By Anne Thom

As summer approaches, beer sales are good in Stacy, reported liquor operations manager Brian Hachey. Wine sales seem to have stalled and Hachey is looking for ways to market a bit of the grape to the surrounding community. Once again though, the discussion at last Tuesday's Stacy city council meeting came down to money.

$50,000 in bond payments come due within the next six weeks and the city is trying to budget for this. Cash flow at the bar and grill is again becoming a problem and the council discussed ideas for bringing in more patrons, including larger payouts for the card games and a more discriminating selection of bands.

City maintenance supervisor Tom Archibald announced plans to start seal-coating city roads. Archibald gave a report outlining the priority areas, beginning with 311th near Tim's Country Cupboard.

Stacy Mayor John Daher reminded Archibald and his colleagues, "We only have $8,000 for road maintenance because we set our budget so small last year." Councilor Mel Aslakson added that the first three items alone on the project list add up to $8,000.

Daher asked Archibald and city engineer Chuck Schwartz to continue with their priority list as work on the 2008 budget will begin in August. Daher also asked that they look at what roads the county is planning to work on so they do not budget money for, or perform maintenance on, a road covered by the county's maintenance plan.

City Attorney Peter Grundhoefer has made some progress on several issues surrounding the Sunrise Mobile Home Park. Grundhoefer reported that city building inspector Jack Kramer made an inspection of the storm shelter at the mobile home park and found violations. Kramer contacted the Department of Health, which has jurisdiction over the health and safety concerns of mobile home parks, and meeting time has been scheduled. A representative will go out with Kramer to also inspect the shelter. Kramer sent a memo to council members, but it was not yet available by June 12.

A draft of a park closing ordinance has now been sent to the owners of the Sunrise Mobile Home Park. The next public meeting for discussion of the proposed ordinance will be Tues., June 19 at 7 p.m.

Grundhoefer has also pursued research regarding a potential conflict of interest situation. Three members of the council are also mobile home park residents.

Conflict of interest is usually defined as the potential for financial gain. An ordinance would mandate compensation for relocation in the event the owners of the park decide to sell the property. The council approved a motion for Grundhoefer to research whether the participation of Barbara Avalos, Tony Olivolo and Bud Wilson might constitute conflict of interest were they to vote on an ordinance that could result in compensation to them.

Grundhoefer reported that though he had looked at ordinances for twenty one different cities, and consulted with attorneys at the League of Minnesota Cities, there were no clear precedents. The consensus from the League office was that the city should seek an opinion on the matter from the Attorney General's office. The council approved a motion to seek that opinion.

Perhaps adding insult to injury, after cuts to Local Government Aid, the city has been hit with an unexpected tax bill from the State of Minnesota.

Stacy was recently audited by a representative of the Dept. of Revenue. The representative left City Clerk Sharon Payne a bill in the amount of $3466.20 for sales and use taxes.

Payne explained that sometimes, when a vendor invoices the city, the vendor doesn't include sales tax. Under state law, that is apparently the city's problem to know when tax is owed and when it is not and payment of the tax becomes the city's responsibility. Payne cited as an example invoices sent to the city by Designing Women of Afton, the interior designers of the Stacy Bar and Grill. The company purchased their supplies in Wisconsin at a 5.5 percent rate of sales tax. That 5.5 percent was invoiced to the city, but under the state law the city actually owes Minnesota's 6.5 percent.

The auditor is requiring the city to pay the difference of one percent. Though Grundhoefer said "I would guess it is correct as they (Revenue) are the experts," he asked if the city felt it was worth it to look at state statute 297A. Grundhoefer will read the statute first. If everything seems in order, the city will not fight the bill.

$8,500 was approved by the council for a new severe weather siren. The cost may be less than that as Mayor Daher feels all the city needs to do is replace the siren, the pole it is mounted on does not need to be replaced.