City Council Meeting

CITY OF MARSHALL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, January 13, 2026 The regular meeting of the Common Council of the City of Marshall was held January 13, 2026, at City Hall, 344 West Main Street. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 P.M. by Mayor Robert Byrnes. In addition to Byrnes the following members were in attendance: Craig Schafer, John Alcorn, See Moua-Leske, and Amanda Schwartz. Absent: Amanda Schroeder and James Lozinski. Staff present included: Sharon Hanson; City Administrator; Pamela Whitmore, City Attorney (remote); Jason Anderson, Director of Public Works/ City Engineer; E.J. Moberg, Director of Administrative Services; Eric Hanson, Assistant City Engineer; Preston Stensrud, Park and Recreation Superintendent; and Steven Anderson, City Clerk. Consider Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting Held on December 16th There were no requests to amend the minutes from December 16, 2025. Motion made by Councilmember Schafer, Seconded by Councilmember Schwartz to approve the minutes as presented from December 16, 2025. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Purchase and Installation of Storage Area Network Array The City of Marshall’s current Storage Area Network (SAN) array was coming to the end of its useful life and should be replaced to ensure continued data integrity. A SAN is a high-performance network that is used to provide connectivity from a centralized block storage solution to multiple servers. The aging hardware was at increased risk of disk failure which would impact many departments. The SAN also allows staff to create redundancy for city related data through automatic backups, snapshots and replication as needed. The technology fund had $50,000 budgeted to replace the array in 2026. The quote received from The Computer Man Inc. (TCMI) came in at $32,525.00. The same equipment was priced using the State of Minnesota Cooperative Purchasing Venture and was $2,721.94 higher, equipment only, than the quote from TCMI. Motion made by Councilmember Schafer, Seconded by Councilmember Moua-Leske to accept the quote from The Computer Man Inc. for the purchase and replacement of a Storage Area Network array for the City of Marshall. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Approval of the Consent Agenda Motion made by Councilmember Moua-Leske, Seconded by Councilmember Schwartz to approve the items on the consent agenda. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0.  Consider Approval of Taxicab License Renewals  Consider Approval of Liquor License Renewals for 2026  Consider Approval of a Temporary Liquor License for the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce  Consider a Resolution Regarding Write-In Vote Counting, Uniform Election Dates, and Authorization of Election Judge Appointments  Consider Resolution Designating the Official Depositories for City Funds for 2026.  Consider a Resolution Designating the Official Newspaper  Adopt an Annual Election to Set a Micro-Purchase Threshold of $25,000  Consider Approval of a Resolution to Authorize the Finance Director to Pay Certain Claims  Preliminary Plat of Ag Plus Swenson Addition – Introduction of Preliminary Plat  Consider Request of the Marshall Downtown Business Association for the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 14, 2026 (Saturday)  City Council Meeting January 13, 2026 Minutes Page 2 of 5  Consider Approval of the Agreement between the City of Marshall and Minnesota Housing for the Minnesota City Participation Program  MN Historical Society and City of Marshall Commemorative Statues, Memorials, and Historic Preservation (CSMHP) Grant Agreement for the Marshall Bandshell Project  Approval of Shared Facilities Use Agreement between the City of Marshall and Southwest Minnesota State University  Consider Approval of Sponsorship Agreements for the Red Baron Arena & Expo  Consider Approval of the Bills/Project Payments Authorize City Administrator and City Attorney to Finalize Lease Agreement Between City of Marshall and Marshall Area Fine Arts Council Hanson explained in late 2025 the city was approached by the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council (MAFAC) regarding potentially leasing a portion of the city’s spaces in City Hall. Following subsequent conversations, the city, with assistance from the City Attorney, drafted a lease agreement to cover the terms and conditions of a lease. The lease would be year to year with the first lease agreement subject to Council approval for renewal prior to the end of December 31, 2026. The lease would include varying rates, $12.00 per square foot per year for office, $5.00 per square foot per year for common shared space, and $50 flat rate per month for miscellaneous storage. Carol Purrington, representative of MAFAC, shared information with the council on the need to lease the space at City Hall. Attorney Whitmore added that the exhibition of artwork should be identified as belonging to MAFAC and the lease agreement would be addressing that item. Councilmember Moua-Leske thought that MAFAC utilizing the space would be good for the space and encourage more citizens to visit City Hall. Motion made by Councilmember Moua-Leske, Seconded by Councilmember Alcorn to authorize the City Administrator and City Attorney to finalize a lease agreement between the City of Marshall and the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Project AP-070: SW MN Regional Airport Aviation Fuel Facility Relocation Project - Resolution Approving State Airport Fund MnDOT Grant Agreement No. 1062038 MnDOT Aeronautics announced a one-time grant opportunity that was dedicated to airport fuel systems. Typically, fuel systems could be grant-eligible through MnDOT’s annual airport capital grant solicitation, but do not score well against other projects because they are “revenue generating facilities” and less of a priority when compared against other airfield projects. To be eligible for the grant the airport must be owned by a municipality, must be licensed for public use, must be in the State Airport System, and the airport must be zoned or in the process of zoning. Additionally, the grant gave priority to airports based on historical fuel sales. This one-time grant opportunity for fuel systems was determined to be a good opportunity to replace aging fuel systems at the Southwest Minnesota Regional Airport. The current fueling system was owned and operated by the City’s Fixed Base Operator (FBO), Midwest Aviation. The current Jet A underground fuel tank is a 15,000-gallon tank that was installed in 1985 and was recertified with a 30- year warranty in 1992. The current 100LL tank is a 12,000-gallon tank installed in 1996 with a 30-year warranty. Both tanks are either past warranty or near warranty expiration. Additionally, the tanks are near the old Arrival/Departure (A/D) Building, and were not in an ideal location. The Airport Commission determined that a better location would be closer to the current A/D Building. New fuel tanks are proposed to be 15,000-gallon tanks that would be “aboveground” tanks. The grant agreement was a 60% State, 40% local cost split of the not-to-exceed $100,000 TKDA design contract and the $3,000 city administrative expenses. The total project cost is estimated to be at $1,278,000 with cost participation of 60% State ($766,800) / 40% Local ($511,200). The proposed 2026 City CIP included total cost of $1,300,000 for the project with $520,000 bonding levy and $780,000 State participation. Schafer commented that the Airport Commission has had this item come up numerous times for years and was glad to see forward momentum on it.  