Aberdeen City Council Meeting – June 22, 2026
Aberdeen City Council Meeting – June 22, 2026
The Aberdeen City Council met on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting included approval of minutes from June 15, a consent calendar with routine items, multiple resolutions, appointments, presentations, and a city manager's report. Key actions included approving a resolution to apply for additional water tower funding, dissolving a TIF district, updating the employee handbook, and adopting new rules for special alcoholic beverage licenses.
Consent Calendar
- Routine city business items were approved with a motion and second, with Councilmember Rich abstaining on item 5D. The consent calendar included a notification of the Rivet Family Plot annexation petition, which will proceed to a public hearing at a later date.
Presentations & Recognition
- Society of 40 Men and 8 Horses presented awards: Law Officer of the Year to Officer Brady Worrell (recognized for proactive patrols and mentorship) and City of the Year to Aberdeen (recognized for support of veterans, memorials, and the upcoming Milwaukee Depot purchase). Both awards have advanced to the national level.
- State Commander Al Oshner invited the public to a pancake feed on July 4th at the depot and encouraged veterans to join the organization.
- City Manager Dave recognized Spencer Lux (Parks & Rec forestry) for 10 years of service.
Discussion & Action Items
- Water Tower Transmission Funding: Ted Dickey (NECOD) presented a preliminary worst-case scenario for a $2.5 million loan at 3.75% for 20 years to cover a funding shortfall for the northeast side water tower project. The city’s current rates would need to increase by $1.75 per user per month if the loan is fully utilized. Dickey estimated the likelihood of receiving grant funding as low. The council voted unanimously to approve Resolution 260606R authorizing the application for drinking water facilities funding.
- Dissolution of TIF District #8: Created in 2007 to support ADC manufacturing infrastructure, the district’s final debt payment was made in May 2026. Staff recommended dissolution. The council approved the resolution (Councilmember Ward abstained).
- Reappointment to Airport Board: Anthony Schwann was reappointed for a five-year term ending in 2031. Approved unanimously.
- City Employee Handbook Update: The resolution adopted a revised employee handbook for non-union employees, aligning benefits (e.g., certification incentives, PTO, callback pay, longevity bonus, referral bonus) with the recently negotiated union contract. Approved unanimously.
- Appointment to Board of Ethics: Guy Trennhale was appointed to fill a vacancy. Approved unanimously.
- Public Works Facility Land Purchase: Final payment of an undisclosed amount for a 6.81-acre lot in Roosevelt Business Park was approved, completing the acquisition for the new public works facility. Councilmember Ward abstained.
- Special Alcoholic Beverage License Rules: Resolution 260605R updated the 2012 rules, clarifying definitions of a sale, limiting applicants to city license holders or qualifying 501(c) organizations, setting fees in the city fee schedule, allowing stacked licenses for multi-day events (max 15 consecutive days), and requiring public hearings for organizational applicants. Approved unanimously.
- Rezone Petition: Property at 402 15th Street South was rezoned from I2 and C2 to C2 to eliminate split zoning following a replat for a car wash expansion. The Planning Commission recommended approval. Approved unanimously.
- Bus Barn Engineering Contract: A contract for architectural and engineering services (up to $84,004) for a new bus barn to store 10 vehicles was approved. The federal grant covers $67,236; the city pays the remainder. Approved unanimously.
- Water Treatment Plant Roof Improvement Pay Request: A pay request of $486,671 to Skinner Roofing was approved; the project is one-third complete and on budget after a $220,000 change order reduction. Approved unanimously.
- Bills and Payroll: Payroll for June 14–27 was approved (Councilmember Ward abstained).
City Manager's Report
- Recognition of Spencer Lux (10 years of service).
- Weekend events: Arts in the Park (50th year) was successful.
- Eighth Avenue water tower painting is underway; dome raising expected soon.
- Water levels in Moccasin Creek and Foot Creek continue to be monitored; an improvised structure protects the water reclamation plant construction. City plans to post flow meter data on its website.
- Construction projects (Eighth Avenue and North Dakota Street) are on or slightly ahead of schedule.
Key Outcomes
- Approved (roll call): Resolution to apply for $2.5 million water tower funding (unanimous).
- Approved: Dissolution of TIF #8 (Ward abstained).
- Approved: Reappointment of Anthony Schwann (unanimous).
- Approved: Employee handbook update (unanimous).
- Approved: Appointment of Guy Trennhale (unanimous).
- Approved: Public works land purchase final payment (Ward abstained).
- Approved: Special alcoholic beverage license rules (unanimous).
- Approved: Rezone (unanimous).
- Approved: Bus barn engineering contract (unanimous).
- Approved: Water treatment roof pay request (unanimous).
- Approved: Bills and payroll (Ward abstained).
Meeting Transcript
Five thirty, so it's called the order of this meeting. Jordan, would you start us off with a roll call? Please respond by stating present. Council member Ronane Foberg. Present. Move to approve. Second. Motion leave out. Second. Nilson, all in favor, please say I. I posted. I oppose nay. And motion carries next is the approval of the minutes from the meeting last week, which took place Monday, June fifteenth. I would take a motion to approve those minutes. Second. Next, we've got a consent calendar. We've got a handful of routine city business items. And we did have a question. I'd like you to speak to the clarification on the necessity to have that rivet family plot annexation. Could you just explain where that project is in the process? Sure, Mr. Mayor. The uh petition of voluntary annexation, like any annexation petition, uh first needs to go to city officials for their review and recommendation. And what we do by uh putting it in the consent calendar is just notifying the council that that has come in, and then at some point uh there will be a public hearing. I'm not sure when that date is on this particular annexation petition, but there will be a public hearing and an opportunity for the council to take input before a resolution of annexation. Thank you for that clarification. Appreciate it. Would someone on the council care to make a motion to approve the consent calendar items? So move motion Nelson, second officer. If anyone have any line item abstentions or any other questions, Mr. Mayor, go ahead, Rich. I'll abstain from 5D. Okay. Jordan, have you got that notated? Noted, yes. All right, all in favor, then please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Oppose nay. That motion carries not a single item of old business. We were pretty efficient last time around, so we'll move along to our new business segment where we've got the preliminary presentation on additional funding for the water tower transmission, as well as possible approval of a resolution which would authorize the application for the drinking water facilities funding. We have got a rep from uh NECOD, right? Yes, welcome. Appreciate you joining us here tonight. Thank you, Mayor. Ted Dickey with Northeast Council of Governments. Um, I'm in front of the council tonight. Um, looking for uh passage of a resolution and going to do some preliminary information on uh worst-case scenario. So I'll just give you a little bit of a background here.
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