The South Haven City Council met Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Citizens of South Haven voted to allow the sale of on-sale intoxicating liquor on Sundays on the Nov. 8 ballot. (This was necessary, after the closing of the Municipal liquor store, to allow the city to issue Sunday liquor licenses.) Individual applications will be accepted and approved by the city council, at their discretion.
The council voted 3-2 to approve the resolution allowing on-sale intoxicating liquor sales on Sunday. (Bodeker, Jarvis, Nicka voted for; Edward and Kothe voted against.) The Sunday liquor license fee will be $200, and this may be adjusted as needed.
Demolition of these two city-owned buildings (one of them was the Municipal Liquor Store) earlier this month cost $1,000 more than anticipated because of hidden asbestos in floor tiles. TCN file photo.
The city-owned ?ÄúMuni?Äù liquor store building was taken down, starting Nov. 16, and completed in November by DRC Inc. They found asbestos floor tiles hidden under a concrete floor; this required special handling and an additional $1,000 cost which the council unanimously approved. (The adjacent, privately-owned building was unaffected by the demolition, but its roof and structure are noted to be in poor condition.)
The city will look into replacement costs for a computer and software for the city clerk.
Fire Chief Laney reported that there were three rescue medical calls and four fire calls during November. The Fire & Rescue Department completed railroad pipeline training, and joined Annandale Fire Dept. in a house-burn training. The council unanimously approved replacement of three ice rescue suits (at about $700 each), a new circular saw, and a thermal camera (est. cost $6,000).
An AED (automated electronic defibrilator) has been installed in the community room of City Hall.
The council voted unanimously to pay the remaining $48,000 balance (plus any interest owed) on the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) extraordinary expense loan obtained to pay for tearing down the Municipal liquor store building. The city will use funds from the general savings if necessary so they can pay the entire amount due.
The council unanimously approved the city?Äôs revised budget and levy for 2017. The final levy is $128,383 and budget is $197,903. The final levy is a 7-percent increase over 2016; the preliminary budget had been an 18-percent increase, but was lowered because of the pay-off of the CMC loan rather than paying in installments. Local Government Aid (LGA) for 2017 will be $34,860.
The newly elected and re-elected mayor and council members will be sworn in at the next South Haven City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 3.