City Council Meeting January 13, 2026 Minutes Page 3 of 5 Motion made by Councilmember Schafer, Seconded by Councilmember Moua-Leske to adopt Resolution 26-005 Approving State Airport Fund Grant Agreement. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Project ST-020: South 5th Street (Saratoga to Main) Reconstruction Project - Consider Resolution Receiving Feasibility Report and Calling Hearing on Improvement The project consisted of complete street reconstruction of South Fifth Street from approximately 300-FT west of W. Main Street to W. Saratoga Street. Reconstruction includes the intersection of W. Saratoga Street and South Fifth Street, and work items included curb and gutter, driveway approaches, and sidewalks. Underground utility work would include sanitary sewer main and services, water main and services, and storm sewer replacement. The Feasibility Report authorized by the City Council covered the proposed improvements including scope, background/existing conditions, proposed improvements, probable costs, proposed assessments, feasibility and proposed project schedule. The proposed improvements described in the report are necessary, cost-effective, and feasible from an engineering standpoint. The total estimated project cost, including 10% allowance for contingencies and 16% for engineering and administrative costs was $1,219,345.00. All improvements would be assessed according to the current Special Assessment Policy, including, but not limited to, participation from Marshall Municipal Utilities, Wastewater Department, Surface Water Management Utility Fund and Ad Valorem participation. Mayor Byrnes asked for clarification if the alley apron would be a part of the project. Director Anderson confirmed that the alley was not included for any type of enhancement. Last year the city council did approve a change in the special assessment policy regarding alleys and it was possible the business owners along the alley might come together to request a project. Motion made by Councilmember Moua-Leske, Seconded by Councilmember Schwartz to adopt Resolution 26-006 Receiving Feasibility Report and Calling for Hearing on Improvement for project ST-020 and setting a public hearing date of February 10, 2026. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Consider Resolution for 2026 Municipal State Aid Street (MSAS) Funds Advance The Municipal State Aid Street program provides funding to assist municipalities with the construction and maintenance of community-interest streets on their state aid systems. The program was administered by MnDOT’s State Aid for Local Transportation. The current MSAS construction account balance as of January 7, 2026, was - $1,181,854. Because the city had “advanced” future years of funding to finance past projects, the account balance was negative. The total maximum MSAS advance, set by the Minnesota Commissioner of Transportation was the lesser of $4,000,000 or five (5) times the City annual construction apportionment. The 2026 City of Marshall annual construction apportionment was estimated at $979,100, which multiplied by five results in an amount of $4,895,500. Therefore, the maximum amount of MSAS advance for the city is -$4,000,000. Staff recommended a total of $1,000,000 in 2026 MSAS disbursements, which would result in total State Aid advance in an amount up to $1,202,754 required to be repaid in accordance with the regulations established by MnDOT from future MSAS disbursements. Motion made by Councilmember Schafer, Seconded by Councilmember Alcorn to adopt Resolution 26-007 Municipal State Aid Street Funds Advance in the amount of up to $1,202,754. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Commission/Board Liaison Reports Byrnes No report. Alcorn No report. Lozinski Absent.  City Council Meeting January 13, 2026 Minutes Page 4 of 5 Moua-Leske The CVB discussed new options to replace Prairie Jam and would be testing a Murder Mystery event and received a presentation from SMSU athletics. Schafer The PI&T Committee met on a few items and those items should be coming to council in the next few months for discussion. Schroeder Absent. Schwartz The Library Board discussed various events and upcoming offerings. Councilmember Individual Items Mayor Byrnes recommended Kris Bodigheimer as a nominee to the Charter Commission. Councilmember Moua-Leske announced that the It Begins with Us event would be at Five Family Ranch this year. Mayor Byrnes also went over his top ten goals for 2026. 1. Highway 19 phase 2 project 2. Aquatic Center opening 3. Decommission of the old aquatic center and use of the space 4. Completion and implementation of the Parks Master Plan 5. Bandshell replacement project 6. Economic and Industrial development 7. Childcare availability 8. Redwood River stabilization project 9. Natural Gas Franchise renewal negotiations 10. Hospital PERA replacement fund City Administrator Staff began work on the Fourth of July celebration and were looking at enhancing the fireworks display and entertainment options. Director of Public Works/City Engineer MnDOT would be hosting an open house on January 15 regarding a tree planting project along the College Drive corridor. City Attorney No report. Administrative Brief There were no questions about the Administrative Brief. Information Only There were no questions about the Information Only items. Upcoming Meetings There were no questions or comments about the Upcoming Meetings.  City Council Meeting January 13, 2026 Minutes Page 5 of 5 Adjournment Motion made by Councilmember Schwartz, Seconded by Councilmember Alcorn to adjourn the meeting. Voting Yea: Mayor Byrnes, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Moua-Leske, Councilmember Schafer, Councilmember Schwartz. The motion Carried. 5-0. Attest: _________________________ _________________________ City Clerk Mayor