Red Wing City Council briefs

Snowmobile trail OK’d

Snowmobiles now will be allowed to use a small portion of Burnside Trail.

After introducing the ordinance at its last meeting, the council narrowly approved a request from the Red Wing Riverview Riders Snowmobile Club to allow for legal riding on .38 miles of the trail from Motel Avenue to Burnside Cemetery.

The snowmobile club will maintain and groom the trail. It also will post a 10 mph speed limit.

“It’s just safer to have the trail signed and put a speed limit on it,” Council member Dean Hove said. “It’s a very limited season. We’re not talking about snowmobiles riding on this year-round.”

But since it is a walking trail, some council members still were worried about also allowing snowmobiles.

“I still have a lot of concerns about motorized vehicles and pedestrians (together),” Council President Ralph Rauterkus said.

Council members Hove, Dan Bender, Marilyn Meinke and Peggy Rehder voted to allow snowmobiles on the trail. Rauterkus and Council member Mike Schultz voted against the resolution. Council member Lisa Bayley was absent.

The council separately had been asked by some residents to plow a similar portion of the trail, but denied that request in February.

Lobbying services approved

The City Council on Monday unanimously approved hiring a lobbyist to fight for a solid waste processing statute that would help local incinerator operations.

A law requiring metro area waste haulers to bring garbage to incinerators — such as Red Wing’s — before landfills already is in place, but hasn’t been enforced.

Now there is language making its way through the legislature mandating a study before the statute would be effective, Council member Peggy Rehder said.

“That would slow us down at least a year,” she said.

The city had hoped to decide what action, if any, to take at the incinerator this summer.

“I think this is something urgent we need to take a look at and really move forward with,” Council President Ralph Rauterkus said. “The issue at the solid waste campus and incinerator is urgent.”

The lobbying costs are $8,000, Rehder said, and work would start immediately. The funds will come from the city’s contingency fund.

Legislative priorities laid out

The City Council had taken opinions on issues at the state Legislature, but on Monday it approved 14 resolutions officially spelling out its stances.

Passing resolutions on legislative priorities isn’t tradition, but has been done in the past, Council administrator Kay Kuhlmann said.

During its January workshop, the council discussed a list of 11 priorities, and three were added Monday.

The resolutions included supporting the enforcement of solid waste processing statutes, authorizing local option sales tax, creating standards for ranked-choice voting, opposing to unfunded mandates, opposing the expansion of gambling, supporting requests for local bonding projects and opposing bills changing local control over interim ordinances.

All were approved unanimously. Council member Lisa Bayley was absent.

Meeting watch

Monday’s City Council meeting lasted about two and a half hours. Council member Lisa Bayley was absent. Mayor Dennis Egan participated via Skype.

--Compiled by Danielle Nordine, staff writer

Tags: city council, red wing, government