BRUCE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
July 8th, 2025
City Mayor Sabrina Kasper called the Bruce City Council to order Tuesday July 8th, 2025, at 5:59 pm at the Bruce Community Room with council members Elder, Diedrich, Ruden, Ribstein, 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 call to order.
No one signed in.
Motion by Ruden and seconded by Diedrich to approve the agenda as is; all present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
Motion by Diedrich and seconded by Zuiderhof to approve minutes from the June 10th, 2025; all present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
Motion by Ruden and seconded by Edler to approve the following claims presented by Aundrea Saathoff. All present voted in favor of the motion. Motion carried.
March Bills
GENERAL- Valley FiberCom $193.98; Ottertail $1,423.94; Cook’s Wastepaper $1,403.20; Brooking Deuel Rural Water $108.60; Sioux Valley Energy $88.90; EMC Insurance $1,989.69; QuickBooks $326.03; Verizon $85.46; M&M $1,511.67; Runnings $22.36; ACE Hardware $190.21; Office Peeps $261.69; Code Enforcement Specialists, LLC $743.15; Ottertail $1,423.94; Amazon $155.68; Hotels.com $225.74; Microsoft $106.19; SDML $48.00; Walmart $16.34; Yola $239.40; Axcess Cooperative $2,106.40; American Legal Publishing $375.00; Bauman Electric INC $406.63; Badger Oil $96.71; Dakota Pump & Control $497.96; Fix It Locksmith $258.00; Homestead Building Supplies $127.09; Midwest Glass, LLC $201.47; RC First Aid $43.00; Runnings $22.36; SD DOT $146.44; Bruce Community Club $265.50; Payroll: Finance Office: Aundrea Saathoff $3,579.07, Maintenance: Cody Behlings $3,234.77, Zack Stokes $1,321.38, Mike Zuiderhof $987.00, Animal Control: Matthew Ridgeway $116.56, Council: Mayor Sabrina Kasper $554.10, Council Members: Andrea Diedrich $670.96, Marilyn Edler $670.96, Paul Hartley $277.05, Randy Ribstein $692.63, Kay Ruden $692.62, Mike Zuiderhof $675.31; Taxes $2,688.55;
Maintenance Report:
Sewer- Dakota Pump & Control came today. Invoice for Sensaphone was going to wrong email. Sewer ponds were suggested to be sprayed by drone. Working on contacting, no answer as of yet. Working on certification for spraying for mosquitoes.
Streets- Good. Fire Department got their concrete poured.
Parks- Urinal at the ball field has been fixed. All branches from storms have been picked up. Lucille Hanson has some trees down from the storms. Her sons are going to take care of them.
Office Report: There’s a binder with packet materials on kitchenette. Finance Officer School was very beneficial. There was a payroll glitch adding additional time to FO’s time sheet. Contacted QuickBooks and had the issue corrected and have paid back overpayment from the glitch. New laws that have passed as of July 1st, 2025. HB 1059; HB 1079 and SB74 to name a few. We need to stick to our budgets; parks and a few others are already over budget. FO working on an Excel spreadsheet for ease of reading of where we’re at. Now is the time to start thinking of what we would want to do for upgrades for the campground for the 26’ season. We could apply for the GFP Grant is a $10,000 minimum matching grant. We have received one application and one resume for the Maintenance position. Application date closes Thursday July 10th, 2025, at 4:30pm. Inquiry about charging for Residential Apartments. It was asked if they should be charged “per door” or by how many sewer hook ups. FO to look into by inquiring towns of similar sizes to see how they charge. I appreciate everyone’s patience as I navigate and learn my job duties in this first year.
Old Business:
Resolution 2025-03: Reading of addition.
Title 5 Ordinances 5-1-1 – 5-1-5 : First reading of changes of correction from Chief of Police to Code Enforcement officer. Second reading will take place in the August meeting. In the future highlight changes. A motion by Ruden, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Weeds- Code Enforcement mentioned that the City should weed-eat and charge the appropriate party. It would cost the City less and would be an easier follow up than having him do it. Diedrich abstained other than mentioning she is willing to split the payment and suggested having lawyer sending both parties letters. Council agreed that letters should be sent to both parties. FO will email the lawyer and have him send out a letter to neighboring parties.
New Business:
Stingers- Ryan Nagelaout was in attendance on the behalf of the Stingers. FO inquired if there was anyway that the Stingers Baseball teams would be able to do some fund raising or apply for the Minnesota Twins Grant to assist with the cost of a quote that was presented earlier this year. Nagelaout said at this time they are not eligible for the Minnesota Twins Grant due to not being classified as a 501 (3)c Non-Profit Organization but they are currently working on the 501 (3)c and anticipates within 3-4 months they could be classified as a Non-Profit. Have received a ton of compliments on the field from the earlier in the year improvements. Concessions have been open every game. Wiring on light at the field may need to be fixed. FO to contact Ottertail to see if there are any grants to have those fixed/improved. Stingers are anticipating around the same amount of home games next season as there were this year. Citizen asked about the City of Bruce having a banner displayed. Nagelaout stated they contacted some sponsors this year. Estimated banners $650 for the first year and $500 each year after.
Jake Braking- A citizen had a complaint about semi’s going down the highway late at night using their Dynamic Brake and waking them. FO to find out if there is an ordinance that is needed or if the county will need to put up signs along the highway.
Street Sweeper- A quote was presented for Popham Construction to sweep Railway Street. A motion by Zuiderhof to approve, second by Ribstein. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Providing water for Maintenance Workers. It was asked if the City would provide water to the Maintenance Workers water. Council agreed that the City would provide them water monthly and keep in the fridge at the City Office if desired. FO mentioned that the fridge leaks water when opening the door. Could look to see if there are any deals less than $500.00 as some companies are having sales.
FEMA Ordinance- Reading of the updated date, April 2025, for the ordinance. City flood map was requested to hang up in the meeting room. Next reading will take place during the August meeting. A motion by Diedrich, second by Edler. With all voting aye, motion carried.
First District- Letter presented to the Council stating the dues are based upon the 2020 Census. The City of Bruce’s dues for Fiscal Year 2026 will be $409.77 and will voucher in January with payment being due in February 2026. A motion by Ruden, second by Zuiderhof. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Ordinance to go over: Building Permits. Fix spelling error of “Apon” to “Upon”. FO mentioned this was chosen as there was notification of work being done within city limits without building permits and inquired how to handle. Council advised to let Brookings County Equalization aware of the properties.
Citizen asked about spraying for mosquitoes and how bad they are. The council mentioned that we do not have anyone currently certified to spray but are looking for someone to be able to spray while were working to get temporary maintenance worker certified. Ruden said she would talk to a drone operator to see if they would be able to spray for mosquitoes.
A motion by Diedrich to adjourn the meeting to go into Executive Session at 7:12 PM, second by Zuiderhof. With all voting aye, motion carried.
A motion by Ruden to adjourn Executive Session at 7:40 PM, second by Hartley. With all voting aye, motion carried.
A motion by Zuiderhof to adjourn the meeting at 7:41 PM, second by Edler. With all voting aye, motion carried.
Dated this 8th day of July 2025 in Bruce, South Dakota.
Aundrea Saathoff
Finance Officer
City of Bruce (Unapproved Minutes)