CEYLON — ​​The Ceylon City Council met on Tuesday evening. Bollig Engineering representative Brandon Johnson presented an introduction to the company’s City Services.

The company is headquartered in Willmar where they started in 2007 and now have 50+ staff. They have architects and engineers and funding and finance staff. They work with small cities (under 5,000 population) usually ones under a population of 1,000. He was proud to report they earned the Circle of Excellence award several years ago. They would do strategic planning, funding and finance sources and implementation. They would do a needs assessment and task order and then outline the needs. The work would only be done if the council approved the task orders which may take about a month to report to the council.

The cities the company has worked with are Russell, Pemberton, Amboy and Okabena. He reported about other cities and said that they had found finances and grants of 140 million with a 64 percent record of financial help. The council had a few questions for him and he replied or agreed to find the answer.

Moving to other matters, Chris Griffin presented the Helping Hands non-profit group. He asked that they be able to have a vendor presence on Main Street (across from the Lake Belt Bar and Grill) in the space between buildings. The group would get vendors to sell crafts or non-food items. The council approved the request to use the property.

The council also approved the Nuisance Abatement order that would clean up the property on Railroad Street that had a fire quite a while ago. The city attorney said the city has all the forms needed and has done the due diligence so that the cleanup can be done as soon as possible. The council asked for bids to completely remove and dispose of the items on the property such as ashes to go to the Mankato recycling; foundation removed and backfill used; all metal removed; and removal of vehicles and tires to clear the lot. The clerk will publish a request for bids two times.

In other business:

— The council approved a resolution to increase Public Utility rates since the FREA had increased rates. The increase is three percent and begins in April.

— The Council inquired about any excess equipment available for the Community Day Auction on April 12.

— The Fire Association meeting was reported by Council Muller who asked for a new secretary to be named by the Association. They also asked about an increase from the city and Lake Belt and Tenhassen Townships of $250 per quarter. The council asked about the amount to be put in an account for major equipment purchases in previous years. There is to be an audit next week of the city and the fire department should be in that also.

— The rag catcher equipment was discussed for the water/sewer station and information was given to the council. The city again asked that only toilet paper be flushed into the system. The equipment to collect the undisposable materials flushed is expensive. The drain covers in the city shop are deteriorating and must be replaced. The clerk will request bids for that job too.

The city approved a request to block the street outside the Lake Belt Bar and Grill on the west side on June 28, 2025, for the High School Reunion.

— The clerk and public works employee presented the council with the information they asked for regarding the Christmas and red, white, and blue light pole decorations. The council approved six baskets, six banners, and six Christmas decorations. The money for the purchase is to come from the interest from the investment of the CD.

The next meeting of the Ceylon City Council is 6 p.m. on March 11, at City Hall.