• The low bid from J.Gross Equipment, Aberdeen, for a new skidsteer was accepted at the council meeting Monday night. The low bid was $44,386 which included an $18,000 trade-in for the current skidsteer. The other bid was from Butler-Cat of Aberdeen in the amount of $63,844.12 which did not include a $14,000 trade-in. The city will pay $15,000 this year, then finance the balance with United Lease and Finance, Fargo, at 4 percent. The city will pay $15,000 next year and the balance in 2015.
• A wine on-sale/off-sale license was approved for Olde Bank Floral 'N More. Kellie Townsend, the new owner, was on hand to answer questions. She said they would be able to add wine into baskets for pick-up only. There is an annual fee of $500 and the city will get 10 percent of the purchases.
• No bids were submitted for the old bucket truck. The council authorized Finance Officer Anita Lowary to

negotiate with the City of Hecla on a purchase price.
• Mayor Scott Hanlon, Electric Superintendent Ward Gilchrist and Finance Officer Anita Lowary went to a Northwestern Energy meeting in Huron recently to discuss the wheeling charges being applied. Northwestern Energy is planning to build a new line between the substation five miles south of Groton to their Groton substation. That line feeds Groton, Langford, Pierpont, Andover, Bristol, Webster and some other communities. NWE is planning to take the $650,000 cost charge it out in one year instead of amortizing it over time. That would be a $23,200 increase in wheeling charges for one year, which is more than double what the city is paying now. Lowary said that may seem like a lot, which it is, but it only represents a 2 percent increase for city residents and she said that the city could absorb that increase without passing it on to its customers.
• Election time is nearing and positions up are councilmen Clare Brotherton in Ward 1, David McGannon in Ward 2 and Gary Heitmann in Ward 3. In addition, the mayor's spot has two years remaining on the three-year term. Roy Olson died in 2013 and the council appointed Scott Hanlon as mayor until the next election. Hanlon has announced that is he running for mayor for the remaining two-year term.