The Minnesota Legislature gave public safety aid to the city of Waseca in 2023, and the Waseca Police Department and Fire Department figured out what they want to spend it on.
Waseca Police Chief Penny Vought and Fire Chief Jason Forshee talked to the City Council at its June 4 meeting before the group voted on how to spend the money. The council also recognized two city crossing guards, reviewed the city’s new online budget book, and approved a new agreement with the Waseca School District regarding Tink Larson Field.
Public Safety
The Minnesota Legislature enacted a one-time public safety aid tax bill totaling $210 million dollars to all the cities and counties in the state. The city of Waseca received $403,514 from the 2023 Omnibus tax bill.
The aid could not be used for general purposes but instead had to be used to “provide public safety” according to the bill. Both of the city’s public safety departments agreed to use $168,718 for a new pick-up truck for the Fire Department and various items for the Police Department.
“We have spent a lot of time talking about what our needs and what our wants would be,” Vought said at the city council meeting.
The estimated cost for the new truck for the Fire Department is just over $108,000. The truck will be used by the department for responding to medicals and mundane tasks, as firefighters are currently using their own vehicles for that.
The Police Department will spend the money on a list of seven items, which include a G4 Home gym system, field sobriety test devices, less-lethal launchers, plate carriers, ballistic shields, Cellebrite, and rifle replacements. The estimated total cost of the items is $60,674.
There will be $234,796 remaining from the tax bill, which the departments will save and use in the future. The council agreed unanimously to approve the purchase of the fire and police equipment with part of the one-time public safety aid.
Recognition
Tim Condon and Leslie Wells were honored by the city at the city council meeting for their years of service as crossing guards for the city. They will not be returning for the fall when the school year resumes again.
Condon has been a crossing guard for 32 years for the city, and Wells has been with the city for 25 years. Both men were police reserves for the city before their time as crossing guards, with Condon serving for 20 years and Wells for 30 years.
Vought stated that she knew Condon and Wells when she first started in the Police Department as a patrol officer in the 1980s.
“You may not know this, but I have known these two men for 40 years,” Vought said to the council. “They are both the kindest men who would help anybody.”
Wells was presented with a certificate for his years of service for the city at the council meeting. Condon was unable to make the meeting.
“It’s been an honor being the crossing guard, I love those kids dearly,” Wells said. “I had fun helping them, so it’s going to be a challenge not to be out there again.”
Online Budget
Waseca Finance and Human Resources Director Alicia Fischer talked at the council meeting about how the city is offering a new process to access city budget files online.
While before the city’s budget information was all in one long pdf online, now the information is broken up into different areas and forms to make it more accessible and easy for not just city staff, but for the public as well.
“Now it’s a lot more user friendly, easier for staff, work flows efficiently for staff, and it also gives the community and the council more transparency,” Fischer said.
The information can be found at the city’s website at the Finance/Human Resources tab under the “Departments” bar. The page will then direct you to another website powered by ClearGov that holds all the city’s budget and financial information.
This is the first time the city of Waseca has offered something like this online for the public and for city staff, with Mayor Randy Zimmerman saying that he thinks this is a wonderful thing.
Recreation services agreement
The city of Waseca and the Waseca Public Schools (ISD 829) negotiated a new recreation services agreement regarding Tink Larson Field and community recreation.
The city entered into a perpetual agreement with the school district in 1975 and the contract has been amended twice in 1975, twice in 1978, twice in 1982, in 1993, and in 2010. The 2010 amendment had the city pay $100,000 to the school district annually, with the money coming from the city’s tax levy revenue.
The purpose of the agreement is to avoid duplication of programs and to maximize the use of both parties’ resources. In December of last year, the city council decided to provide the school district with a notice of their intent to terminate the agreement and create a new one.
The current agreement with the school district ends with a final monthly payment in January of next year, and the new agreement will start in February.
The new agreement will consist of the city transferring $15,000 a year to the school as revenue to help operate the recreation services division of Community Education while the school transfers $15,000 a year to the city to offset annual operating expenses and depreciation and for the use of Tink Larson Community Field during the Waseca High School baseball season. Each payment will take place in February of every year for a period of 10 years, with the agreement ending on Jan. 31, 2035.
This will free $100,000 from the city’s budget in 2025 and the years after that. The council unanimously agreed to approve the Tink Larson Community Field lease amendment.
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