City of Dennison
Meeting Minutes
April 2nd, 2026
The April Dennison City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Jeff Flaten on Thursday, April 2nd, 2026 at 7:00 pm.
Present were Councilors Caleb Voight, Heidi Cooke, Nichole Schloesser, and clerk Jessica Page. Councilor Diane Ruddle
was unable to attend.
Councilor Schloesser moved to approve the February meeting minutes. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 4:0.
Councilor Voight moved to approve the March meeting minutes. Councilor Schloesser second. Motion passed 4:0.
Councilor Cooke moved to approve the March special meeting minutes. Councilor Voight second. Motion passed 4:0.
Councilor Voight moved to approve the Treasurer’s report. Councilor Schloesser second. Motion passed 4:0.
Sheriff: Deputy Dennison days in August ask deputies to watch traffic on 9 with speeding. Deputy did not have anything to bring to the council. Noise ordinance.
Old Business/Committee Reports/Building Permits:
Administrative Issues:
1. Opus and billing issues. A meeting between Jessica, Heidi and Opus officials haven't taken place yet, and the
mayor isn't aware of a proposed meeting before the regular council meeting in April. The mayor and clerk have had
further discussions about billing errors, slow response times from Opus and complaints from the community. The
mayor is proposing further action/options for the council to consider:
1). Ask the clerk to do a deep dive/thorough
examination of several properties/users in town that have reported billing issues the last year. This would require
Jessica to spend 2 or 3 days of her time, totally separate from her usual duties, to complete this work. The City
would ask Opus to provide all billing information to examine for any errors. If the council wants Jessica to do the
audit/examination, then the mayor would recommend paying Jessica extra for this work. The mayor would like a
report provided to the council by the May council meeting.
2.) Other options. The council doesn't want to continue
with Opus. There would need to be a transition period if the council wants to go this route. The City could
investigate other companies that do the same kind of work as far as billing. The City could also go back to having
the clerk do the billing.
To sum things up the mayor says: “Opus needs to do way better. The billing errors have been unacceptable. The slow response times by Opus have been unacceptable. The extra amount of time Jessica has to spend to respond to answer citizens questions/Opus is unacceptable. As a city, we need to trust that the expected revenue will be collected in an accurate manner. With the future infrastructure improvements coming down the road, the users of our system will be expected to pay more. Any missed revenue or inaccurate billing will only place a greater burden on the users/citizens in town.”
Due to trying to get items ready for the RD application during the month of June, Councilor Cooke will contact Opus
with a couple of issues, and then work to meet during May with Heidi, Jess and Opus representatives. (Home sales, garbage fuel surcharges, people not getting charged for months that were missed for billing. Late meter readings from jess, missed email?)
Todd Greseth County is working on the budget, but it’s going to be tough. Recommendations to cut higher positions that
equal 2 entry level positions. Pine Island Data center is moving along.
2. Discussion on the new Nerstrand Rescue Vehicle and basing it at the Dennison Fire Station/City Shop. The fire
chief says the Nerstrand Fire Department recently acquired a SUV to use for rescue responses. Joe came to the
city council meeting last December and discussed the plans for the SUV then. Joe believes there is sufficient room
in the garage right now without moving anything. He said the goal is to use the vehicle for all calls providing a quick
response to assess the scene for fire calls and establish command. It will also provide a safer response for
medicals and other incidents along the roadway. Finally, he said, it will be utilized for firefighters to use for
meetings and training. Joe is also requesting a donation to the department of $955 for the printing/decals and
installation. He would expect the vehicle to be in service within a month. Nate has expressed concerns with this
arrangement, and would like to be able to move vehicles around if he needs space to work on something.
Caleb and Heidi went through the maintenance shed. They felt there Isn’t enough room with two big vehicles
in there. If the City got a vehicle or a lawn mower, there wouldn’t be any room for it. Can’t carry anything
out the door with two vehicles in there. Consensus is that there is not enough room in the building for two fire
vehicles.
Donations for signage for vehicles. Talk about it next month. Are Lions contributing anything?
3. The mayor contacted the Minnesota Department of Health after our special meeting on March 24th
with Bollig Engineering and asked the question whether the Compliance Agreement would still be valid if Radium/Gross Alpha levels go down? Their response: “Once a system is in violation, that violation remains open and ongoing until a
letter from MDH informs the system that they have “Returned to Compliance.” So, if results drop: The Compliance
Agreement is still binding, the violation is still active, and there are still public notice requirements.” The mayor
informed Bollig Engineering, and the city council was forwarded the email from MDH.
4. Data Center discussion. Should the City pass a moratorium ordinance? Consider adding new language to our
Zoning Ordinance. Find a sample moratorium ordinance and see what they look like. Heidi will look for one. Apple
Valley or Farmington??
The Mayor thought smaller ones might be okay for Dennison, but not the ones with multiple buildings, etc.
5. City wide Clean Up day is going to be May 2nd, from 9-11 AM. Items will be collected in the open lot owned by Paul Nygaard north off of Goodhue County Road 9. Fliers will be disturbed around town and also information published
in the Mainstreet Messenger, as well as posted on the notice board.
6. Continued discussion regarding Ordinance 32. The work session meeting from March 24th, the city council agreed
to add new firearms language from Texas and the City Resolution pertaining to official military honors, passed in
January of 2026. Ordinance 32 (Disorderly Conduct/Discharging Weapons/Vagrants/Fast driving and Resisting
Officers/Assault and Battery) would be repealed and replaced with Ordinance 90, Discharging of Firearms in the
City Limits. The final version is not ready to review. Any changes or additions before we set a public hearing time?
7. Approve street sweeping from Terpstra Companies for $1850. Price is double due to large amount of loose chip
rock from winter sanding on the City Streets. Councilor Schloesser move to approve the street sweeping at $1850.
Councilor Voight second. Motion passed 4:0.
8. Tentative pickup dates are April 16 or 17. Council agreed to keep roughly 5 of each for the City. City Residents
can get up to 5 trees. If all residents who want trees have gotten them and there are leftovers, residents can have
additional tree, and folks outside the city limits can also get trees.
9. Invitation to Roundtable meeting with Brad Finstad on April 10 from 10-12 in Pine Island. Mayor Flaten will attend.
Clerk to respond to invite.
10. Invitation to testify at the Capital Investment Committee meeting on April 9th at 10:15. Mayor Flaten is planning on attending.
11. Back Pay for Jess and Nate for 2025 and Jan of 2026 are included in this month’s paychecks.
Citizens Issues:
Mayors Issues:
Utilities: MRWA Conference: What is new.
Cameraing and jetting should be done. Empire is who has done it before.
Jetting is a maintenance type thing. Using the camera isn’t maintenance, and is expensive to do it. The jetter that the City has is weak and not very effective.
Eval for Nate next month.
Update from Nate:
Councilor Schloesser moved to pay the bills. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 4:0.
Mayor Flaten moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilor Voight second. Meeting adjourned.
Next meeting: Regular meeting is Thursday, May 7th at 7:00 pm.
