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Brownsville City Council swears in officials, approves appointments, fee increases and personnel changes
Summary
At its Jan. 8 meeting the Brownsville City Council swore in a new mayor and two council members, designated official depositories and the community center as the polling place, approved rental fee increases and awarded a pest-control contract; the council also approved clerk and deputy clerk job descriptions over two dissenting votes.
The Brownsville City Council convened Jan. 8, 2025, swearing in Mayor Jean Meyer and newly elected council members Bill Fitzpatrick and David Prestby and immediately moved through a series of organizational and operational actions.
In routine business, the council designated Merchants Bank, N.A. and PMA Financial Network, LLC as official depositories and named the Brownsville Community Center the official polling place for government elections. The council approved the consent agenda, which included the minutes of Dec. 4, 2024, and claims payable to date.
The council also approved a set of rental-fee changes for community facilities. By majority vote, the shelter and concessions rental fee will increase from $75 to $100. The council approved a $25 increase to the community center gym and kitchen rental fees for both residents and nonresidents; council discussion noted the additional revenue is intended to help fund resurfacing the gym floor.
On facilities maintenance, the council reviewed competing pest-control bids for the Community Center, Bluffview Manor and ballpark facilities and accepted the DeBoer proposal by unanimous vote.
A contested personnel item drew the most visible dissent. Council members debated updated job descriptions for the city clerk and deputy clerk, including whether the deputy clerk’s two hours per week of cleaning at Bluffview Manor should be enumerated. Ben Novak suggested replacing the explicit cleaning task with the catchall phrase “other duties as assigned.” Bill Fitzpatrick moved to approve both job descriptions; the motion passed with Barb Hurley and Pam Walhovd voting against the measure.
In new-business votes, the council approved a $50 donation to the Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities (SMIF) and renewed membership in the Minnesota Rural Water Association for $425 plus a $25 equipment fund contribution. The council voted to cancel renewal of the Caledonia Argus subscription; Mayor Meyer cast the lone dissent on that motion.
The meeting closed after additional operational updates and a consensus to follow up on several items.
What happens next: Several items require follow-up or implementation steps recorded during the meeting, including scheduling personnel reviews later in January, pursuing gym-floor resurfacing funding from the rental-fee increase, and executing the pest-control contract with DeBoer.
