Hatch Access for Water Tower

New Antennas installed

I have been asked how the new antennas get to the top of the Water Tower. The tower has a hatch just below the basin and this allows access from the outside into the final stairwell up through the center of the basin to a hatch on the top. After final work and during our inspection I will post some additional pictures from the top of the water tower.

Decommissioning Work Starts at Old WWTP

Decommissioning Activities at WWTP

May 02, 2018 : The work to remove the old equipment and facilities at the old Mantorville Waste Water Treatment Plant started on May second. The photo to the right show the crane being used to remove the old basin and fiberglass domes.

A Frosty Start but Toasty Finish

April 30, 2018

April started off with the Winter of 2017/2018 holding on for dear life. Late into the months we still had freezing temperatures, however, just in time for May we are finally starting to see warmer temps return.

Fifth Street Update
The City council is currently planning our fifth street project. The City Council had an opportunity to hear from our City Engineer about the current status of the fifth street / trail project. The council also was informed about the status of the other infrastructure projects that we are pursuing this summer. The council has chosen to put off some work until after Marigold Days since the work to be preformed is along the parade route and we do not want a construction zone setup during of festival. The City's Engineer is planning to present more details on all the projects in an upcoming council meeting.

Minnesota Mayors Association
I had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Mayor annual conference this past weekend.  This year we meet in Perham Minnesota up by Ottertail. This years conference was well attended, and I had the opportunity to speak with some Mayors from the our surrounding areas, large metro cities as well as some very small community Mayors.

The Mayor of Perham took us on a tour of a local creamery where we learned about cheese manufacturing and the various other milk products that are derived from milk. In today's market the cheese product is a secondary product when compared to the value of a high protein power that can be derived from dairy. We were told that just one process within the plant contained over two miles of stainless steel.
We also toured Barrow of Fun where we saw a potato chip manufacturing plant. This plant had some very interesting automation, including a vision inspection machine that could pick out one burnt chip in a bunch of 1000 chips and kick it into a scarp bucket. We also visited their new school construction project as well as a local craft brewery.

After our tours we came back and we had several break out sessions. We talked about lessons learned from 9-11 and we also talked about the value of CERT teams (Community Emergency Response Teams) incident command and the proper role of local policy makers. I came back with some ideas to start a conversation with Sheriff Rose and explore how Kasson and Mantorville can work together to have a plan ready for possible incidents that may come up.

AT&T Update
It was a cold snowy Wednesday in the middle of April but that did not delay the planned start of the AT&T equipment installation. After several years of discussions and planning Mantorville was one of the first sights to receive the new smaller foot print equipment shed. The new shed is about 6 foot square and is a much welcomed addition compared to the old shed which was several times larger. After all the equipment has been setup, there will be landscaping placed around the shed and the equipment on the water tower will be painted to mach. In exchange for providing a home for AT&T antennas the City will receive about $12,000/year. The project will help AT&T, add an additional revenue stream for the City and increasing the competitive options for cell coverage in Mantorville. I have uploaded a picture of the snowy install on my blog site at MayorBradford.BlogSpot.Com.

Spread the Love
This past winter we had an opportunity to travel to Arizona and meet up with Abby's parents. While in the Apache Junction area we stopped at a local burger place and were eating outside. The table next to us had a young couple, teenage children and a grandmother. The grandmother was having a discussion of how we all need to show more love and respect to one another. The older teen asked his grandma, "Even those guys over there?", to which the grandma said yes! I am not sure if he was attempting to prove his elder wrong or just trying to comply, but he looked at my mother-in-law and said "Hey, I Love you" to which my mother-in-law replied, "Thank you, I love you too". We had a great conversation with these "new friends" and I realized just how easy it CAN be to make the world a better place. We focus so much on what offends us, how different "those guys are" and what is wrong with our fellow citizens that we loose our focus on what is great. I was happily surprised by how easy it was to span differences with some common curtsies and respect. So my Challenge to you for the month of May is this, "spread some love and look for commonality!

