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CITY OF LANCASTER, MINNESOTA
LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
The Lancaster City Council met for its Regular Meeting on Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 7:00 P.M. The following persons were present: Mayor, Kathy Bernstrom; Council members: John Stenquist, Krista Matthew, Teri Halvorson, with Kevin Grabowska arriving one hour after the meeting started. Also present: Anna Jauhola with Kittson County Enterprise, Public Works Supervisor George Zondagh, Steve Prebish with Kittson Living at Home, and Steven Sjostrand. Steve Prebish, Director for Living at Home, was here to discuss the organization and ask the city council if they would be willing and able to find someone in the area to come to their meetings and sit on their council and be a voting member to help find volunteers for the Lancaster area. The organization is working with the County Commissioners to secure funding to assist the disabled and elderly in the Kittson County area. Transportation, phone visits, and home visits are some of the ways they provide assistance. Halvorson advised she had someone in mind and she would reach out to them. (5) Retroactive Resolutions were discussed as the city will now be doing them for accepting monitory donations going forward. Matthew moved to approve the July 9, 2025 Council Meeting Minutes, second by Stenquist and carried. Grabowska was absent at the time of this discussion. A copy of the Minutes will be posted at the Lancaster City Hall and U.S. Post Office and available upon request to the clerk. Steven Sjostrand was present so he, the council, and Zondagh could discuss the final details of the land sale of 300 N Central Ave. They discussed the need for Steven to have the property boundaries surveyed, sewer and water hook up, adding Anderson Bros Construction as the city’s go to in locating infrastructure as hooking up to the main requires a licensed contractor. Temporary ditching was discussed in order to move a building on the property and the clerk provided the county watershed’s options/opinions. Also discussed were permits, if needed, being Steven’s responsibility to work with county zoning office. Lastly, a timeline was discussed and his hopes were to have something there by snow fly. Zondagh was present to discuss a lift station servicing company, Minnesota Pump Works, which would be a new vendor to the City of Lancaster. The company would be responsible for maintenance of the city’s four lift stations and seven pumps located within the stations. Zondagh added how the city does not currently have a regular lift station service company, and only when there is an issue or breakdown, someone comes to fix the problem and it is very expensive. Having annual maintenance would help to locate issues before a pump failure, resulting in lower costs in the long run. MPW provided a Maintenance Agreement, for $3,795 per inspection each year, which was reviewed and a motion accept was made by Stenquist with a second by Matthew, and carried. Grabowska was absent at the time of this discussion. The fire department was not present, but they provided a copy of their minutes from their monthly meeting from August 6th where they voted to Tin the Lid and have the two overhead doors installed in the new building. They earlier thought they would wait until 2026 for this to happen, but felt they had the funds to get it done before the winter season, and needed approval to move forward with these two things. The Fire Funds are currently at about $79,000. The cost breakdown would be about $7,000 to Tin the Lid, and $27,000 (installed) for the overhead doors, making the cost around $34,000. The department would provide a check for $8,00, to the Fire Fund, from their Fire Relief Funds to bring the total cost down to $26,000. Stenquist made a motion to approve, with a second by Halvorson and carried. Grabowska was now present for the remainder of the meeting. The council reviewed the August 2025 bills and June and July 2025 Electronic Fund Transfers and other bills that have been paid prior to this meeting to avoid late payments, receive discounts & meet payroll and all payroll expenses as approved in the 2025 Rates Fees & Appointments Schedule. Matthew moved to approved bills and EFT’s, second by Grabowska and carried. An abstract of bills will be posted with the minutes and are available upon request. Also discussed with splitting Rigg Electric’s bill, for installing a 50a receptacle, three ways with the City, Liquor Store, and the Business Association. Stenquist moved to approve this, seconded by Matthew and carried. Council reviewed the preliminary proposed 2026 Budget, discussing many items such as sewer replacement on South Central Ave.; sidewalk restoration; GPS mapping for the sewer and water; possible street overlays; water tower interior maintenance/coating; a new floor scrubber for the Community Center; additional mosquito spraying; new flooring for the Liquor Store; 59 Park playground equipment; and items the Fire Department’s new building would require in 2026. As additional information was needed on a number of these topics, the proposed budget was not approved at this time and was tabled until the September 10th meeting. The council’s main goal is to keep property taxes close to last year’s amount of $125,000. Halvorson moved to transfer $25,000 from the Liquor Store fund to the Community Center Debt Service Fund, second by Matthew and carried. Matthew approved to make the annual payment of $19,435, and an additional $5,565 to make it a $25,000 payment, with a second by Grabowska, and carried. Approval to submit two applications for Sunday Openings were requested by Liquor Store manager, Shannon Bowlin. Matthew made the motion to accept the request for the dates of November 23rd 2025 (Vikings vs Packers) and February 8th 2026 (Super Bowl), with a second by Halvorson, and carried. Halvorson and Matthew will review January-June bank statements. The Community Center and Liquor Store ice machine contracts were discussed as the city was presented with a maintenance agreement at $750 per scheduled visit, per unit. This was $630 increase from the past agreement with a company previously used but now out of business. The ice machines were both recently serviced by Jeff’s Refrigeration at a fraction of the cost so the council has decided to hold off signing any contract for this service until more information can be obtained for closer vendor options. Council reviewed June and July City and Liquor Store financials. Council approved the audit service proposal from Hoffman, Philipp, & Martell, PLLC with a motion by Stenquist, second by Matthew, and carried. This contract price for three years including 2025, 2026, and 2027, will remain at $10,500 per year, provided activities and expenditures remain approximately the same for reach year, and unexpected circumstances are not encountered. Other items discussed: Representative John Burkel being selected as a League of Minnesota Cities Legislator of Distinction for 2025; nuisance turkeys in town; excessively long grass in some residential locations; Street closure during the evening of the Back to School Bash; Sports complex discussed as a remodeled baseball field is being proposed; and John Wynne contacted the mayor about a possible solar panel grant. Mayor closed the meeting as there was no further business for council. Adjourned at 9:25pm. Janet Johnson, Clerk/Treasurer Approved: Kathy Bernstrom, Mayor Approval Date: September 10th 2025
Other links: Lancaster Riverside Golf Course | Lancaster Public School | NW MN Multi-County HRA |
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