SHERBURN — During the Sherburn City Council meeting on Monday evening, CO-CEDA manager of the EDA in southcentral Minnesota, Dave Schmidt, and the County EDA representative, Nicole Behrens, explained that Sherburn asked them to report on possible contracting to help get developers for the city, especially the Ringer Drive area.

They showed the council some work they did in Cannon Falls and Jackson and explained that they usually do not exceed 200 hours of help. They will set a time to come and discuss the help with grants that they can do. Some projects take two years to finish. They will help the city with procedures and identifying grants available for projects and they help write the grants.

There was a housing study completed in February and Ringer Drive was one of the proposed sites. There may be plans for patio houses and single-family houses with basements. Sherburn EDA has funds available from the sale of the townhouses the city sold. The council will have further discussions with the CO-CEDA.

Sherburn Theatre owner Mike Schwartz spoke about the cost of repair ($400), refurbishing or purchasing a new digital computer to show movies. He explained that the film vault downloads the movie to the projector, and each movie costs more each year, some around $60-plus. Streaming on home televisions has taken away business from theaters. He estimated that they had used the digital projector since 2000. Sherburn does not get revenue from the Sherburn Theatre and no budget has money for repairs. The council tabled any action until more information can be reported.

A discussion was held about the job position descriptions proposed by the personnel committee, and approved. Some of the job descriptions were nonexistent or did not match the duties fulfilled. The council also discussed the wage increases for city employees and approved that increase based on annual job performance and annual reviews and adopted one of the wage scales proposed by the personnel committee. There was an increase in the budget, and the raising of the sales tax will help fund the increase. In the discussion of the wage scale, the council asked how an employee would know how to advance to the next step. The council approved that the step would be earned by having a high review and a job performance review annually.

There are levels of performance given at reviews, such as: Outstanding, Commendable, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement and Unsatisfactory. The council agreed that the employee must get a review of Satisfactory or above to get an increase. The council also discussed the Union proposal that some employees were listed as supervisory and some are not. They approved the union’s list.

A discussion about hemp products sold at the Liquor Store was held and tabled for more information. The store would need a new license for that and the sale would be off-premises only, with no consumption of the beverages at the liquor store. The beverages sold are low-potency, with a potency of five percent. The Red Carpet manager shared that there had been several inquiries and salespeople said others sell it. There would be increased revenue, but there is a business in town selling cannabis. They will discuss this at another meeting.

In other news:

— The council accepted with gratitude a donation of $1,000 from the South Central Rural Electric Company for the Sherburn Fire Department.

— The council approved the signature changes at the bank and the transfer of funds.

— The council updated the committee appointments to include Mayor Olson on the personnel committee and the Fire Relief Association committee. They approved the capital expense for the purchase of the boiler for Temperance Lake Ridge memory building which is under warranty for approximately $4,800.

— Council reports included a hydrant that does not work and some water line problems on south Manyaska. Public Works will look into both matters.

— The council approved a $500 donation to the after prom committee for MCW.

— The council approved a cell phone for the Liquor Store manager.

— The City Attorney told the Council that the TLR committee meetings must be open to the public. There is a new manager at TLR (Groenwald).

— The Tiny Homes project is going well. All the homes now there are rented and they will be bringing more homes to Sherburn this year.

— Clerk Andrea Ballard is attending a training in Mankato on April 9. Both Ballard and Deputy Clerk Sean Devenn went to a MN Clerk Conference earlier this spring and both felt the conference was very helpful with many sessions they attended and networking with other clerks.

— The difference between the auto-pay and e-billing was explained by Ballard, because there seems to be confusion about the new items. Auto-pay is automatically withdrawn from the resident’s bank account through the portal or City of Sherburn (which has been used for years). The e-billing is not payment but an online bill statement instead of a paper bill that has to be mailed. The e-billing has a $2 discount associated with it. Residents may use both auto-pay and e-billing.

— The clean-up day for Sherburn will be May 2, with flags sold for $25 as last year for curbside pick-up. Bringing items in is still free. As of now, there are no appliances, but that may change, so residents should watch for information as the day gets closer.

The next meeting of the Sherburn City Council will be at 5 p.m. on April 20 at the Sherburn City Hall.