New Richland City Council
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
It’s been a month since the New Richland City Council received a report from Police Chief Scott Eads, so he had plenty to say at Monday night’s regular meeting at City Hall. All council members were there except the vacationing Amy Ihrke.
Eads, who did not present a report at the last meeting because he was on vacation, had several items of interest, most noteworthy reports of parties entering unlocked/unsecured locations and removing alcohol of various types. The incidents reported go back to late May.
“We’re working on this matter, and we’re asking for the public’s assistance in two ways,” Eads wrote in his report.
First and foremost, according to Eads, is to lock your doors. Second, if you observe anything suspicious, call 911 or 465-3240.
“Our most important assets are the eyes and ears of the community we serve and we’ll gladly check out issues brought to our attention when it’s occurring or as close to occurrence as possible,” Eads wrote. “We can’t investigate matters days or weeks later. If you take notice and you thought it was odd, it likely is — let us know!”Coincidentally, Larry and Pam Goehring were at the meeting to discuss creating a neighborhood watch group in New Richland to help monitor activities when officers are not on duty.
There have been reports of groups of individuals standing outside houses at 4:30 a.m. and there have been acts of vandalism throughout town, including downtown.
There was much discussion on the issue.
“We need more eyes,” said Larry Goehring. “At the times when people know there are no officers on duty, we need to be monitoring it a lot more. We do have some issues. Why not have the people help us out?”
Council members and Mayor Christine Gislason were supportive but skeptical.
“One problem is that people don’t listen to or respect other people,” said Gislason.
Councilman John Hullopeter questioned whether there would be enough community support.
“Yes,” said Goehring.
Councilperson Sandy Neumann asked about police officers rotating hours or adjusting schedules.
“We try to be on duty when it’s busiest,” said Eads.
Eads said a community watch group was tried in the past but little interest was shown.
“I’m concerned it may cause more problems than it may deter,” said councilman Tony Martens.
Nevertheless, Eads and the council agreed to look into a watch group to see if there’s enough interest among community members.
New Richland Care Center Administrator Lyn Sebenaler had good news for the council.
For one, the water bills appear back to normal, though no one knows why.
“It’s down by $3,000 and 151,000 gallons a month,” said Sebenaler. They’ve been monitoring the water meter daily and will continue to do so at least through September.
The second issue dealt with the approximately $400,000 NRCC has in a bank money market fund. Sebenaler and NRCC Board Member Gail Schmidt met with Brandon Wayne of Ameriprise Financial and learned the funds could yield 4-6 percent more in a “conservative to moderate risk” investment with Ameriprise.
It was approved.
The council also approved approximately $18,000 to repair ongoing roof/leak problems at NRCC.
The council approved the training of four new firefighters at a cost of $1500 each, or $6000 total. The State of Minnesota will pay for the training if the applications are received soon enough. Otherwise, the city will pay for it. Also approved was the spending of $233.10 to recharge fire extinguishers on the city’s fire trucks.
The council approved spending up to $1,930.72 to purchase new tires for the city dump truck.
The council also approved a lease agreement with Harlan Schlaak to rent several acres of city land near the wastewater treatment facility.
The NR City Council’s next meeting is Monday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.