SHERBURN — On Monday the Sherburn City Council had its Truth in Taxation meeting with explanations of funds (general, set aside, debt services, enterprise) and levy of 5 percent (down from proposed 20 percent) and budget considerations. Budget income was listed as $1,474,906 and budget expenses were listed as $1,676,058 in a hand out given at the meeting. There were several questions and discussions held. Tax components were explained as some to city of Sherburn, some to Martin County, some to the school district and some to the state of Minnesota.

During the regular meeting the Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave Policy was discussed again and the council approved offering this to employees making at least $3,900 a year. The employee pays and the city pays 50 percent. It was explained that this is different from the FMLA which is federally funded. This was recently made a Minnesota law. There are many websites and checks and balances concerning this policy.

The Fire contracts with the townships was listed and discussed. The council approved this contract. Each Township had different amounts because each township has differing amounts of sections and the amount 4.45 percent was per section. Elm Creek $8,280; Fox Lake $3,680; Jay $8,970 and Sherburn and Manyaska $ 8,280. The City Attorney and the realtor had questions about the sale of the old library building in downtown Sherburn. There were concerns about what consequences would be taken if the buyer did not fulfill the terms of the sale (fix temporarily now and fix permanently with in a year of sale). The realtor needed some list of what conditions the building was in. There is a concern about the water meter being in the basement of the building but the electrical meter being on the south part (chiropractor)of the building.

After discussion the council approved a sale with the condition that the buyer fix the conditions permanently with in a year of sale or the city would demolish the building. They do not want to demolish since there have been some improvements made over the years, like a furnace, and demolishing would be expensive, besides eliminating another downtown building that could be saved.

In the clerk’s report, the City Hall staff reported that there is a lot more people using the portal for information and communication and updates. Some people have auto pay and do not have to use the portal for that since they already have auto pay in effect. Some use the portal to pay billing. The Library has reported more use than before since it moved to the Senior Site near the City Hall. The clerk is in touch with the auditor and the audit is being worked on. The city website is in need of upgrading or replacing since it is not user friendly. The clerk is looking into other sites. The council praised the public works and those who regularly watered the large

pots planted on Main Street. There were remarks this summer that the pots looked nice.

In other business:

— The council approved the Build Permit Fees, a transfer of $15,000 from Temperance Lake Ridge Operating to continue the transfer from Cornerstone management to Embark management.

— The council approved the Utility Billing Fees Rates as listed and discussed previously. (residential water $15.96 and sewer $19.30: rural water $23.16 and sewer $30.87, with commercial water at $ $15.96 and sewer at $19.30) In order to eliminate a fund balance deficit the council approved transfers from Northland Securities Investment account to the Water Fund of $200,000 and a transfer from 4M Investment account of $113,000 to Wastewater Fund; both of these funds are in the General Account.

— The council approved a donation from the Fire Relief Association to the Fire Department of $1,550, which was a grant from Federated Rural Electric Association (REA) for Pagers for the Fire Department.

— The council discussed the proposal from David Drown and Associates for at a formal compensation structure of wages for the city.

— The council approved a contract with Finke to remove snow at a fee of $100 per hour with a minimum of 25 hours. This was less than the other quote.

The Sherburn City Council’s next meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Dec. 15 at City Hall