By Chad Koenen

Publisher

  A new interpretive sign could soon signal Henning’s place on a scenic byway. 

During its regularly scheduled meeting last Monday night, the Henning City Council heard from Landmark Center Executive Director Dan Broten who stated that a new scenic byway interpretive sign will be placed in the city park, however, the fee to install the sign will now cost $2,500, which was higher than originally anticipated when the scenic byway was approved a few years ago. 

Broten said the scenic byway will help to bring people to the community and will be an added benefit to the town. He asked if the city would be interested in covering a portion of the cost of the sign if private fundraising could cover half of the project.  

Broten also said that a Minnesota Historical Society grant application for the Landmark Center is about 90 percent complete and another grant opportunity will come available in July that could provide funding for building repairs. 

In other news

• Approved a dollar an hour raise for summer employees from $15 per hour to $16 per hour, while the airport summer help will be increased from $20 an hour to $21 an hour due to the length of time this person has been employed by the city.

• Approved moving forward with attempting to purchase the county-owned property next to the city garage. The opening bid was $5,500 and the council will have a closed meeting before next month’s regularly scheduled meeting to come up with a plan to explore purchasing the lot next to the city shop. The council said it will also explore the possibility of selling the former Advocate building site, which is now a vacant city-owned lot on Douglas Ave. 

• Heard from utility supervisor Ted Strand that an individual who has been working as a lineman was interested in working for the City of Henning. Strand said he spoke with the person and thought he would make a good addition to the staff. The issue was sent to the personnel committee who will conduct the interview who could bring forward a recommendation.

• Heard the Henning Fire Department responded to seven fires last month, including several grass fires.

• Heard another training is being planned with emergency personnel for June 4 at the former Henning nursing home building. Henning Police and Fire Chief Mike Helle said a recent training session resulted in approximately 50 people from the likes of the SWAT unit, fire departments, police, sheriff and even school officials watched or participated in the training.

• Heard the Henning Ambulance Service had a bit of a slower month with just 22 calls in April, but has responded to 127 calls for service so far this year.

•Approved proceeding with a $4,500 repair for the Henning Ambulance Service diesel ambulance. Henning Ambulance Director Chelsey Waskosky said the ambulance service rotates between its two rigs, one being a diesel rig. She went on to say the diesel rig will be remounted onto a gas chassis ambulance next year and making the repair to the diesel unit now will allow the ambulance service to run that ambulance as much as possible before it is taken out of service.

• Approved appointing nine individuals to join the Henning Ambulance Service once they have passed their final test to become an EMT. The City of Henning may provide funding to individuals to be trained to become EMTs, provided they agree to join the Henning Ambulance Service for a set period of time. All of these individuals had previously agreed to serve on the Henning Ambulance Service.

• Discussed in length the minimum age that individuals should be allowed to serve on the Henning Ambulance Service. Past city ordinances have reportedly stated people under the age of 18 are not allowed to serve on the Henning Ambulance Service, but changes in state laws have stated that individuals as young as 16 can be a member of ambulance services. Waskosky and the city will complete additional research and will bring the issue forward to the next city council meeting.

• Approved proceeding with a shared project with Henning Township for repairs needed at Airport Road, contingent on a clarification on financing obligations. The city council has said in recent meeting the project is not in the city’s budget for this year and was unsure if it would have the funding in place to pay for the project in 2025. 

• Approved selling an approximate 30×50’ vacant piece of city-owned land next to the Farmstand at a cost of $1,500. The council said the Farmstand would need to cover all of the closing costs and be responsible for potentially moving any unknown utilities that are in the area. The proposal is contingent on the Farmstand owners agreeing to the proposal. Recently the Farmstand owners inquired about purchasing the lot for $1,500 and split the closing costs, but the city countered that all of the closing costs must be covered by the Farmstand. The Springers said they would take the counter offer under consideration. 

• Approved closing the city council meeting for an employee evaluation for utility supervisor Ted Strand.