Upsala City Council Briefs

Below are summaries of actions from the Monday, July 1 meeting of the Upsala City Council. They were compiled by Sheila McCoy.

Water rate studies

Jake Williams with Minnesota Rural Water and the Upsala City Council discussed the City’s water and sewer rate system. Working closely with Public Works Director Mike Tschida and City Clerk/Treasurer Jane Popp on some rate studies, Williams said the City had a tiered rate system set up for the rates. On the other hand, for the sewer, the City had a base rate charge plus a per thousand charge.

Williams suggested having a discussion about the City’s rate structure system and that he could have more numbers for the City’s water and sewer rates to break even at the Council’s next regular meeting.

“I’ll never tell you that you have to do it this way, but I always recommend to try to veer away from the tiered system,” he said. “The tiered system can work, but you’re basing it off of that homeowner using the same gallons every year.”

Williams said it’s difficult to use the tiered system since a homeowner is unlikely to use the exact same amount of gallons of water each year. As a result, the rate is then more based on an average rather than the actual number of gallons.

“What we recommend to do with Rural Water is to do a base rate or what we also call, a monthly meter charge per homeowner. Then you charge an additional person a 1,000 gallons,” he said.

No decision was made other than that Williams will create a template to see what it would cost homeowners and commercial water users using both methods. He will present the results at the next regular City Council meeting.

First Response Team

The Upsala City Council heard from Danielle Haus, vice president of the Upsala First Response Team, that the team had responded to a total of six calls for the month of June. Of those, five were within city limits.

Flood plain public hearing

A public hearing was held to consider revisions made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the city’s floodplain ordinance. No public comments were made. After closing the public hearing and reopening the regular meeting, the Council approved the floodplain ordinance with revisions.

Upsala receives CDC award

Public Works Director Mike Tschida informed the City Council that the City received the Water Fluoridation Quality Award from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 2022.

According to a press release accompanying the award from the CDC, “Fluoridation is the adjustment of fluoride in drinking water to a level that is effective for preventing tooth decay. The award recognizes those communities that achieved excellence in community water fluoridation by maintaining a consistent level of fluoride in drinking water throughout 2022.”

In the press release, Casey Hannan, director of CDC’s Division of Oral Health, stated “Studies continue to show that for every $1 a community invests in water fluoridation, $20 are saved in dental treatment costs.”

Gambling permit applications

The Upsala City Council approved the following gambling permits/applications:

• For Upsala First Response Team to submit a gambling permit application to the State of Minnesota for the Upsala First Response Team to hold its annual gun raffle. Winners will be announced during the Team’s open house at the Fire Hall, Oct. 6.

• For Upsala American Legion Post 350 to hold a raffle, Nov. 11.

In other Council news...

• The Upsala City Council discussed possibly clamping down on the City’s current water disconnection practices. One suggestion was to disconnect the water after two months of non-payment in an effort to curtail the potential financial hardship a resident may face if having to pay a substantial amount due to several months of no payment.

• The Council thanked Centra Sota, Moore Engineering, Paul & Kathy’s Grocery, Sytek and Upsala Motors for donating a total of $2,500 to purchase fireworks for Upsala Heritage Day. The Council thanked Upsala American Legion Post 350 and the Upsala Lions Club, as well for a total donation of $5,000 and for cash donations that were given, a total of $51.28.

The Upsala Council’s next regular meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m.