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•The council approved having public works director Ron Mergen and maintenance worker Lee Schleper attend the MRWA's Annual Water & Wastewater Technical Conference in March.

•The council approved hiring J&M Consulting (Jeff and Marlene Bertram) to provide on-going consulting for the Lake Koronis Recreational Trail in 2006. The rate is $25 per hour, and the total will not exceed $5,000 for the year. The city splits the costs of these services with Paynesville Township. Councilor Jeff Bertram abstained from the vote on this.

•The council approved hiring councilor Dennis Zimmerman to provide technical support for city computers and programs at the rate of $30 per hour, not to exceed $5,000 for 2006. Zimmerman abstained.

•The council approved the following committee appointments for 2006: Ad Hoc Enhancement...Jean Soine; Ad Hoc Charitable Trust Fund...Dennis Zimmerman; Ad-ministrative Fine Hearing Board... Tom Lindquist and Soine; Airport Commission...Jeff Thompson; Cable Commission...Thompson; CAEERC...Lindquist and Soine; Community Education...Thompson; Design Team...Soine; EDAP... Bertram and Soine; Environmental ...Zimmerman; Finance...Bertram and Zimmerman; Human Rights Commission...Thompson; Joint Planning Board...Thompson; Municipal Off-Sale Liquor Board... Bertram and Soine; Park & Tree... Lindquist; Personnel...Bertram and Soine; Planning Commission... Bertram; Police...Thompson; Public Charitable Trust Fund... Thompson; Public Works...Lind-quist and Zimmerman; Weed Inspection...Thompson; and Well-head Protection...Thompson.

•The council approved the following appointments of citizens to city committees for 2006: Ad Hoc Enhancement...Bob and Kay McDaniel, Tory Tish, Paul Bugbee, Tim and Val Miller, Rachel Gilbertson, Doris Wendlandt, Soine, and city administrator Steve Helget; Ad Hoc Charitable Trust Fund...Tom Thelen, Dave Currens, Matt Dickhausen, Pastor David Nelson, Bill Spooner, Zimmerman, and Helget; Administrative Fine Hearing Board...Lindquist, Soine, and Helget; Airport Commission... Steve Whitcomb, Steve Brown, Bert Stanley, Jeremy Nelson, Thompson, and Helget; Airport Zoning Board... Phil Bailey, Patsy and Dallas Fenske, Jo Speldrich, Steve Brown, Audrew Olmscheid, Whitcomb, Don Adams, Jack Wimmer, Harlow Olson, and Helget; Airport Board of Adjustment...Joe Voss, Mike Flanders, Bruce Stang, Bruce Vanderpool, and Don Hoffman; Cable Commission...Kevin Koglin, Harry Thielen, Bev Mueller, Don Torbenson, Thompson, and Helget; CAEERC...Lindquist, Soine, Bob Wander, Marilyn Fuchs, Chris Lundgren, Bruce Elfering, and Helget; Design Team...Bill Spooner, Bert Stanley, Dan Roberts, Mary Janotta, Bob McDaniel, Keith Hemmesch, Pastor Dave Nelson, Harlan Beek, Soine, Maurice Dosdall, Karen Whitcomb, Beverly Stowell, Pat Meagher, Lance Louis, Todd Burlingame, and Helget; EDAP... Bertram, Burlingame, Pat Flanders, Chris Stanley, Don Wiese, Peter Jacobson, Don Pietsch, Soine, and Helget; Environmental...Tom Kotten, Zimmerman, Bev Aas, Wilfred Butkofski, Chuck Koshiol, Urban Fuchs, Dick Michaelis, Duane Olmscheid, Harry Thielen, Pat Meagher, Don Wiese, Don Williamson (advisory), Mergen, and Helget; Effluent Irrigation Board... Steve Gottwald, Jack Hennen, Larry Rien, Dexter Kingsriter, Doug Voss, Art Voss, Chad Rien, and Mergen; Finance...Bertram, Zim-merman, and Helget; Human Rights Commission...Thompson, Joe Voss (advisory), Maurice Dosdall, Jackie Campbell, Doris Dodds, Bill Ryan, Chuck Buggs, Dani Lindner, Celia Frieler, Maggie Frieler, and Helget; Joint Planning Board...Don Wiese, Don Pietsch, Bertram, Thompson, and Helget; Municipal Off-Sale Liquor Board... Marilyn Fuchs, Bertram, Soine, and Helget; Park & Tree Board... Tom Koshiol, John B. Wimmer, Bob Wander, Lindquist, Bob Jung, Nancy Ellis, Mergen, and Helget; Personnel...Bertram, Soine, and Helget; Planning Commission... Lew Storkamp, Paul Evans, Jackie Braun, Bertram, Dan Roberts, and Helget; Police...Thompson and Helget; Public Charitable Trust Fund...Tom Thelen, Bill Spooner, Thompson, and Helget; Public Works...Lindquist, Alvin (Bub) Hartmann, Melvin Schaefer, Keith Hemmesch, Chuck DeWolf (Bolton and Menk), Zimmerman, Mergen, and Helget; Safety...Marilyn Fuchs, Chris Lundgren, Mergen, Alice McColley, Joe Kremer, Joe Schmitz, and Helget; Weed Inspection... Bob Wander and Thompson; and Well-head Protection...Susan McGuire (Stearns County Environmental Services), Al Kuseske (North Fork Crow River Watershed District), Dotty Kimbler (Rice Lake Associa-tion), Mary Stock, Greg Berg (Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District), Thompson, Don Wiese, Jay Thompson, John VanderBeek Jr., Bob Brauchler (North Fork Crow River Watershed District), Mike Howe (Minnesota Department of Health), Mergen, and Helget.

