Council takes action on Lopau Addition, increases Generations subsidy

At their first meeting of the new year, Luverne City Council members approved resolutions related to the development of the city’s newest residential development, the Lopau Addition.
The infrastructure improvements, including streets, water, wastewater and storm sewer, are estimated to cost $2.1 million.
The addition will accommodate 24 residential lots. Nineteen lots will be designated for single-family homes and five will be multi-family lots for twin homes (10 units on the north end).
 DGR is directed to prepare final plans and specifications for the improvements to be funded by issuing general obligation improvement bonds that will be paid for by the proceeds of the lot sales.
The council discussed recent interest rate hikes and their potential effect on bond sales.
“We’ve refinanced a lot of bonds in the past 20 years and saved a lot of money on lower interest rates,” said Mayor Pat Baustian.
“I would anticipate that that would also happen again when these bonds are sold. We’ll be looking in the next three to five years to lower interest rates as well.”
He said the higher interest rates won’t jeopardize the project, and the council discussed that despite unusually low interest rates in 2019 and 2021, the current rates are still lower than average.
City Council members approved a resolution at their Jan. 10 meeting to order the Lopau Addition improvements and direct DGR to prepare the plans and specifications.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved a resolution ordering the advertisement for bids for the Lopau Addition project.
The bid letting date is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. in Luverne City Hall. The bid tabulation will be considered by the Council at the Feb. 14, 2023, meeting.
 
Pool and fitness center
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the council heard an update about the recently improved pool and fitness center.
City Administrator Jill Wolf reported that 60 new memberships were sold in December, but that staff have also noticed “tailgating.”
This means keyholders are bringing with them non-members to work out with them during after hours, and the violations are seen on security cameras.
The council directed fitness center staff to offer coupons for members to bring guests with them to encourage more paid memberships.
In other pool and fitness center news, the pool was closed Jan. 16-17 in order to regrout tile in some low areas of the locker rooms and pool deck. The fitness areas of the facility remained open.
 
Adopt a fire hydrant
Residents are encouraged to use the city’s Beacon map to locate fire hydrants in order to help keep them cleared of snow.
On the city’s website, cityofluverne.org, the home page provides a link to the map that indicate hydrants as red dots.
Residents can hold their cursers over each one to see if it’s been “adopted” or if it remains open for adoption.
The hydrants not spoken for may need residents’ help to keep snow shoveled away from them in order to keep them clear for fire emergencies.
 
Generations subsidy
Luverne City Council members agreed to increase their annual subsidy to Generations from $5,000 per year to $7,500 per year.
Mayor Baustian recommended the increase due to increased costs of operation in their new facility, the former Grand Prairie Events building.
“Their new utilities bills are higher due to more gas use and increased square footage,” he said.
“It’s probably long overdue and we’ve overlooked it in previous years … It’s been over 10 years since we’ve increased the subsidy.”
He remarked that Generations has been beneficial for the community with increased senior programming and thousands of meals served in the facility and also delivered to area communities in and around Rock County.
“We’re very fortunate to have them in our community,” Baustian said.