Reports: City, PUC in good shape

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The annual financial reports for the City and the Public Utilities Commission that were received by the City Council Tuesday night were as good as they looked.

Reviewing the reports in a meeting prior to the council's regular meeting, the council found there were few problem areas in either report. Kyle Meyers of Abdo, Eick & Meyers, LLP, Mankato, went over both reports.

The PUC report showed an increase in earnings during 2000 in every department.

This fact led Councilor Clark Tuttle to quip: "Why are we paying for all these things (curb and gutter, etc.) when PUC has all this money?"

Meyers said the city's cash balance in its general fund should be at the 40 percent level, but "at 30.85 percent it is headed in the right direction."

City Treasurer Gary Gleisner expressed concern about negative balances in two capital project funds accounts, the Hermann Monument Base account for repairs to the statue's base and the Mueller Park account for a baseball field.

"We need to get those back to a positive number," he said.

As Council President Dan Beranek noted, as the reports were accepted at the regular meeting, "It looks like our books are in good shape." He also urged citizens to read the city report at city hall or the library "because it has a lot of good information in it; you'll get a good handle on the city."

The council dealt quickly with the licenses and permits, approving lawful gambling licenses for Heritagefest, Inc., to conduct raffles gambling at the Brown County Fairgrounds on July 22, and for the 3M Club of New Ulm to have bingo and raffles gambling at the Fairgrounds on Aug. 19.

A license for selling cigarettes over the counter from May 15 to June 30 for Coborn's Inc., doing business as Little Dukes also was approved.

The council approved a raft of variances requested by Highland Manor, Inc., for the Oak Hills Assisted Living Center expansion and approved the preliminary plat for the 16-unit project which will be built with a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Acting upon a half-hearted recommendation from the Park and Recreation Commission, the council voted to go forward with preliminary planning for the skate board park at 1st South and German. Park and Recreation Commission earlier had recommended a site next to the Family Recreation Center. In its latest recommendation, Chairman Mary Hussman said in a letter to the council, "Due to several factors, the site next to the Family Recreation Center would best suit this type of facility. However, following a discussion, the Commission indicated support for the skate board park to be built at 1st South and German Street."

Councilor Joel Albrecht expressed concern, however, that safety was a concern because of traffic. The council inserted a safety analysis into its motion.

The city engineer's request for a selection committee to evaluate potential consultants to provide airport planning and design services for the runway extension at New Ulm Municipal Airport drew debate.

Beranek said, in seconding the motion to develop a committee, "We should proceed because airport projects tend to be slow moving. Airports are very important to small towns. We can't really sit on our hands; it needs to be done."

The plan is to extend the 4,500-foot runway an additional 500 feet. According to City Engineer Steven Koehler, that would accommodate one size larger business jet.

Fleischmann wasn't convinced. "We really haven't got information on how the airport is used. We need to know how much it benefits the community."

When told that could be one of the jobs of the committee, Fleischmann volunteered to be a part of the committee, and the measure passed.

In other action, the council:

* Gave the go-ahead to Barb Haroldson, Larkspur Market, to build an outdoor seating area in the alley behind the business.

* Created a committee composed of city, New Ulm Area Youth Soccer Association and Martin Luther College representatives to research the feasibility of developing and maintaining soccer playing fields on the Eagle Division property site.

* Authorized purchase of a $7,000 portable irrigation gun from Park and Recreation operating funds for watering the North Park playing field. The New Ulm Junior Baseball Association will reimburse the city with two $3,500 payments, one during June, 2001, and the other June, 2002.

* Referred to architects a proposal for adding batting cages in the design development phase of the Vogel Arena and Fairgrounds facility construction projects.

* Approved an agreement with Retail Investment II, LLC and the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce for placement and operation of a Marktplatz Mall/Downtown message center sign to be placed in the municipal parking lot north of City Hall.

* Set a public hearing date of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, 2001, on a petition for grading, aggregate base, bituminous base, concrete curb and gutter, concrete sidewalk, concrete driveway pavement, bituminous surfacing, storm sewer, boulevard restoration and street lighting on Doris Drive from the KC road to 365 feet south in Hoffman's Second and Third Additions.