At its Feb. 3 meeting, the Kimball city council heard an update on the process it should follow if it wished to sell the Police Department building. Fast-forward to its March 3 meeting and the council approved moving forward with selling this building.
Within its resolution on this matter, the city stated how it no longer had a governmental need for this property – located at 40 Hazel Avenue East in Kimball – and didn’t need to hold it for governmental purposes. It also stated that sales to the private sector would be in the public interest, “including that such sales will return the property to the property tax rolls.”
As far as the sale, within the resolution, it read that the council is instructing staff to consult with a Realtor to get a market opinion on the property.
The city council, as part of this resolution, instructed staff to make sure this building had been emptied of all city contents and property.
City beautification/City Hall
Deputy Clerk Allison Hansen gave the council updates on its city beautification work and city hall work.
At the city’s prior meeting, it approved the purchase of 12 -garden plant banners for the spring in the amount of $1,509. As of March 3, the city had received these banners, and public works planned to put them up early that week.
As for the city hall, back at its Feb. 3 meeting, the -council reviewed quotes to repair the City Hall roof. According to the meeting minutes, there was “confusion” on a couple of items. First, the city was wondering whether its claim would be covered if it chose to replace the roof with all TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) instead of metal and TPO. It also had some confusion on a Bussey quote, including whether it covered the entire roof or just the existing flat roof portion. City clerk Nicole Pilarski would reach out to discuss these matters.
Also at this Feb. 3 meeting, the city accepted a $3,845.68 quote from Custom Interiors Carpet One to refinish the floors on the City Hall stage. It also approved including the stairs on the north side of the stage with the refinish work if this amount is “within the budget and reasonable.”
Moving to its Feb. 24 special meeting, the council reviewed and approved a change order from Yamry Construction amounting to $8,383 for the City Hall Remodel Project. These changes included required ones by the electrical inspector, a fan control switch, paint work to the northeast office and council chambers, ceiling touch-up work, caulking, and deductions for “the pass-through window, door frame in the break/meeting room, and not finishing trim.”
At that time, the city did request a quote on painting the whole -ceiling versus touching it up. Pilarski would check on this. According to the March 3 agenda, in an email to Pilarski that day, Yamry said the cost to repaint the whole ceiling would be “roughly” $2,900, including the deductions for touch-ups in the change order.
Maguire Water proposal
The city approved the Maguire Water proposal, helping the city with any and all maintenance on its water tower. This includes inspection, drainage, disinfection, painting, and emergency services when needed.
This proposal included a ten-year cost schedule, with the service(s) done and annual cost listed by year. According to the proposal, the annual cost over that 10-year period ranged from as high as $31,530 over each of the first three years to as low as $15,683 in the fourth year.
Snow removal and ice control policy change
As part of its consent agenda, the city approved an update on its Snow Removal and Ice Control Policy that now includes info about the placement of and damage to trash and recycling carts.
The update reads as follows: “Residents shall not place trash and recycling carts in the street during the snow removal months. All carts shall be placed behind the curbline to prevent the blade of the snowplow from hitting the cart. Replacement of damaged carts shall be the responsibility of the property owner if it is determined the carts were placed onto the street and not behind the curb-
line. It is common for carts to be knocked over by snow coming off the plow blade. The Public Works Department is not responsible for picking up carts that are knocked over by snow.”
Fire Department
The council accepted the resignation of three Kimball Area Fire Department firefighters.
Pre-development agreement
The city approved a pre-development agreement with developer John Rosenlund for 130 Magnus Johnson Street.
More information/Next meeting
The next regular meeting takes place on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 5:30 pm from the Kimball City Hall. Council meetings are live-streamed on the city’s Facebook page, but this March 3 meeting was not live-streamed because of technical difficulties. Council meeting recaps are provided on the city’s Facebook page, but these are not official minutes.