Public Notices June 3

Winthrop City Council
Meeting Minutes
Monday, April 6, 2026
A Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Winthrop was called to order at 7 p.m. on April 5, 2026, in the city council chambers of the City Hall, for the purpose of conducting city business.
Councilors Present: Mayor Trebelhorn, Councilors Wickenhauser, Pierson, O’Connor, Stoll and Santelman
Councilors Absent:
Staff Present: City Administrator Michael Looft, City Clerk Heather Haun,
Approval of Agenda
2.1. Establish Current Agenda
2.2. Move the closed meeting to the end of the meeting
2.3. Adding Nomination for Looft to get award from LMC (4.10). Motion by Stoll to accept the agenda with additions. Second by Pierson. Motion carried unanimously.
Consent Agenda
3.1. Approval of Minutes: March 2, 2026
3.2. Approval of Financials: March 2026
3.3. Donation approval for Winthrop Library for $200 from Nancy Rubischko.
3.4. Donation approval for Winthrop Ambulance for $3,000 from the Winthrop Lions.
3.5. Sewer Adjustment Form: Ron Hoppe $136.20.
Motion to approve by Pierson, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion carried.
New Business
4.1. Resolution 2026-008 Lee Forcier Appointment to Winthrop Fire (A). Lee joined Winthrop Fire and has passed preliminary fire processes. Lee has also joined Winthrop Ambulance. Motion to approve by Stoll, seconded by O’Connor. Motion carried.
4.2. RFP Response from Municipal Banking Services (A). The RFP responses came back from four different banking institutions from around our area. Based on staff score, we believe it would benefit the City of Winthrop to remain with Perennial Bank due to current services, fee comparison, and location. Motion to approve by O’Conner, seconded by Pierson. Motion carried with Santelman recusing herself from the vote.
4.3. Municipal Services Fee for Fire and Ambulance – Non-Contracted Fees (A). Attached are the updated fees for service fees that are not under contract. For townships that do not pay the annual fee and sign the contract, they will be considered non-contracted services. This would directly impact patients and fire customers in some of the townships. Motion to approve by O’Conner, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion carried.
4.4. Door Access Upgrade – Cable Commission Request (A). Please see the attached information regarding the proposed lock system. Staff has submitted this information to the cable commission for approval of the project. Staff is asking for preapproval from City Council based on the Cable Commission’s decision. Motion to approve by Pierson, seconded by O’Conner. Motion carried.
4.5. Fuel Surcharge Update from Gaylord Sanitation (I). Gaylord Sanitation has updated its per household fuel surcharge based on fuel cost. Currently we pay $0.25 per household, the price is increasing to $1.25 per household. Staff ran estimates on impacts to the rubbish account and found that at this time, we do not need to increase prices of our garbage/recycling program. Staff will continue to make recommendations based on financial performance.
4.6. Xcel Distribution Line Upgrade (I), Xcel is doing a distribution line upgrade from Arlington to Winthrop’s substation. As we know more, we will continue to update the public. There will be a scheduled power outage because of this upgrade. Staff will continue to update the public, fall of 2026 is the current estimate or late 2026.
4.7. Approval of Gambling Premise Location: Resolution 2026-009 Winthrop Fire Relief Association Premise Gambling Licensure (A). Attached is the Winthrop Fire Relief Association’s permit to gamble. The Resolution just authorizes staff to fill out the information and submit it to the state of Minnesota (AGE department). The permit will be at Gunnar’s Bar and Restaurant. Motion to approve by Stoll, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion carried.
4.8. Welcome to Winthrop Sign (A) (Moved to Closed Meeting). City Administrator sent communication on 04/02/26 detailing information concerning the Welcome to Winthrop sign that is located on the north side of highway 19 on the west side of town; at the corner of highway 19 and 15. Council will ratify the email decisions and clarify our intent to respond to the letter. Currently council’s decision is to have the Winthrop Area Foundation, the owners of the sign, respond to the letter. The City of Winthrop’s position is, we could build another cheaper sign on a different location rather than dealing with lawyers and rental space. But the physical sign is not part of the city, nor do we insure it, so permission to remove or destroy the sign should be made to the owners. Motion to approve by Stoll, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion carried.
4.9. Vacating street between 206 W 5th St and 108 W 5th St. (A). Ownership will revert to the city. Staff are asking city council for permission to send letters to the property owners and make the necessary alterations. It is staff’s recommendation not to vacate the street since neither party can independently agree on center line. This is not a city determination; it is determined by MN S.S. 505 and Minnesota case law. Staff also asks council to allow 30 days’ notice for the owners at 108 W 5th Street to remove private items off the right way and make other arrangements. This notice will come from our city attorney. Motion to approve by O’Conner, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion carried.
4.10 Nomination for Emerging Leader Award through the LMC. Mayor Trebelhorn is requesting a resolution for the nomination of City Administrator Michael Looft. Motion by O’Conner, Second by Pierson. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE NOTICES
& UPDATES
Administration – Grants submitted for STREAMS. Bill in the house for the state of MN right now. Streams is moving forward. There have been a lot of conversations about flow, our I&I reduced by 30% due to 2nd Street project that was completed. The plant is being designed to have the ability to expand like a lego set. Spending a lot of time on emergency services and there is a meeting on Wednesday. Cost of stamps may be rising again and there may be a request in the future
Fire – Pork chop feed on Saturday. Almost done specking the emergency vehicle, re-chassis the emergency vehicle.
Library – Art show her during Grackle Days this weekend. Martha went over the schedule.
Public Works/Utility– Street sweeping, cleaning out the park, continuing to work with the splashpad people, some concrete needs to be repoured. Working on some variances for the splashpad. Working on lineman projects planning to put the highlines below ground.
Police – Aron is working on city ordinances again. Give a shout out to K9 team passed yearly certification on narcotics. Part timers have been picking up open shifts right now.
CLOSED MEETING
PROCEEDINGS RECAP
Pursuant to Minnesota State Statute 13D.05 supd 3(c) the Winthrop City Council is closing the meeting to discuss and determine the asking price for real property to be purchased by the City. The meeting will be closed by a motion from City Council and rollcall will be called before going into closed session to record attendance from elected officials and city staff. Motion to close the meeting by Stoll, Second by Wickenhauser. Motion Carried.
Mayor proceeded with rollcall. Present: Wickenhauser, Stoll, Pierson, Santelman, O’Connor.
4.10. Welcome to Winthrop Sign (A). City Council would like to explore additional options from the City Attorney, and the timeframe does not necessarily work for the council’s decision-making process. Council would like to see options regarding purchasing the land and not leasing.
4.11. GFW football field, The City Administrator believes it would be a good investment of land for future development and believes we should offer fair market value to keep competitive to bids. Motion to open the meeting back up to the public by Wickenhauser, seconded by Santelman.
Motion by Councilman Stoll to instruct the City Attorney to come to a better term of agreement about the Winthrop Sign, seconded by O’Connor. Motion carried.
Motion to present the purchase agreement by the GFW Football by Wickenhauser, seconded by O’Connor. Motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT
Motioned to adjourn by Santelman the meeting at 8:25 PM by, seconded by Wickenhauser. Motion to adjourn carried.
Michael Looft
City Administrator