BRUCE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

October 14th, 2025

 

City Mayor Sabrina Kasper called the Bruce City Council to order Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, at 6:00 pm at the Bruce Community Room with council members Elder, Diedrich, Ruden, Zuiderhof, Hartley and Matthys 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.

Nancy Skoglund- Discussion on signage. The “Private Drive, No Thru Street” sign started years ago during Honey Days. Sign was put up due to Honey Day attendees wasn’t able to turn around with the vehicles parked along the road.

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 Hartley to approve minutes from the September 9th, 2025; all present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.

Motion by Matthys and seconded by Edler to approve the following claims presented by Aundrea Saathoff. All present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.

September 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 $1,989.68; QuickBooks $397.19; Verizon $79.44; Google Workspace $21.03; Brookings Equipment $335.07; M&M $434.70; Runnings $393.74; ACE Hardware $41.99; Dakota Pump & Control $259.18; Lowes $40.27; Azelis $1,007.72; RFD Newspaper $286.18;  SDRS $3,981.46; C&R Fire Suppression $172.40; ELO CPAs $8,120.47; Bowes Construction $5,766.40; Skoglund Insurance $692.12; Aundrea Saathoff Reimbursement $222.15; SD One Call $3.36 Payroll: Finance Office: Aundrea Saathoff $3,655.31, Maintenance: Zack Stokes $3,379.82; Michael Zuiderhof $103.89, Mosquito Spray: Derk Hartenhoff $727.65, Animal Control: Matthew Ridgeway $161.65, Council Pay: Sabrina Kasper $738.80, Andrea Diedrich $547.43, Kay Ruden $554.10, Marilyn Edler $547.43, Lesley Matthys $138.52, Randy Ribstein $415.57, Michael Zuiderhof $ 554.10, Paul Hartley $554.10; Epay $324.77; Taxes $1,836.22;

 

Maintenance Report:

Sewer- Prusmans came out and sucked out the lift station. Pump has been put into the shop. Results from the Sewer Inspection are in. Few recommendations, keep inspection book, measure water depth, lift station monthly, testing, cleaning screens, wastewater training, written emergency protocols, depth indicators, signs. Replace lid for lid station.

Streets- New signs up on Doe/Tee Street. Still need to pull post from old sign.

Parks- Signs are down at the ballpark. Have sprayed RoundUp. Started winterizing.

Office Report: Audit is still going on, will take more time, but is going well. Citywide clean up went well.

Old Business:

Speaker/Microphone System- Option 2 with a drop ceiling speaker would be the best option. A motion by Zuiderhof, second by Ruden. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Website- A slideshow presentation was presented. Note of be mindful of people who may have color impairment. Overall looking at potentially a domain with Google and having everything set up and ready to be activated once the current website has expired. A motion by Zuiderhof, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Second reading of budget- Approve the 2026 Budget with correction to be made in the Total Income All Funds Section year from 2025 to 2026. A motion by Matthys, second by Diedrich. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Office Chair- FO is currently testing out a chair from Office Peeps as the old chair was starting to fall apart and was not able to be fixed due to bolts stripping. Chair comes with a 7-year warranty at the price of $542.00. A motion by Ruden, second by Matthys. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Wagner Street- Tree- Kingfisher Fish Farm would like to be put on the agenda each month until the tree has been resolved on Wagner Street as the road closure has disrupted the ease of use to parts of their property. Council could solicit opinions with Glacial Lakes and J&J Tree Service and get written reports. Item has been tabled until the November meeting.

Tee Street- Turn around could be an issue for Emergency Personnel. Maintain turn around, is about big enough for a pickup. Nancy Skoglund asked the council if any of them have been up there and mentioned, propane trucks, UPS and FedEx have all been up there and have plenty of room to turn around and states that it is fine to drive on. Nancy also stated that garbage services used to come up twice a week and never had an issue. Zack will contact Cook’s to come up with a plan to make it more accessible for garbage pick up.

 

New Business:

Nancy Skoglund- Exclusion of Territory Request – Nancy has brought to the council that she would like to vacate the city limits of Bruce. It was stated that Nancy would need an attorney, publications and that the council would not take any action at this time.

Liquor License Renewal- Jay Street Pub for on-sale and off-sale.

The Ridge for on-sale and off-sale. A motion by Matthys, second by Ruden. With all voting aye, motion carried. Diedrich abstained.

Special Event Liquor License- Bruce Fire Department requested a special event liquor license for November 1st, 2025 for their fall fundraiser. A motion by Ruden, second by Edler. With all voting aye, motion carried. Diedrich abstained.

Elections Place- Community Club had discussion and would allow elections to take place in their building (Old Methodist Church). A Brookings County representative along with a couple colleagues would like to look at the building. It was mentioned to have them contact Pennie or Tiffany to set up a time. Tabled until November meeting.

November meeting- Normal meeting day would fall on Veterans Day. The meeting will be moved to Wednesday, November 12th, 2025 at 6pm in the Bruce Community Room. A motion by Diedrich, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Fire File- A private party has two used fire files he is willing to sell to the city for $500.00 each. Would allow us to safely store files. Tabled until November meeting when pictures are presented.

Council Pay- FO presented the idea to change council pay from quarterly to monthly to help save money and keep track of pay easier. As well as making direct deposit an option for the council members who would want direct deposit starting in 2026. A motion by Diedrich, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Bank Details- Richland has updated their online banking and would like to have the accounts more up to date. Would need to remove Mick Cook from the accounts. Add Aundrea Saathoff, Sabrina Kasper, Andrea Diedrich and Kay Ruden to all accounts and safe deposit boxes. A motion by Matthys, second by Zuiderhof. With all voting aye, motion carried.

Snow Removal- Temporary help if needed while Zack is absent. Gather a list of people willing to help and bring to the November meeting.

Ordinances- 6-2-1 It is Illegal to own and operate a junkyard in the city limits of Bruce. No changes were made.

A motion by Diedrich to adjourn to Executive Session at 7:19 PM, second by Ruden.

A motion by Ruden to adjourn Executive Session at 7:25 PM, second by Zuiderhof.

A motion by Ruden to adjourn the meeting at 7:26 PM, second by Diedrich. With all voting aye, motion carried.

 

Dated this 14th day of October 2025 in Bruce, South Dakota.

Aundrea Saathoff

Finance Officer

City of Bruce (Unapproved Minutes)