SHERBURN — At the Sherburn City Council meeting on Monday evening, the council discussed a facility assessment with engineers and architects to look into repairs and maintenance of the sidewalk and the community building concerns, such as heating and the heat exchangers and plumbing, like the bathrooms under the sidewalk.

A bid of $48,000 was looked into and other resources that could advise the city about repairs and electrical and infrastructure jobs needed at the community building. This was in response to the council needing more information about capital improvement planning and repairs needed at the community building.

The council has budgeted some funds for repairs to that older building. They will also have to budget some for next year. Minimal repairs were done in 1990. The facility assessment would cost about $7,000 and would be done in two phases: the first phase is on-site investigations and inspections of electrical, code compliance and infrastructure. The second phase is to report costs and estimates. The council approved doing the assessment.

During the meeting, the council also discussed the Sherburn Theatre.

The idea to have a contract and agreement was something the operators, the Schwartzs, were open to, but with conditions.

The clerk said that the operators did not report rent, sales of tickets, losses, or gains, nor did they separate the information about the Sherburn Theatre from the Jackson Theatre. They were asked to answer the council’s questions by July 15.

In a conversation with the clerk, they mentioned that there were lots of changes industry-wide, especially after the COVID-19 outbreak. They said the losses from the two theatres were $20,000 to $30,000 a year.

The city has budgeted $25,000 a year lately and owns the building, so there is no rent in Sherburn. Each movie costs $500 to show, and if the sales reach a high enough point, a percentage of that income is also charged. This has been hard for one-screen movie theatres to keep up with. Councilor Kramer volunteered to find out how St. James deals with its city-owned theatre. The clerk will ask for reports from the theatre staff.

The clerk’s report included: report about public works getting quotes on a truck; the part time worker able to use the TLR old van; ash trees were treated at the park and one affected ash tree was blown down in the storm; five applicants for the part time position have been received (the deadline is noon on July 17); and the canopy at the South Park was re-ordered and will be here soon.

The clerk was asked about the city inspector meeting held lately. The city attorney will have to be informed about the ordinance violations and take them to court. There are about 20 properties that should be demolished, and each property will have an expense of $3,000 to get the owners to court and get the property for taxes. The EDA was mentioned as a resource to help the city, and the next EDA meeting is on July 15. The council hoped to have a solution as soon as possible.

In other business:

–The clerk offered some information about several items owned by the city that should be declared excess property so they could be sold. There are old computers that should be recycled, some park equipment like tables, a merry-go-round, and an elephant slide. The street department would declare the cat loader and plow and a bucket and fork from their equipment. Sealed bids for the items will be opened on Aug. 3 at the city council meeting.

— Chief of Welcome/Sherburn Police Trevor Yochim said that the two officers are very busy. He does weekly grass mowing reports. He will address the weed problem at the old creamery. The Bike Rodeo was less than expected, with only seven participants in Sherburn and 0 in Welcome. The council was concerned about e-bikes and scooters on the streets. When the state gets some rules to work with, the police will let the council know what ordinance should be approved.

— The council went into closed session to discuss budget concerns.

The Sherburn City Council will meet at 5 p.m. on July 20 at City Hall.