Shafer Council hires PT staffer

Shafer City Council met August 5 for a regular meeting. Council members Brad Swenson and Patti Kowalski were absent.

The council began the meeting passing a resolution accepting donations to the fire relief fund for $546.86.

Council then passed a resolution accepting a $100 donation to Shafer Days from Bonnie Olmshenck.

The council then looked over and ultimately passed a letter of support for a county application for State Legacy Grant Funding for the Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail completion. The trail portion is located in Shafer and Center City.

The council then agreed to pay employees, who work during Shafer Days, overtime wages as it has in the past.

Council then approved the hiring of a part-time maintenance worker Drake Siemonsma. Siemonsma will begin immediately.

The council then went over a road maintenance contract with Shafer Township for blading and mowing shared roads that include 305th Street, Rydeen, Quandam, and Rainbow Avenues. The contract states blading done by Shafer Township will be billed $170 per hour to the city of Shafer. The contract also states ditch mowing rates for those roads will run $125 for the first pass, $150 for the second and $175 for the thrid pass. Council member Nick Brehm asked Maintenance Supervisor Dan Cooper if Shafer has a mower because the rates seemed quite high on the contract. Cooper told the council the city sold it to the township a few years back because the mower was cutting out when brakes were applied on the tractor thus making it a nuisance to operate.

Brehm then asked Cooper how much a new mowing attachment would run and Cooper estimated between $6,000 and $7,000. Council all agreed they have not seen the mowing charges in any contracts in prior years and agreed to table the signing of the contract and get bids for a new mower.

Cooper then told the council he was approached by the owners of Shafer Saloon about security at outdoor events. The owners asked if the Saloon could use a security company instead of hiring through the Sheriff’s Office during outdoor concerts. The council agreed to allow it once and see how it goes with the exception that Shafer Saloon provides a copy of the contract of the security company in question.