Vergas council researching water utility charges like Frazee

By Robert Williams

Editor

Patrick Hollister of PartnerSHIP 4 Health proposed a potential grant that Vergas could take advantage of to aid in funding a portion of the future trail between Frazee and Vergas at the latest city council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Vergas Event Center.

PartnerSHIP 4 Health funded a trail study in 2023 looking at two possible connections, one to Frazee or to the Heartland Trail, which goes through Frazee.

Ultimately, after ruling out other alternatives, a recommended trail will run east on County Road 60 and then turn north on 370th Avenue leading to the Wirth Waterfowl Production Area and the Wymer Lake region.

A second connection to Maplewood State Park was recently completed via County Road 35.

Hollister then brought up the Transportation Alternatives Grant federal funds that are given to transportation departments in states. 

“There are two pots of money that are available to apply for this fall from MnDOT District 4,” Hollister said.

Communities within District 4 are welcome to apply for funds from one or both of the following grant pools: $620,000 available in 2029 and $800,000 available in 2030.

A 20 percent match is required.

“This isn’t 100 percent free money,” Hollister said.

The application process has two phases, a brief letter of intent by Nov. 7, 2025, and the full application by Jan. 9, 2026.

An initial assessment will be made with potential improvements that can be made to the full application by MnDOT in December. The letter of intent does not mandate that the city would have to submit a full application.

Hollister encouraged the council to file a letter of intent and also explained that District 4 has a common practice of awarding grants to two separate communities per year.

“They hope that they’ll get 12 or 14 applications so they’ll have a lot to choose from within District 4 and they’ll find two they really like and out of the $620,000 for 2029 they’ll give one of them $310,000 and the other $310,000,” said Hollister.

Clerk/Treasurer Julie Lammers noted that Otter Tail County would be providing engineering services and Vergas would also want to be on board with Becker County and the City of Frazee to proceed with a connection. Part of that is due to Vergas having a sub-500 population so the county would need to be fiscal holders of any grant monies.

The council voted unanimously to proceed with the letter of intent.

Utility billing

Paul Bruhn received a bill for water main service to his storage garage behind the post office. The bill reflects back three years and includes one month of service this year. The service to the building was installed in 1992. A water bill had never been submitted to the property that was given to Bruhn by his mother in 2015. He stated he made one call to the city office at that time stating he would not be using water at the building and would not pay for it. He had not received a bill since then.

Bruhn submitted a timeline of trying to get the water line disconnected during the recent parking lot construction behind the post office.

Bruhn cited a lack of communication from the city and also he has informed the city he is not interested in connecting to the water system. He also argued that the city could have saved $2,500 by not installing new curb stops on his property during the parking lot construction.

“Therefore, I feel I should not be charged for the look back and I should not be charged going forward with water service,” he said.

Bruhn stated he believes he had done everything in his power to get the water disconnected before paving began on the lot. There was also a 21-day window where nobody responded to Bruhn not wanting new curb stops installed during the lot construction.

According to Lammers, Vergas residents that shut off their water still pay a base rate, including people who leave for the winter.

Bruhn’s issue is similar to Dale Fett’s and Tom Watson’s that has been discussed in Frazee over the past month. Bruhn also owns a cold storage facility and does not use the water. Fett and Watson are still in discussion with the city but have threatened to dig up their properties to remove the curb stops.

Compounding Bruhn’s issue is the single pipe connecting to the main feeds two curb stops, his warehouse and the city offices. If he was to remove the pipe connecting to the main he would also be taking water service away from the city offices.

Council Member Bruce Albright cited the connections and charges portion of the city ordinance that states “Water billing shall start at the time of the installation of the water meter.”

“So, never was a water meter installed,” Albright said.

A decision was tabled. The water and sewer committee meeting will be held prior to the next council meeting and the committee is expected to bring a recommendation after examining the issue and relative ordinances. 

Bruhn brought up a second issue after the vote, that the new curb stops were installed on his property and the city water line runs through his property to the government services building. Bruhn requested an easement agreement with conditions like any future expansion of the water service would be done at the city’s expense, along with maintenance charges. 

Bruhn also requested that for the rights to the easement he will not pay a water bill until he decides to hook up.

“If that’s not agreeable the city can move the water line and the curb stop,” he said.

Liquor Store

Sellers of low-THC beverages now require a permit that must be applied for by the end of October. A rule with that permit is that nobody under the age of 21 is allowed in the liquor store.

Discussions involved discontinuing THC beverage sales to allow someone under the age of 21 with no intent to purchase to be allowed in the store.

“The THC drinks have brought in a fair amount of money and we’ve seen that trend that our community is going,” said Council Member James Stenger.

The restriction includes toddlers and infants not being allowed in the store.

The liquor store committee recommendation to continue sales, apply for the permit, and restrict entrance to customers 21+ to the store was approved.

Liquor Store Manager Kyle Theisen reported that the two items in the liquor store with sales on the rise are non-alcoholic beverages and THC beverages, hence his recommendation.

“Alcohol is on high alert right now about how to increase that,” he said.