Jensine Kurtti is Menahga’s interim city clerk/treasurer.
She was appointed at a special July 31 city council meeting.
Kurtti will be paid $35 per hour to perform all duties of the city clerk/treasurer, in conjunction with consultant Betty Thomsen.
Mayor Liz Olson thanked Lacey Erickson for her work in straightening out the city’s financial accounts.
“We had a wonderful audit, and I just want to thank you for the time you’ve had here and wish you the best,” Olson said.
Erickson’s resignation was effective Aug. 2.
Olson noted that Sourcewell will pay $10,000 toward Thomsen’s consulting fees.
Shannon Geisen/Enterprise
In other business, the council:
- Approved the 2022 audit of Greenwood Connections, presented by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP of Minneapolis. The city-owned facility saw $9,211,506 in revenue and $8,598,686 in expenses. Total revenue exceeded total expenses by $607,059. The net position at the end of the year improved to $4,127,826 compared to $3,442,556 at the beginning of 2022.
“We had a positive year. Our operations have rebounded fairly well from COVID,” said Greenwood Connections Administrator Laura Ahlf. “Our census, we kept it pretty much where it needed to be during COVID and then after COVID. Our staff has always been challenging.”
Ahlf noted that they avoided using traveling pool staff, which is “really expensive” and was problematic for other facilities.
- Approved Greenwood Connections’ drug and alcohol testing policy.
- Learned that the Memorial Park Campground is $3,702 ahead of last year, as of the end of June. “We had the best month,” said park manager Ralph Cox.
On July 4, Cox said there was a fire in the plastic garbage dumpster. One of the campers threw hot fireworks into the garbage.
Olson noted it cost the city $675. “Wouldn’t be a bad idea for people to pay for what they damage,” she said.
Cox said Menahga Police Chief Amy Lane was aware of the incident.
The council authorized Cox to develop an early bird special for the campground.
- Approved a three-year shared road maintenance agreement with Blueberry Township. Expenses will be equitably divided. The shared roads are 2,296 feet of 370th Street, 5,283 feet of 350th Street and 1,642 feet of Willow Avenue SW.
- Clarified that all public hearings on proposed city ordinance changes will be held by the city planning and zoning commission.
- Tabled a resolution that granted authority to city staff to work with the city engineer in reassessing 15 tax-forfeited parcels that previously had deferred special assessments, as recommended by the city attorney. The properties have since sold and have remaining special assessment balances, ranging as low as $631 to a high of $12,532. There are only four owners on the 15 parcels.
- Closed out matured debt service funds. According to Ehlers Public Finance Advisors, the residual positive balance of $8,441 can be used for any general municipal purpose.
- Transferred two Minnesota Power accounts from the Menahga Civic & Commerce Association to the city of Menahga.
- Approved job descriptions for deputy clerk/treasurer and city administrative clerk.
- Adopted the 2023 employee wage scale.
Shannon Geisen is editor of the Park Rapids Enterprise.
