The Crookston City Council met on Monday and discussed several topics, including resolutions regarding the Highway 2 improvement project, a proclamation for Operation Green Light, and a levy inspection presentation.
WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE
During the Ways and Means Committee meeting, Finance Director Jon Roscoe and Public Works Director Chuck Getsman approached the committee to discuss continuing the water rate step plan that was approved by the city council in 2025. The step plan would increase fixed and variable water rates by 3% in 2027, representing a $1.94 monthly increase for residential properties using 3,000 gallons a month and $2.44 for those using 5,000 gallons a month. The rates went unchanged in the 2026 budget due to an oversight by Getsman, but he worked with Roscoe to ensure that the rate increase would allow the city to keep up with maintenance costs while minimizing the total increase for residents on their water utility bills. “I took over in 2025, and I was still learning all the different ins and outs of the utility department, and this just happened to be one area that I overlooked,” said Getsman. “But it shouldn’t cause any major issues, and we didn’t want to do a big jump for the residents. We just want to get us back on track, so that we can continue making improvements and repairs as needed without having to dive into reserves and things like that.”
The marketing coordinator position was vacated after Keenan Devier resigned on October 2. Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler brought the conversation to the committee because the city council created the position, and he felt that they should have the opportunity to decide if the position needed to be updated or eliminated. The current structure for the job has the marketing side, which includes updating the city’s website and social media, working on city events, and promoting the city through advertising. Selzler was working with Devier to create a tourism bureau to be run by the marketing coordinator. The bureau would work on bringing events to Crookston.
Council members Morgan Hibma and Joseph Shostell suggested that the city hire a part-time employee to focus on the tourism aspect of the job and hire interns through the University of Minnesota Crookston to help with marketing, noting that the city could better connect with the university on positions like this. Council members Dylane Klatt, Don Cavalier, and Wendy Ault were in favor of keeping the position full-time with both marketing and tourism responsibilities. Selzler appreciated the committee’s dialogue, as the consensus was to move forward with the position full-time and include tourism responsibilities. “The direction council would like to see with the marketing side, and again, the tourism side has been something that’s been in the works for the last couple of years,” explained Selzler. “I’ve just kind of grabbed it and tried to finish it, get across the finish line, and I think between those two, if the council is interested, as it sounds like they are, to continue that position, I think really to justify that move forward has to be that two-piece: the marketing and the tourism side. So that’s kind of the consensus we came to tonight. So I’ll have to do some revisions of that job description, try to clean that up a little bit, and move forward with that.”
Selzler appreciated the suggestion to hire interns from UMC and asked Shostell to look into bringing in interns for additional help, but he feels that placing all marketing responsibilities on interns is not the ideal solution in this situation. “I know interns were brought up tonight, and I really like that idea. And I think we can incorporate interns. I’m a big believer in them. I’ve used interns many times over the years, so I think they can be a part of that. I just don’t know that they can be the primary piece of that. I think it would definitely be beneficial in conjunction with the full-time.”
HIGHWAY 2 AGREEMENTS
The first agenda item was a resolution approving a cooperative construction agreement between the city and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for the Trunk Highway 2 Broadway and Main Street improvement project. Selzler informed the council that MnDOT prepared the agreement that establishes the state’s and the city’s responsibilities for project construction, engineering, cost participation, payment, and future maintenance obligations. The agreement states that the city’s total estimated project obligation is $4,416,284.98, but with an anticipated $2,266,690.08 in federal funding and the use of Minnesota State Aid funds, Selzler expects the city’s estimated obligation to be around $1,000,000. “As we’ve moved forward here, we were able to kind of fine tune or get the final estimates on what the city shares would approximately be and a total project including MnDOT and City of Crookston shares is I believe $15 to 18 million dollars,” said Selzler. “Of that, about $4.4 million would be the city cost but once you take into consideration federal funding, state aid dollars that we have available through the state of Minnesota, that reduces the city share to roughly about a million dollars. And of that, like was mentioned, we are still hoping to get a grant which would help cover water and sewer infrastructure in the amount of about $600,000, reducing the city cost down even more to roughly about $400,000. So it’s kind of nice to put a bow on this and kind of get close to the end, and also a number where we can budget and anticipate what those final costs would be.”
Stephen Slick of AE2S has been helping with the design and planning for the project and told the council that the current timeline has MnDOT going out to bid in early December, with construction expected from May 2027 to October 2027. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Slick. “I believe the initial studies initiated in about 2021 or so. MnDOT, the SRF design team, and the city of Crookston have been working really hard to further this along. I’m excited for construction to start in 2027, and it’s really going to make the city of Crookston and downtown look entirely different, and it’s going to be a huge benefit to the city and the MnDOT corridor as well.”
The second item on the agenda was a resolution approving amendment number 1 on Task Order number 6 with AE2S for technical assistance regarding the Highway 2 project. The task order, which was entered into by the city effective December 30, 2024, originally authorized engineering services for the project in the amount of $75,000. However, the budgeted amount only covered the summer of 2026, so an amendment was issued to add $45,000 for engineering services to the task order, bringing the total to $120,000. Slick and the AE2S team have worked hard on this project and are committed to seeing this project through to the beginning of construction. “It worked out really well,” he said. “We were very fortunate that we were able to stretch the budget from the initial task order to last another six to eight months, and finally taking this from plan set from 90% to 100%, and seeing it through bidding and any kind of changes that come from MnDOT’s central office. This will help see us through that process, and I’m really excited to provide that value to the city of Crookston and represent the city through this matter and through this process.”
OPERATION GREEN LIGHT PROCLAMATION/SEH PRESENTATION
Mayor Dale Stainbrook issued a proclamation declaring the week of November 4-11, 2026, as Operation Green Light for Veterans Week. The initiative is done annually to pay tribute to the 200,000 veterans who transition from active duty to civilian life every year. Stainbrook encourages all Crookston residents and business owners to put green lights in their windows during the week to honor the veterans in Crookston and the surrounding area ahead of the Veterans Day holiday.
Following the proclamation, SEH held a presentation regarding its five-year levy inspection. The inspection examines the levees and floodwalls across Crookston, as well as toe drains, pump systems, and centerline surveys. Overall, the city received a minimally acceptable rating, with 34 areas identified as unacceptable and 120 as minimally acceptable. Getsman worked with SEH on the inspection and was shocked to see some of the unacceptable areas that were identified. Getsman has established a plan to address these areas, as the issues are mostly due to sediment buildup, lubrication of the pump systems, and vegetation around the levees and toe drains. “It was very eye-opening to get those figures, but nothing was outrageous for us,” said Getsman. “We looked through the finer details. Yes, there was about 34 items that were listed as needing improvement, but as mentioned in the presentation, some of them were simply mowing better or cutting down some vegetation. If you look around the river area, you’ll have random trees just sprouting up, and those needed to be removed.”
CONSENT AGENDA
The consent agenda was approved in a unanimous vote. Items on the agenda include the approval of minutes from the October 5 meeting, a resolution approving city bills and disbursements in the amount of $371,955.81, a resolution approving the Crookston Municipal Airport Cash Farm lease agreement between the city and Ryan Richman Farms for the 2027-29 farming seasons, a resolution regarding payment to Gustafson & Goudge, Inc. for the 2025 hangar construction at the Crookston Municipal Airport, a resolution authorizing satisfaction of mortgage for Fenno Properties LLC, a resolution accepting donations from Cenovus Energy for automated external defibrillators and safety equipment for the city, and a resolution to approve 2026 license renewals-gas fitting.
The next Crookston City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 2, at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.
