By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A question over ownership of a frequently used alley in downtown Henning could soon come to fruition.

During its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night, the Henning City Council heard from several property owners of the alley between Henning Hardware and Seip Drug about who actually owns the alley. 

Property owners said they were under the impression the city owned the alley, but found out earlier this winter that the alley from Henning Hardware to Seip Drug is actually owned by the abutting property owners. The only piece of the alley that is not owned by the abutting properties is behind Henning Hardware, which is owned by an unknown entity. 

The issue came to light after snow was not removed from a portion of the alley late last year.

Over the course of the past few months, the city council learned that longtime post office employee Steven Ellenson had always plowed a portion of the alley and pushed the snow to the street. When he retired from the post office earlier this winter, the snow was not moved, prompting both the city and adjacent property owners to question ownership of the alley.

Last week the city council heard from several property owners expressing the need to keep the alley open to the public, due to its importance in delivery for places like B&D Foods, while also hearing that property owners would not be comfortable keeping the alley open to the public if the city did not take over ownership of the land.

In order to find out who owns the alley, the city council approved moving forward with a survey, which the city will fund for approximately $2,000-2,500. 

“I think the survey is going to answer a lot of questions for you and us,” said Utility Supervisor Ted Strand to the council and property owners.

A majority of the property owners in attendance said they would like to deed the alley back to the city if they are determined to be the owners, in order to prevent future liability issues should someone fall or have an accident in the alley. Deeding the land to the city would also ensure access to the back of their buildings. 

City council members said having the alley deeded back to the city may also be the quickest and best solution to keep the alley open to the public as well. In the meantime, the city council instructed the utility department to plow the alley until the ownership question is resolved. 

In other news

• Approved a request from Diane Thorson to seek a Minnesota Twins grant to provide updates to the baseball and softball fields. The Henning Rod and Gun Club has pledged to contribute the necessary matching funds for the Minnesota Twins grant if it is approved. The grant will be used to construct dugouts at the new softball and baseball fields. 

• Approved a request from Thorson to seek a West Central Initiative grant for up to $25,000 to help construct new pickle ball courts at the Henning Festival Grounds. The matching portion of the grant can come from in-kind work and money that has already been raised for the pickle ball court project.

• Discussed a wage study proposal from David Drown Associates that will create a pay philosophy and re-calibrate pay grid for city staff. Henning Mayor Jesse Hermanson said the study will assist the city in its negotiations with the newly established union that city employees have formed. 

• Discussed the annual committee appointments for city council members and staff. Hermanson said he made just a few small changes to the current committees and expressed a desire to utilize the full council instead of the committees for some of the city work. He said he felt the city council has become too reliant on committees in the past. 

• Heard a concern from several people in attendance about the need to clean up dilapidated and nuisance properties, as well as properties with too many vehicles in their yard. The city council said it will continue to work with property owners, but cautioned that there is little that can be done in many of the situations to force someone to clean up their property short of making requests and eventually taking them to court if the nuisance is not taken care of by the property owner. 

• Approved a bid of $37,500 from ABDO for the 2025 audit. The city council sought bids after receiving a proposal of approximately $42,000 from the same firm just the other month. The council learned that the company is hoping the actual cost of the audit will come down in future years as the new firm gets the city’s books organized to the new company. 

• Approved revisions to the December 1 and December 15 city council meeting minutes after Hermanson raised concerns over the minutes during a special city council meeting on January 14. Hermanson said the meeting minutes were long and featured a narrative, as opposed to just having the actions of the council. 

• Heard from Hermanson who responded to a number of points brought up during a community meeting last fall in which residents gathered to discuss everything from the need to seek solar energy grants that other area communities have received, fixing street lights that are broken, having employees keep logs for what they do on a daily basis, as well as a need to address rising utility and tax rates. Hermanson said the city looked into a solar grant but did not proceed with the project at this time, has repaired all but a handful of street lights, employees keep logs of their daily tasks and contends the city council will continue to work to keep taxes and utility costs down. Hermanson and Jessica Strege, who is a former deputy clerk/treasurer in Henning, said a number of jobs are currently being outsourced that were previously done in house when the same amount of current city employees had additional licenses before they all quick within a short period of time in 2021-22. The city currently has four full-time utility workers and two in the office staff, which it has largely maintained for a number of years. 

• Heard from Henning Police and Fire Chief Mike Helle about the city staff’s desire to hold a work session to go over concerns the city staff may have, budgets and ways to work together with the city council. He said the staff members have been asking for a similar work session for the past year, but have yet to have a work session with the council.

• Heard from former Henning Mayor Darren Wiese during the open comment portion of the meeting. Wiese addressed rising taxes in the community, potentially adding a city administrator position and need for cuts in the city instead of raising rates and taxes on residents. The council also heard from Glenn Scott about the need to look for cuts to the city’s budget instead of raising rates and taxes. When asked by another resident why the city needed an administrator, Hermanson said the administrator could help with the day-to-day management of the city business, but added that the city is not necessarily looking at adding an administrator position.