by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            On Monday, October 2, the Garretson City Council met on a new date and time as meetings have now been moved to the first Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. During that meeting, the council discussed donating the pop can trailer to the FFA and received the results of the 2020 and 2021 audits.

            Prior to these two agenda items, the council approved the purchase of a grapple at a cost of $8,200, and the transfer of funds for work done on the 5th Street shop at a cost of $30,750. They also approved a re-configuring of portions of the budget for 2024, which included consolidating bathhouse/visitor center improvements, Split Rock Park, Devil's Gulch, and Jaycee's Complex improvements into one line item called Park Improvements while adding a line item for utility meter updates. Each of these were approved quickly and with only light discussion.

            However, controversy came when Economic Development Director Jessica Fueston asked the council for permission to donate the pop can trailer to the Garretson FFA.

            The pop can trailer has been a fundraiser for the Garretson Pool for many years, with community members donating their used pop cans to a trailer behind the food pantry building. The cans could then be turned in to recycling centers for money, and it was a good way for the pool board to raise funds.

            Unfortunately, the trailer has been unusable and unlicensed for many years, and has been breaking city ordinance, a fact the city attorney brought up to Fueston a few weeks ago.

            And when city employees brought the cans in to the recycling center, a two-hour endeavor, they found it cost more in employee pay than they received in funds.

            Due to those two facts, Fueston contacted the FFA to enquire whether they'd be interested in the fundraising apparatus, and brought the suggestion to the council.

            All but one city council member (except councilor Jackie Rotert, who was not in attendance) appeared in favor of the suggestion. However, councilor Tom Godbey, who served on the volunteer pool board for many years prior to the city's acquisition, did not find the suggestion to be a good idea. He wished to have the can collection remain a pool fundraiser.

            While other councilors appeared to understand Godbey's stance, they pointed out the cost to the city and the fact that it would still be a fundraiser, but under a different non-profit organization's purview.

            If the FFA were to accept the offer, they would assume responsibility of can collection, and would be responsible for fixing up and licensing the trailer. The council also suggested having the organization move the trailer to school property, opening up the trailer's current area for snow removal purposes.  

            In the end, the council on a vote of 4-1 opted to donate the trailer to the FFA, should they wish to receive it. Fueston also pointed out that should the trailer need to be declared surplus, that they would be voting on that in the November meeting.

            The next major part of the agenda included a discussion of the 2020 and 2021 audits, which were recently completed and can be found at city hall for the public's purview. The auditor found several items of concern, including un-cashed checks and mis-dated checks. While Mayor Greg Beaner stated there had been conversation with the prior finance officer and thought most of the issues had been resolved after prior audits, they had not only not improved, but had worsened.

            "I think this is an issue of what happens when you get behind," Mayor Beaner stated. He felt that before, there had just been far too few city staff to handle all the responsibilities for too many years (there was only one full-time employee in the city office for over a decade, whereas now, there are three). Mayor Beaner was of the opinion that now, the city has a good number of employees to ensure compliance with each of the issues.

            He pointed out that it was likely the 2022 audit, and possibly even the 2023 audit, will both still find some issues, but that the city staff are in the process of correcting, or have corrected, several of them.

            Despite the concerns, the auditor did not foresee any investigations that needed to be undertaken.

            The next regular meeting of the Garretson City Council will be held on Monday, November 6 at 6:00 p.m. at the American Legion. All members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend.