Belgrade city council meeting agenda for March 16

The Belgrade city council meets in regular session on Monday, March 16 at 6 p.m. at the city hall chambers. The meeting is open to the public. The agenda summary is posted below.

1. Belgrade Fire Department and Fire Relief reports: one resignation.
2. Belgrade-Brooten Police Department report: next meeting is Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m. in Belgrade.
3. Belgrade Public Works reports: water tower proposals.
4. Belgrade Economic Development Authority.
5. Discussions: Runestone Telecom right-of-way permit application; Certificate of Deposit for the library matures April 1; Belgrade Nursing Home.
6. Next meetings: city council regular meeting, Monday, April 20 at 6 p.m.

Out-of-area PayPal subscription link

*This has been updated with new pricing for newspaper subscriptions.*

With PayPal, I created a convenient payment link for out-of-area subscriptions. The link is: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/JULR2NCJ75HX4.

Out-of-area subscriptions currently cost $40 a year (*Price change on 3-1-2026). This includes all subscribers who do not live in these counties of central Minnesota: Pope, Swift, Kandiyohi and Stearns. If you're a new subscriber, you'll have to email me your address to get yourself added: lifeinbonanzavalley@gmail.com.

Brooten city council agenda for March 9

The Brooten city council meets in regular session on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. The meeting agenda summary is posted below.

7:00  Public Hearing – Consideration of Ordinance No:  2026-1 - Regulation of Public Right-Of-Way Use

  7:15  Todd Trustheim – Brooten Fire Relief Association Charitable Gambling report

  7:30  Adopt Ordinance 2026-1 – An Ordinance to Regulate the Use of Public Right-Of-Way of the City of Brooten, Minnesota; Set Permit Application Fee

7:45   Adopt Ordinance No. 2026-2 – An Ordinance Authorizing the Replacement of Lead, Galvanized, or other Hazardous Water Service Lines on Private Property

  8:00  Review/Approval of Economic Development Loan Request – The Local Pantry - Thor & Vicki Amundson - approve check for $40,000 – Closing March 16th

  8:15  Resolution 2026-10 Resolution Applying to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (LSL Replacement Project)

  8:30  Resolution 2026- Resolution 2026-11 - Authorization To Execute Legal Documents for the Lead Service Line Replacement Project

   8:45  Boyce Fischer – Maintenance Update

  8:30  Approval of February Minutes

  8:45  Approval of Bills -  Brooten Auto                                     

  9:00  Approval of Interim Bills - $24,110.46     

  9:15  Approve Transfer of Funds from 4M Fund to General Fund

 

Brooten city council agenda for February 23 (UPDATED)

The agenda will be posted here...a few days after the meeting took place.

February 23 Brooten city council agenda:
1. Goodwin family - noise complaint.
2. Ordinance review - authorizing the replacement of service lines in private property.
3. Discussion and decision on ambulance personnel at the fire hall.
4. approval of credit on utility bill - Gregory.
5. Maintenance update by Boyce Fischer; and crosswalk request for Lakeside Foods to their housing development north of the plant.
6. City Hall discussion.

Brooten city council agenda for February 9

The Brooten city council will meet at 7 p.m. in regular session on Monday, February 9 at city hall. The meeting agenda summary is posted below. It is an ambitious list! 

7:00  Mark Thompson – Recap of annual Glacial Ridge Hospital Board Meeting

  7:15  Resolution 2026-9 Resolution Applying to the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority

  7:30  Set Board of Appeal and Equalization Hearing for Tuesday, April 14, 2026 @ 6 p.m.

  7:45  Call for Public Hearing – Right of Way Ordinance – March 9, 2026 @ 7 p.m.

  8:00  Quotes for Garage Upgrade

  8:15  Boyce Fischer – Maintenance Update

  8:30  Approval of January Minutes

  8:45  Approval of Bills -  Brooten Auto                                     

  9:00  Approval of Interim Bills               

  9:15  Approve Transfer of Funds from 4M Fund to General Fund 

  9:30  Approve Transfer of $4,000 to PPE Account – Township and City Contributions 2025

  9:45  Discussion – How to Inform Residents of High-Water Use

 10:00  Approval of Candra Lieser to Economic Development Committee

 10:15  Other

Minnesota Newspaper Assocation holds 159th convention

Rufus Friday speaking at the MNA convention on January 30 in Brooklyn Park.

The newspaper association of our state is 159 years old! The Minnesota Newspaper Association convention is being held at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest hotel in Brooklyn Park. The temperatures are hovering in the single digits above zero outside. It's cold outside but warm in the hotel with a great turnout of newspaper publishers, reporters, editors, photographers and other staff.

When I arrived just before 11 a.m., the morning sessions were underway. I went straight to the meeting room that held the following discussion, "I have to live in this town, too: handling the hard topics." One newspaper publisher spoke about an issue that hammered their news room, when a few people tried to hijack a school levy referendum vote. They tried to insert incorrect information into the public discourse via the newspaper, but that newspaper did not comply.

Also, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar provided a video update on what she's working on in Washington, D.C.

The keynote speaker today is Rufus Friday from the Center for Integrity in News Reporting. He's giving a great lecture to the media present in the banquet hall on rebuilding trust in media. He shared numerous statistical figures showing that the public finds far too much political bias in news reporting. No surprise here! It is out of control in many left-leaning newspapers in America. The public sees it. They're not dumb. A journalist can share opinions all he or she wants in opinion writing, but personal bias should not factor into news reporting.

It's worth noting that Rufus Friday's dad served in World War II. The website for the Center for Integrity in News Reporting is http://www.cfinr.org.

Brooten city council meeting agenda for January 26

The Brooten city council will meet in regular session on Monday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The meeting agenda summary is posted below.

7:00   Brian Bollig, Bollig Engineering - MN Public Facilities Authority Funding Water/Wastewater

  7:15   Gloria Trustheim – Grant Options for City Hall

  7:30   Thor Amundson, Brooten Fire Department secretary - 2025 fire department report

  7:45   Ambulance Meeting Update

  8:00   Request to Hunt Waterfowl at Airport 2026

  8:15   Approval of Belgrade Brooten Police Services Invoice 1st Quarter 2026 - $45,661.50

  8:30   Quotes for Garage Upgrade

  8:45   Runestone Telecom Letters to Residents – Informational

  9:00   Review ROW Ordinance for Final Approval on February 9th Meeting

  9:15   Other