BRUCE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
September 9th, 2025

City Mayor Sabrina Kasper called the Bruce City Council to order Tuesday September
9th, 2025, at 6:00 pm at the Bruce Community Room with council members Elder,
Diedrich, Ruden, Zuiderhof, Hartley in attendance.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
The floor opened to those community members that signed in 5 minutes prior to the City
Council meeting being called to order.
Harlan Feldhus- Welcome to Zack. Everyone needs to go in the same direction. Not just
one person making decisions. Building permits needed for a container? Need to watch
pennies better.
Motion by Diedrich and seconded by Zuiderhof to approve the agenda; all present voted
in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
Motion by Ruden and seconded by Edler to approve minutes from the August 12th,
2025; all present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
Motion by Ruden and seconded by Zuiderhof to approve the following claims presented
by Aundrea Saathoff. All present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
August Bills
GENERAL- Valley FiberCom $193.98; Ottertail $1,410.72; Cook’s Wastepaper
$1,465.61; Brooking Deuel Rural Water $121.70; Sioux Valley Energy $88.90; EMC
Insurance $1,989.69; QuickBooks $1,372.11; Verizon $79.40; Google Workspace
$12.20; Amazon $166.54; Post Office $20.96; Walmart $120.14; Britzman Law
$1,105.00; Brookings Equipment $685.93; Office Peeps $519.67; M&M $889.73;
Runnings $688.95; ACE Hardware $4.98; Dakota Pump & Control $2,058.95; Lowes
$48.52; VanDiest Supply $866.80; RFD Newspaper $373.52; SDRS $629.96 Payroll:
Finance Office: Aundrea Saathoff $4,541.83, Maintenance: Zack Stokes $4,109.99,
Mosquito Spray: Derk Hartenhoff $1,397.97, Animal Control: Matthew Ridgeway
$164.40; Epay $324.77; Taxes $2,354.33;

Maintenance Report:

Sewer- Dakota Pump & Control called today. Last inspection was done in May. They will
come back when they are in the area to look at the lift station light. Ponds were burned.
Fixed the road up by the ponds.
Streets- Have continued to box scrape Doe Street.
Parks- Trimmed trees with Mike. New leash law signs up. Fixed phone numbers on sign
at campground. Will spray tempo at Museum Park tomorrow for BFest. Are we going to
keep speed bumps? Speed bumps were not put out this year due to road being worked
on.
Office Report: Contacted Valley Fibercom, they came on 8/21 and hopefully fixed line
issues. There was another day that I had issues with the phone following their visit. I
called and the receptionist said that there was a known issue with Verizon, I let them
know I called the office with my personal phone on AT&T and the message said that “All
circuits are busy”. She said that it is an issue on the provider side and not a Valley
issue. Bowes was supposed to show up the week of August 25 th or September 1 st but
were not able to make it at those times due to rain set backs with other jobs. I have
contacted for another date but have not heard anything. Sensaphone is back up and
running just needed to be reset. Audit scheduled for September 15 th . Was asked by a
resident to do a Green Recycling bin for yard refuse. Had a resignation of a council
member in Ward 1, so there is an open seat.
Old Business:
FEMA Ordinance- Reread page 12 Section B with date correction. A motion by
Zuiderhof, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Tee Street- Still a legal right of way. Zack to measure road. FO to verify with City
Attorney that Nancy understands it will be a legal road way. Do we finish the road from
Doe to 203 rd St? City decided in 1986 not to gravel due to not seeing the need. Have
Nancy take down Private Drive sign. Get a Dead End and Tee Street sign and place on
the right (east) side of the road. Send a letter to Nancy. A motion by Zuiderhof, second
by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.
8-1-25- Removed 8-1-24 – 8-1-28. Worries if we removed the other parts of the
ordinances if it would be enforceable. State Law will cover the items removed, only
needed them if we were going to be more strict.
Clean up date- Date is set for October 10 th , 2025. Can set items curbside Sunday the
week prior to pick up. A motion by Ruden, second by Zuiderhof. With all voting aye,
motion carried.
New Business:

Appoint Council Member to Ward 1- Lesley Matthys stepped up to be appointed. Lesley
has been a resident of Bruce since 2021, is the City Finance Officer in Estelline. A
motion by Diedrich, second by Edler. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Website Makeover- Grace has an internship through school. Grace is wanting to
revamp the city website at no cost to the city. Possibly looking at online billing,
registration/payment for campground and listing council members. Will work with FO to
get website looking better and easier to use. Will provide a mock layout. A motion by
Ruden, second by Matthys. With all voting aye, motion carried. Zuiderhof abstained.
Microphone/speaker system- Dave Ford provided potential solutions and mentioned he
would be willing to help with installation and show how to use. Diedrich mentioned a
Spyder phone/speaker system would sit on the table and be a full phone system. Can
get add-ons. Dave was asked which of the options he presented would be best for our
room and stated Option 2 would be best and if there was any changes to city building it
would still be usable and suggested an upgraded mixer for sound control. Item was
tabled until October meeting.
Printer- A quote was presented to upgrade the current printer/scanner in the city office.
Current printer is on it’s last leg and to repair it would cost more than getting a new
printer. Current toner costing $109.66ea for black & $126.69ea for colors. The quote
offered buying the unit out right or leasing. Service agreement for unit is $37.50/mo
which includes toners, developer, drums, supplies, parts, maintenance, service calls
and labor. Extra options was a second paper cassette and stand and a 15 AMP power
manager. Discussion of leasing at $67.38/mo, with second stand $7.67/mo, service
agreement $37.50/mo, and if needed the AMP manager. FO thought there may be an
AMP manager already but doesn’t know if it would be compatible or outdated. A motion
by Ruden, second by Diedrich. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Increase Spending Limit- Current is $500. Discussion was had that things are going up
in price and would be beneficial to have a little more room for any work that may need to
be completed. We aren’t always going to know the price of things prior to work being
done. Such as the urinal at the ball field or the ac in the city office. Ruden asked what
FO thought would be a good increase. FO suggested $700. Ruden countered with
$1,000. Diedrich clarified $1,000 daily limit. Debit card increase over the $1,000
threshold ok for QuickBooks as needed for fees. A motion by Diedrich, second by
Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Budget- FO presented the budget for 2026 and stated the papers behind the budget are
showing items that were added into the budget to be brought up at a later date. Matthys
will send FO pricing for mosquito spray.

Municipal Elections- Starting in 2026 Elections are to be held in either June or
November. Elections will be held in November. Elections could take place in the Bruce
Community Center to accommodate the amount of voters. A motion made by Ruden,
second by Diedrich. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Open Meetings Law- The Open Meetings Law brochure was read.
Ordinances to go over- 8-1-29 – 8-2-3. No changes were presented.
A motion by Edler to adjourn the meeting to go into Executive Session at 8:02 PM,
second by Zuiderhof. With all voting aye, motion carried.
A motion by Ruden to adjourn Executive Session at 8:15 PM, second by Zuiderhof.
Wage Review- .25 pay increase to FO with back pay to 6 month anniversary. A motion
by Matthys, second by Diedrich. With all voting aye, motion carried.
A motion by Ruden to adjourn the meeting at 8:16 PM, second by Hartley. With all
voting aye, motion carried.

Dated this 9th day of September 2025 in Bruce, South Dakota.
Aundrea Saathoff
Finance Officer
City of Bruce (Unapproved Minutes)