming to the council next year with something bigger and better than what they just approved.  “I hope not” said Cooper.

The council adjourned at 7:45pm

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