Paynesville Area Joint Trails Board...Don Wiese, Don Pietsch, Mike Jensen, Harlan Beek, Mergen, Bertram, and Helget.

•The council made assignments and appointments for 2006. It designated the Paynesville Press as its official newspaper for 2006 and Frauenshuh & Spooner as its city attorney, and it appointed Inspectron, Inc., as the city's building inspector; city administrator Steve Helget as treasurer; Bolton & Menk, Inc., as city engineer; Dennis Nacey as emergency services director; and Kern, DeWenter, Viere, Ltd., as auditor. It also designated Bank of the West, the Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union, and Farmers & Merchants State Bank as official depositories of city funds.

•The council was also informed, by letter, that former city attorney Ron Frauenshuh intends to retire as of Jan. 15, 2006. The city still uses Frauenshuh & Spooner for city attorney services, but attorney Bill Spooner handles city matters.

•The council approved a fee scheduled for 2006. (See box on page??.)

•The council approved hiring Joe Dooley (The Flying Irishman) and Daryl Massman to do two air shows apiece during the fly-in breakfast at the Paynesville Municipal Airport on Sunday, Aug. 20. The contracts are $1,800 for Dooley, who also performed in 2005, and $1,200 for Massman, who is new for 2006.

•The council approved renewing its membership in the Minnesota Council of Airports for 2006 for $100.

•The council approved a grant agreement with MnDOT in order to receive $13,795 towards maintenance and operation in 2006 and 2007. The grant covers two-thirds of these costs, up to $13,795.

•The council approved an updated capital improvement plan for the airport, as required by MnDOT's Office of Aeronautics. The main project scheduled for 2006 is extending the taxiway and creating an area for building development, estimated at $100,000 total cost, with the state to cover $80,000 and the city $20,000.

The council was also informed by Helget that the airport should be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in October 2006, which will allow the city to seek reimbursement from the FAA at a rate of 95 percent (rather than 80 percent, for most things, from the state). The maximum annual entitlement from the FAA is $150,000, which will require the city to keep $750,000 in improvements on its five-year capital improvement plan for the airport.

The FAA will also reimburse the city for past improvements, as funds allow, including for land purchases. This could require the city to reimburse the state if it chooses to get the higher reimbursement from the FAA than it originally got from the state.

•The council accepted the low bid for a new compressor at the Paynesville Municipal Liquor Store from PJ's TV and Appliance at $3,732 plus tax (including a two-year warranty). This bid was the lowest cost of three local submissions.

•The council authorized any city council member to attend a leadership conference presented by the League of Minnesota Cities, either in Grand Rapids in January or in Bloomington in February.

•The council approved rescheduling its second meeting in June - from Wednesday, June 28, to Tuesday, June 27 - in order to avoid a conflict with the League of Minnesota Cities annual conference.

•The council approved rezoning property owned by Bud and Leola Wendroth on Lake Avenue from light industrial to single and two-family residential. The city had pursued this rezoning in part because light industrial zoning is where adult businesses could locate.

•The council was updated on the response (minimal, so far) from Willmar District 8 (Willmar) from the letter about Highway 23, approved by the council in December and sent in early January. Helget told the council he had called project manager Lowell Flaten who confirmed receiving the letter. Flaten did not give any other reaction, said Helget, except to say that MnDOT staff were going to meet and discuss it.

Flaten also told Helget that they were waiting for central office approval and then would be sending a Highway 23 plan for the council to consider for municipal consent. It looks like MnDOT will submit the plan either in late January or early February.

•The council approved purchasing two 40-acre parcels by the city's lagoon system for $192,000. Both of these parcels have irrigation from the lagoons and can be farmed. One adjoins the lagoon system and has been identified as a prime location should the sewer treatment system need to be expanded.

•The council approved advertising for bids for the 2006 street improvement project. Bids will be opened on Monday, Feb. 13.