by Mari Radtke
The Paullina City Council was presented with a surprise $154,000 expense at the lagoon project at their October 21 regular council meeting. The additional cost is said to be caused by more sediment in Cell 1 than was priced at the time cleaning that cell was decided. That first change order cost the city $41,000. On October 21, Councilman Dennis Werkmeister asked about funding the newest change order request and noted that the funding for the first change order had not yet been determined.
A special meeting for October 25 was posted timely to approve the newest change order to fully clean Cell 1 of the sewage lagoons. It was discovered that there was a large balance to the city’s “debt service” fund, according to City Clerk Michelle Wilson. Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) dollars are directed by the voters of Paullina for 10% to the general fund and 90% to debt service. No transfers have been made from the LOST fund to the debt service fund since May 2022. It’s not clear where city’s debts were paid from since May 2022. After finding the available funds, the council approved the change order for the lagoon project.
A contract amendment with WAPA, one of Paullina’s electric suppliers, was presented for consideration. As Paullina continues to build the new switchgear small pieces sometimes require special attention. A revenue meter needs to be updated. A new revenue meter will be installed and maintained by WAPA. The cost for the replacement to the city is expected to be near $6500. The final bill won’t be know until the project and all costs determined by WAPA are collected. Council approved the replacement. The amendment spelled out which entity, Paullina or WAPA owns and is responsible for various other pieces of equipment.
A resolution for the City to dispose of real property to Paullina Development and set a public hearing to do so passed the council.
The November 4 meeting brought out young adults with vision. Brett Nelson and Kreyton Struve presented Council with a plan and proposal to add an attraction at the Paullina City Park. (See November 14 “O’Brien County’s Bell-Times-Courier.) The pair attended the November 4 meeting to get approval to move forward to begin fundraising efforts which was surprising difficult to get.
The public hearing to transfer ownership of 317 S Maple St. Bush Lots 3 & 8, 430 S Main St., 111 E Broadway and 403 E Broadway was pulled from the agenda before approval of the presented agenda. City Attorney Tisha Halverson explained to Council that Paullina Development is not a city organization and therefore cannot be gifted anything of value by the city. City officials and Paullina Development officials can reach an agreement for purchase and follow up through with a standard process to dispose of property.
New insurance rates for the city, Hometown Christmas street closures and the City’s annual street financing report will be considered at the November 18 regular meeting.