by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            On Monday, the Garretson City Council got its first look at the new Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), which will help guide the city in its large project decisions over the next five years. The council also discussed shortening tent camping stays, approved a conditional use permit for a dog grooming business, and voted to move forward with a new website host.

            One of the first items was a first reading of a supplemental appropriations request, where City Finance Officer Paetyn Dreckman noted the line items that had been overspent throughout the year. The appropriations fund increase was quite large, adding up to over $240,000 for the General Fund and $652,000 for the Second Penny Fund.

            Dreckman pointed out that some of it was due to the new budget system that was being used, as it had been overhauled after she took up the position in February 2022. "Some of them were due to our system just not catching it quite right, going through the first couple months under the new budget and the account numbers," she said. "So that's my fault, but that's been fixed since."

            However, a large reason for the overage in spending was a non-budgeted increase in generated revenue. The general fund budget had expected $891,182 in income, but as of last Monday, November 27, Dreckman said, income was at $1,760,582.15, nearly double the budget.

            Much of the increase in spending was due to the bridge project on Fifth Street and the water main project on Dows Street, according to Dreckman. The 2023 budget also had not been built with the swimming pool as a line item, as that was purchased this past spring, resulting in the addition of that to the culture and recreation area of the budget.

            The 2024 budget was built with an expected revenue just under $1 million from general sources.

            The council will meet next Monday, December 11 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall for the second reading of the appropriations request.

Shortened tent stays

            Next, the council took up a first reading amending the camping ordinance in Split Rock Park. The amended ordinance would only allow for four nights of tent camping in one campsite instead of five, with a required minimum of 24 hours break. Councilor Tom Godbey had requested the change, pointing out that a tent suffocates the grass and causes issues for the employees who mow the park. However, under questioning from councilor Bruce Brown, it appeared the length of the stay was not the issue as much as enforcement of the current ordinance.

            Since this was a first reading, no action was taken, but Brown's point about enforcement seemed to hit home, as he pointed out that if a camper is paying to stay, the current ordinance with one more day wouldn't seem to make much of a difference.

            For comparison, Palisades State Park allows for 14 days in one space before a requirement to vacate.

            The council will vote on the ordinance amendment in January, and any citizens with concerns are welcome to contact their ward representative.

Dog grooming business approved

            Grace Feauto, who lives with her family at 109 Lacey, next submitted her request for a conditional use permit to operate a dog grooming business out of the family home. Feauto had recently completed schooling for the operation, and felt it would be a better use of limited funds to begin in her family home rather than operating out of a commercial space.

            After ensuring that she would not be kenneling the animals overnight, Feauto and her father, Bob, pointed out that the response to the possibility of the business was very positive from the community. No neighbors were in attendance to speak against the request, and the council voted unanimously to allow the business to move ahead and commence operations.

            Tim Mader of Splitrock Storage then spoke on a request to re-zone a portion of his land south of 5th Street back to residential, as he hoped to build a house east of the bus barn. While it would line up with 253rd Street, there is currently no east-west road planned for that area, and when Mader purchased the land, he had the property rezoned to commercial. He has since been parceling off the land, selling individual lots for personal storage units.

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