NEW ULM — The New Ulm City Council appointed community members to the boards and commission as well as appoints council members as representatives to certain commissions, Tuesday.

The council appointments to commissions and organizations were unchanged from 2019. The council did make one change to organization representatives. Originally, Mayor Robert Beussman was appointed to the New Ulm Convention and Vistors Bureau (CVB), but Councilor David Christian offered to serve as the representative again this year. Beussman agreed to the change based on Christian’s record of working with the CVB.

Mayor Beussman also provided the council with a list of citizen appointees to the various council. Dr. Nathan Neubauer was appointed to the Board of Health. Carolyn Borgen was appointed to Cable Communication Advisory Board. Kim RockVam and Sarah Fischer were appointed to Energy Awareness Commission. John Schladweiler and Deb Zahn were appointed to Heritage Preservation Commission.

Wendi Ringhoefer, Pastor Diane Hatman, Prof. Larry Czer and Daniel Kalk were appointed to the Human Rights Commission. Margaret Blomberg, Bernice Schmitz, and Emily Korbel were appointed to the Library Board. James Hogen will serve on the Monuments & Cemetery Commission.

Leroy Flor, Jr., Bev Luneburg and Carisa Buegler were appointed to the Park & Recreation Commission. Mike Furth was appointed to Planning Commission. Linda Heine and Seth Visser were appointed to Public Utilities Commission. Angela Foster, Bill Aufderheide and Robert Mielke were appointed to the Safety Commission. Jayne Maday-Hulke, Brian Filzen, Dick Seebooth and Michelle Markgraf were appointed to the Sister Cities Commission. Ellen Vancura and Greg Diersen were appointed to the Tree Commission.

Beussman said a few commission positions still needed to be filled and he would continue to find people willing to serve. Two appointments remain to be filled on the Energy Awareness Commission and a single opening remains on the Planning Commission.

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The council adopted the renewal terms for the collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Local 1204.

The renewal is for calendar years 2020 and 2021. Members will receive a 3% wage adjustment both years.

Approval of the renewal was delayed last month due to a state requirement that President’s Day is given as a holiday. A change to the agreement would give members the day after Thanksgiving and Presidents Day as holidays, but Good Friday would be removed. Human Resource Director Shawna Boomgarden said AFSCME members agreed to the changes.

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The council approved a $2,031 payment to the Coalition of Greater MN Cities (CGMC) for the Environmental Action fund. The fund is used by members to confront regulatory issues to ensure environmental regulations are science-based and not arbitrary.

The city and PUC contributed to this fund since 2016. New Ulm’s full payment is $4,062 but is split between the city and PUC.

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A preliminary plat for Milford Heights Third Addition 630-654 Waraju Drive was approved. The plat applicant was Al Poehler on behalf of S&P Development. This property was platted in 2017 as Milford Heights Second Addition. That plat established seven lot in this location for row-houses. The new plat would reduce the lots from seven to four for the creation of two twin homes.

The plat was previously approved by the Planning Commission and was approved by the council. The final plat will come before the council at a future meeting.

A variance request from Donald Sanderson was approved. The request twill allows a detached storage building to be located three feet from the side property line at 1600 N. Broadway.

Staff recommended approval because the storage building was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and does not change the essential character of the neighborhood. The only condition was a one-hour fire protection wall needed to be installed on the wall abutting the north property line.

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An agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for the installation of a new railroad flashing light signals at the Boundary Street crossing was approved. The work is scheduled for the summer of 2020. The state is estimating $234,282.13 for the project. The city is responsible for 10% of the final cost.

Assistant City Engineer Joesph Stadheim said this crossing was identified by the state for improvements. Minnesota receives $6 million from the Federal Highway Administration annual for these types of projects. Stadheim said with the cost of a gate crossing, there are only a few projects eligible for this funding each year.