Citizen comment period: Betty Hampton approached the Council about using the old jail in the park as a place for local individuals to sell their crafts on a part-time basis. The group of crafters would fix up the inside, and pay for any utilities. The Mayor indicated that he would check with the City Attorney. He will also consult with the Buffalo City-Cochrane Area Historical Society, as they are initiating a jail restoration project this year.

Health & Safety: the property owner, who was issued a Property Maintenance citation on 1-10-2006, never claimed the notice which was sent by certified mail. Pawlak will issue a new citation, and he and the Mayor will deliver it in person. There was discussion about people riding ATV’s in the City; this is illegal. Anyone caught operating an ATV will be subject to a $250 fine, and the City can get the County DNR involved. Please report any ATV activity to the Mayor.

Recreation: the skating rink will be flooded one more time.

Finance Committee: when the draft of the 2005 audit is received, this committee will meet to write the Management Decision & Analysis report to accompany the official audit documents.

Cemetery Committee: will schedule a meeting in February to discuss placement of artificial arrangements in the Cemetery.

City Superintendent: Cory talked about stop and street sign replacement. 30 of the 157 stop signs in the City need to be replaced. We may be able to piggyback with the County for stop signs and pay $.25 on the dollar for signs without posts. Motion Pawlak, second Kassel to pursue an agreement with the County. Roll call, all yes, motion carried. It will cost approximately $80 per intersection to replace street signs. Street signs and posts will be proposed at budget time. Cory and the Mayor viewed two reconditioned street sweepers in St. Paul. Cory checked other vendors and their quotes were up to $8000 more. A verbal agreement was made to purchase a 1994 model for $27,000 from Sweeper Services in St. Paul. The vendor will deliver the sweeper at the end of March. County Materials Corporation is interested in purchasing the old sweeper; the City is asking $2000 for it. Cory announced that the new riverfront marker posts with brass numbers are ready. Certain marker points that are accurate will be used as a starting place for measuring placement of the new markers. Cory has a quote of $600 to install brush strips on the Shop’s garage doors to prevent heat loss. The Council agreed that this has to be done.

Clerk: Motion Pawlak, second Kassel to grant sale of cemetery lot 103 S1/2, graves 1&2 to Rosemary Rieck. All yes, motion carried. Motion Pawlak, second Anderson to grant operator’s license to Jessica Rose Thurber. All, yes, motion carried. The clerk updated the Council about the Statewide Voter Registration Project. Starting with the April election, individuals must be registered before they can vote. The clerk also said that all Wisconsin municipalities are required by federal law to have a voting device for disabled voters in place by September 2006. Jane and the Mayor attended voting machine demonstrations held in Cochrane and Independence. The State will reimburse each municipality up to $6000 for the purchase of a machine. We are hoping that the same equipment will be purchased countywide to reduce costs. While the primary purpose of purchasing a voting machine is to meet the federal requirements for disabled voters, the City would like to purchase a machine that any voter could use, facilitates electronic voting using a touch-screen ballot, and tallies the votes automatically. The Council recommended that two of these machines be purchased to accommodate the number of voters. Paper ballots will continue to be available for those who want to use them.

Motion Pawlak, second Anderson to pay bills. Roll call, all yes, motion carried.

Motion Kassel, second Anderson to adjourn. All yes, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:15 pm.

Jane Walczak, Clerk