CEYLON — Ceylon City Council met Tuesday evening and two presentations were given. One was from Joshua Schuetz about the Economic Development Association and what he could help Ceylon do. He mentioned grant writing resources, business help to start up or if a business is struggling. He can refer people to the council if he cannot help himself.

The Council discussed revolving loan ideas where the business would get a loan to fix and then sell something and pay back the loan with the sales. Housing was also discussed and he mentioned that housing is the number one issue for each community. He will look for some information for the council about a Housing Study Grant and help with grants for demolition or repair for houses in the City.

The second presentation was from State Representative, Bjorn Olson. He mentioned that he is on three committees at the state which are tax, transportation and veterans. If there is a project that could be helped he asked that he be contacted years in advance since it takes that long to get the resources together and working. He was asked about the surplus and bonding projects. He will look into road money for next year’s 2024 budget. The council informed him of the things MnDOT has not completed with the highway project they did in 2022 and he said he would look into the problems.

The meeting continued with a public comment from the non-profit group, Helping Hands of Ceylon, that they have been approved for a grant to replace the sinks and toilets in the shelter house at Mondale Park. They are now applying for a grant to help with repair/refurbishing the interior and replacing the doors for the shelter house. They thanked the council for helping them be eligible for the grant applications.

When the council discussed the offer from MnDOT to finalize the buildings in the downtown project it also discussed the fact that the City does not own those buildings and that a meeting was proposed with the people involved. No meeting was held yet. Councilor Perkins and the city clerk will contact the owners of the buildings, county engineers, City Attorney, MnDOT representative and perhaps engineers from Bolton and Menk for a meeting with the council about the buildings. The council was concerned that the owner of the collapsed building is an absentee owner and may be hard to contact.

There was also a discussion about the quote from the Cemetery Association for stone moving and repairs. The City spends about $6,000 a year on the mowing and gravel for the cemetery. It was mentioned that the damage to some stones may have been from previous mowers and perhaps their insurance could be contacted about that damage. Very old stones had inferior materials and sealing and their families are long gone. The council mentioned that the committee should be responsible for watching for damage and maintenance of stones. The council approved asking the Cemetery Association to use perpetual funds to maintain the old stones. Discussions may be held later to add some budgeting to help maintain the cemetery.

In other news:

— The 2024 budget was discussed.

— The council approved payment for the sealcoating on the east/west streets. The council approved investing the CD at the bank in Ceylon with the Edward Jones brokerage for a six-month period. The City would have enough to pay bills without using this CD for bills.

— There will be a meeting on Aug. 10 in Windom about trees with the DNR. Either Mayor Gibeau or the city clerk will attend.

— The City Works employee reported that the lift station pump shorted out and one pump needed to be used this week. The pump needs repair. The City sign repair has been sent to the insurance company.

— There were no bids for the tree removal job advertised.

— The council discussed the many problems left to be solved from the Highway 263 project. The new lights have been put up but the old lights are not working like they were before the construction. The boulevards were in need of re-seeding and that was not done well

either. There is a problem with drainage on Railroad Street. The City or the County will not sign off until the problems are solved correctly.

The next meeting of the Ceylon City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 at Ceylon City Hall.