The Pierz City Council met with Stacy Gray of Pro Resources during its Monday, June 24 workshop to discuss establishing a healthcare plan for City employees. Gray outlined several plan options from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, including traditional medical plans as well as lower-premium Health Savings Account (HSA) plans.
Council members asked questions to better understand how HSA plans work and their potential tax benefits for employees. Mayor John Perleberg expressed interest in offering an HSA option to help the city save on premium costs while giving employees tools to manage their healthcare dollars. The Council will work with employees to determine the plan features most important to their healthcare needs and budgets. A decision on plans to implement in 2025 is expected later this year.
Pierz reviews property assessment policies
Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) Engineer Jarod Griffith led a discussion about Pierz’s property assessment policies for special assessment projects. Griffith noted discrepancies between the city’s 2007 and 2020 policies regarding how properties on street corners and alleyways are assessed. The 2007 policy assessed corner properties based on street frontage while the 2020 version assessed a percentage of both street frontages. Council members debated which approach provided more consistency and fairness. They also discussed adopting the 2020 policy, which was drafted but never formally approved. The Council agreed assessing policies should be clear and uniform.
Pierz Golf Course establishes maintenance checklist
Park Complex Superintendent Zach Baert presented a comprehensive checklist to help manage maintenance of the new nine holes added to the Pierz Golf Course. Baert detailed tasks like addressing washouts from heavy spring rains, mowing fairways and greens, monitoring the sprinkler system and fertilizing the course. The checklist aims to keep staff on schedule for completing these chores.
With a goal of opening the new nine holes by spring 2025, the checklist establishes deadlines like repairing all washouts by mid-August and lowering mowing heights by Oct. 1, if weather permits. The Council encouraged authorizing overtime hours if needed to stay on track, with members stating they did not need the Council’s formal approval to do so. The checklist format will provide accountability and transparency. Council members praised the thorough planning and thanked staff members for their dedication to the golf course project.
Federal policy increasing employee compensation
The Pierz City Council briefly discussed the upcoming increase in City employee compensation as required by the Biden-Harris administration, set to increase pay on Jan. 1, 2025. The Council discussed options to not have a cost-of-living adjustment for City employees for two years following the pay increase, as their pay would have already have been increased beyond what the adjustment would have done. Members agreed to discuss the matter further when planning for future budgets before the end of 2024.
Council decides to start reviewing invoices prior to payment again
As brought forward during the 2023 Pierz financial audit, the City of Pierz had been reviewing invoices after checks were sent out to contractors. The auditor suggested that these payments be reviewed prior to payment, so any mistakes could be corrected prior to sending them out. The Council agreed to begin following this recommendation, noting that staff had previously done this but stopped at some point, likely due to staff shortages at the time.
Council selects floodplain committee
During the Pierz City Council’s regular meeting following the workshop, the Council voted to select Perleberg, Council Member Don Bujalski, Public Works Department Superintendent Eric Gaffke, City Administrator Laura Wacker and citizen at large Jim Gerwing as members of a floodplain committee.
In other City Council news…
•Approved concrete permits for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Kathy Tetrault and Joel Pohland and approved a building permit for the addition of a bathroom to a shed for Arlin Lundblad; and
•Awarded $18,643.60 toward funding extra expenses for a construction project due to heavy rain.
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