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TRUMAN-- The Truman City Council on Monday heard an annual update from Prairieland Solid Waste Management. During the report the council learned that Prairieland has a new director, Andy Geiger, who will take over following the retirement of Billeye Rabbe at the end of May.
Geiger said he's coming over with some relevant experience from Jackson County, where he worked with their solid waste program.
"I don't know what I'm going to do the next two months because he's so good," Rabbe said with a laugh.
In providing an update, Rabbe shared that Prairieland processed almost 18,500 tons of garbage in 2022.
"As you know, when I first came to Prairieland, we were using taxpayer money to function, and since 2014 we have functioned on our own with what comes in the door," said Rabbe.
She shared some other highlights from 2022, which included that Prairieland sent about 72 percent of all municipal solid waste coming into the facility to Excel Energy in Mankato to be converted to electrical power.
Rabbe said they typically rotate equipment and in the last year they replaced a Case loader with a new John Deere loader. They also purchased an industrial explosion proof vacuum for dust control at the facility, due to insurance requirements.
"We continue to work on reducing electrical costs... the rate that we paid in electricity in 2013-- $165,000, and the rate in 2022 was $29,800," Rabbe said.
Following Rabbe's update, the council approved of Prairieland Solid Waste Management's conditional use permit.
The council also heard from Josh Kitzerow of the Truman Ambulance, who provided a quarterly update. He said so far they've had a busy year and gave a breakdown of their 172 runs, which included 77 in Truman, 40 in Fairmont, two in Mankato, four in Lewisville, two in Vernon Center and one in St. James.
"The biggest stuff we're running is falls right now, followed by sick and breathing problems," said Kitzerow.
He shared some other statistics and said if they remain as busy as they have been, they will likely go on between 380 and 500 runs in total over the course of the year.
"We're always looking for more help," Kitzerow said.
Next, John Bosshart provided a quarterly street department update. He said they've opened drains and did some repairs to a storm sewer near BoeKett.
Bosshart shared that they'll need some steer tires on the sweeper very soon and said they're expected to cost about $600 for two tires.
The board considered bids for the sealcoat project in which 30,525 sq. yards are planned to be redone this year. The city received five bids with the lowest coming in at $51,992 from Pearson Bros., which the city has previously contracted with. The council approved of the bid.
Lastly, the council heard an update from Utility Foreman, Brent Brown. Brown shared some information on an apprenticeship program and said he would need to speak to the union about getting it started.
"I would like to see something in writing," Brown said.
The apprenticeship would cover electrical, water and wastewater. The council approved a motion to start on an apprenticeship agreement with the union.
Moving to other matters, Brown said he, Bosshart and Council Member Brian Nickerson met with an engineer from Bolton & Menk to talk about the campground project. They asked questions and talked about things they would like to have changed. Nickerson said once they got updated plans from Bolton & Menk they would send it out to the rest of the council to discuss at the next meeting.
The next regularly scheduled city council meeting is April 17. The council discussed holding a work session on April 12.