COURTLAND — Danielle Schlumpberger and Tom Suess will join the Courtland Fire Department.

During Thursday’s Courtland City Council meeting, the mayor and councilor formally approved the two new firefighters based on a recommendation from Fire Chief Dave Ubel.

The department recently interviewed them along with one other candidate.

“All three of the candidates were very qualified,” Ubel said. “However, adding these two candidates gives us 23 firefighters which is the maximum allowed by our bylaws.”

Public Utilities

The council received an update on the televising of the sewer lines. Dave Ubel, representing public works, said the televising of the lines was near completion.

The council recommended City Clerk Julie Holm prepare a letter to all residents and businesses explaining the many cracks, leaks, broken pipes, grease and dirt buildups, and other infiltration problems found in the sewer lines.

The residents and businesses, with problems on their property, will receive a second letter explaining the problems that were identified and needed to be corrected.

Ubel said he has already begun working with one homeowner because of a rather large leak.

In Courtland, homeowners are responsible for water line repairs on their property. Water lines from the homeowners connection to the main sewer line are the responsibility of the homeowner.

Mayor Al Poehler said, “Homeowners need to get on board if the problem is on their property.”

Kuester Pit Second Addition

Rich Reichel, developer and owner of 17 lots in Kuester Pit second addition, attended the latest council meeting to ask about potential development options.

Reichel wanted to know if one of the lots could be made into a parking lot.

The council believed a single lot would not be large enough.

Council member Paul Bode said, “You probably would need to combine two lots before you could make a parking lot.”

Reichel asked about what can be done with a vacant lot.

Mayor Al Poehler said, “If the area is zoned Industrial then there is no outside storage, and you would need to get a conditional use permit because storage sheds have more restrictions.”

Later in the meeting, the council discussed completion of the Kuester Pit Second Addition. Construction of lots in this addition is ongoing. Originally, the the lots were scheduled to be completed by Jason Kuester on July 1 based on an agreement with the city. The mayor and council recommended sending a letter from the city attorney giving Kuester a revised timeline to complete the project.

City Clerk

Julie Holm explained that some personnel policy updates need to be done to add Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Also, the state requires that earned safe and sick time needs to be split out of an employee’s PTO. Starting January, this will affect firefighters and the council’s hours too.

Other Business

Parking Ordinance 23-104 Amending Chapter IV, Part 3, was approved after incorporating snow removal times and when towing can be done.

The mayor and council approved the September 7 regular council meeting minutes and the September 19 Budget/Levy workshop minutes. Also approved were the bills submitted for $38,595.33. The next regular meeting will be November 2 at 7 p.m.