By Robert Williams

Editor

Loren Menz of Vergas received a public nuisance letter from the City of Vergas and was not having it, delivering a rebuke of the mayor and city council for the letter’s tone and demands therein to clean up his yard from thistles and unnecessary mowing to open the City Council meeting Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the Event Center.

Menz addressed the impossibility of mowing the area requested due to a steep incline and argued the point of removing thistles when they are prevalent and not being removed from surrounding properties. However, his third point was the most poignant in being referred to as a “public nuisance” in the city’s formal communication.

“I’ve never been a public nuisance to my knowledge and because I’m not doing something that you think I should do,” said Menz. “Not mowing my lawn enough, not taking care of the thistles, whatever it was. My wife, when she got that and opened it up, was aghast at how confrontational that letter was. It didn’t say ‘would you please take care of this or anything it said you better do this; it’s going to cost you $250 an hour if you don’t, and there’s a deadline, the 24th of August, you better have it done.’”

Menz also called out a clause in the letter claiming 100 percent of his property needs to be mowed. He claimed part of his property is woods and has been for 30 years and he is not going to mow the entire lot.

“If I have to mow 100 percent of my property, there are at least 20-30 other people in the city limits that are in the same situation,” he said. “If you’re going to enforce that kind of craziness on me, you better enforce it on the other 20-30 other people in the city.”

Menz followed that up by stating they should not have to clear cut their lots either.

“I think it was very unfair what happened and I think it was downright mean and I am just not happy about any of this situation,” said Menz.

A former council member, he stated that is not how the council operated when he was in office and concluded to listen to Mayor Julie Bruhn’s response.

The mayor agreed with Menz and stated she was also in opposition to the form letter the city has been using that was drafted by a former city attorney.

“It did come across very poorly; I read this and I would really be turned off by it,” said Bruhn.

She also defined that nuisance is used as a term for properties by city governments, for example, ‘a nuisance property is any real estate where an owner, occupant, or tenant allows a condition or activity that hurts the health, safety, peace, or general welfare of the public, or that interferes with neighbors’ rights to use and enjoy their own property.’ 

It is not a personal insult.

After a lengthy discussion lasting 20 minutes, the Menz’s appeal was noted and they were removed from the nuisance list. 

The city is already in the process of reviewing and making changes to both the nuisance reporting policy and the wording of the actual letter.

Changes to the letter, with examples provided from Detroit Lakes and other towns, were discussed later in the meeting, along with a policy change of sending only one letter per year.

Council Member James Stenger brought up the “touchy” nature of this topic stating he is routinely stopped in public and asked about it.

“I think we have to tread lightly on this,” he said.

Stenger was against only one warning per year before the city took action and the policy returned to the prior communication schedule.

A kinder and gentler nuisance notice was adopted and will be used in the future.

Elections

General Election: November 3, 2026

• Candidate Fillings:

o Mayor: James Stenger

o Council Member: Paul Haarstick and Alex Ohman

Liquor

Council approved Liquor Store Manager Kerry Ingberg’s recommendation to hire Robert Marynik as a Part-Time Cashier for the municipal liquor store.

A new point of sale (POS) was delivered to the store on June 1, because the former system was no longer being supported. According to Clerk-Treasurer Julie Lammers, the new POS has been troublesome.

“We have had nothing but problems with that POS system,” Lammers said.

Ingberg and Lammers are researching a new system.

Planning Commission

A nuisance property at 130 Elm Street East will be referred to the city attorney for abatement. Lammers reported that despite a commitment from the property owner to clean up the property by the prior week, the site remains non-compliant and has reportedly worsened. Garbage containers have been left out for over a week, and additional items including furniture and a stair lift have been pushed to the garage area. The property is a rental owned by BJ Holdings LLC, registered to Bruce Johnson of Fargo, who has not responded to any correspondence. The Commission noted that without owner engagement, the violations will likely continue and recommended to council to refer to the city attorney.

The Elm Street residence is one of a dozen properties identified by the commission as nuisance properties. Issues at four of the properties have been resolved or no further action is needed.

Parks

Discussions continue on whether the city will allow the North Stars Water Ski Show Team to store their equipment somewhere on the beach to avoid hauling and storage elsewhere.

J&K will be in charge of removal and dock install in the spring.

“It would just save us tons of money,” said Dennis Bartunek.

Mayor Bruhn reiterated earlier discussions by council that this has never been allowed on the beach and nobody has been allowed to store equipment on city property in the park.

Road right-of-way concerns are compounded with some of the land owned by the county that Vergas leases from OTC.

Utilities Superintendent Mike DuFrane volunteered to assist the group in properly staging the equipment so that it is out of the way and stored properly.

“I think if we work together we can have this done,” DuFrane said.

The lifts and docs are fully-insured by the team. The team is looking to avoid 1,500 in fees of moving the equipment.

DuFrane defended the team stating they bring people to town with their show.

Mayor Bruhn argued their work is to benefit residents.

City Attorney Karen Skoyles suggested a policy should be in place before making a decision.

The decision was tabled with DuFrane working with the team to locate a specific place for safe storage of the equipment and the city drafting a policy.

Streets

Council approved committee recommendations on hiring Three Pines for dead tree removal on West Lake Street, along the road right-of-way for a maximum of $2,500, with funds drawn from the Streets Repair and Maintenance budget. Also approved were new forks for the city tractor not to exceed a cost of $1,329.

Utilities

A fence was installed around the treatment plant last week, according to DuFrane.

An annual inspection from the Minnesota Department of Health has been conducted and annual inspections of the city lift stations were completed by Midwest Pump. All systems are functioning within normal parameters.

Water and Sewer

The Water and Sewer committee recommended replacement pumps be purchased in consecutive years for the two lift stations in Vergas. There are two pumps in each lift station and each pair is more than 30 years old. The purchases are split into replacing pumps in one station per year due to cost. The pumps run approximately $16,686 each. 

There were $12,000 budgeted for risers, vertical extensions placed on top of a sewage or pump basin. By purchasing new pumps, replacement risers are unnecessary.

A second recommendation by the committee is to raise the sewage usage fee by 50 cents. Both were passed unanimously by council.

Another recommended increase is the water base rate goes to $32 per month and the usage rate $5 per 1,000 gallons effective January 1.

Council liaison to the committee Bruce Albright will address these increases in the next city newsletter, according to Lammers.

Meeting date change

The September city council meeting has been moved from Tuesday, Sept. 15 to Tuesday, Sept. 8.