Yours in Service

Chuck Bradford

Mayor, City of Mantorville
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.Com

Hey, I Love you

This past winter we had an opportunity to travel to Arizona and meet up with Abby's parents. While in the Apache Junction area we stopped at a local burger place and were eating outside. The table next to us had a young couple, teenage children and a grandmother. The grandmother was having a discussion of how we all need to show more love and respect to one another. The older teen asked his grandma, "Even those guys over there?", to which the grandma said yes! I am not sure if he was attempting to prove his elder wrong or just trying to comply, but he looked at my mother-in-law and said "Hey, I Love you" to which my mother-in-law replied, "Thank you, I love you too". We had a great conversation with these "new friends" and I realized just how easy it CAN be to make the world a better place. We focus so much on what offends us, how different "those guys are" and what is wrong with our fellow citizens that we loose our focus on what is great. I was happily surprised by how easy it was to span differences with some just common curtsies and respect. So my Challenge to you for the month of May is this, "spread some love and look for commonality!

AT&T Install a reality

Setting the Footings

It was a cold snowy Wednesday in the middle of April but that did not delay the planned start of the AT&T equipment installation. After several years of discussions and planning Mantorville was one of the first sights to receive the new smaller foot print equipment shed. The new shed is about 6 foot square and is a much welcomed addition compared to the old shed which was several times larger. After all the equipment has been setup, there will be landscaping placed around the shed and the equipment on the water tower will be painted to mach. In exchange for providing a home for AT&T antennas the City will receive about $12,000/year. The project will help AT&T, add an additional revenue stream for the City and increasing the competitive options for cell coverage in Mantorville.

Minnesota Mayors Association

I had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Mayor annual conference this past weekend.  This year we meet in Perham Minnesota up by Ottertail. This years conference was well attended and you can see from the picture below, and I had the opportunity to speak with some Mayors from the our surrounding areas, large metro cities as well as some very small community Mayors.

2018 MMA Annual Meeting Attendees

The Mayor of Perham took us on a tour of a local creamery where we learned about cheese manufacturing and the various other milk products that are derived from milk. In today's market the cheese product is a secondary product when compared to the value of a high protein power that can be derived from dairy. We were told that just one process within the plant contained over two miles of stainless steel.

We also toured Barrow of Fun where we saw a potato chip manufacturing plant. This plant had some very interesting automation, including a vision inspection machine that could pick out one burnt chip in a bunch of 1000 chips and kick it into a scarp bucket. We also visited their new school construction project as well as a local craft brewery.

After our tours we came back and we had several break out sessions. We talked about lessons learned from 9-11 and we also talked about the value of CERT teams (Community Emergency Response Teams) incident command and the proper role of local policy makers. I came back with some ideas to start a conversation with Sheriff Rose and explore how Kasson and Mantorville can work together to have a plan ready for possible incidents that may come up.

April Showers

March 27, 2018

Kindness is its own reward

I have posted an experience that occurred a week ago on my blog and I wanted to share it with the rest of my neighbors. On Friday night we went out for dinner. Abby and I both had a nice steak dinner and the kids each selected something good as well. When we were ready for the check the waitress did not come over for a little bit, and when she did finally come over she told us we were good to go and that our check had been picked up by the table next to us. The waitress asked if that was one of my friends and I told her no. Since we all know that if you receive a Random Act of Kindness that it brings bad karma if not repaid, so while looking for my options to pay-it-forward I decided that part of my repayment would be to issue a challenge for my neighbors. I know Mantorville residents love to volunteer, donate and help others. Here is my challenge to my fellow residents. Look for an opportunity to do something nice for someone else, it doesn’t have to be buying dinner maybe it is simply spending some of your time helping someone. I assure you I will follow up on my pay-it-forward of a RAK and I encourage each of you to start a brand new chain and not wait for the opportunity to repay a RAK.

Cell Coverage

If you have followed my blog or read many of my past articles, you will know that we have been pushing to get an antenna array on top of the water tower to increase the options available to Mantorville residents for their cellular service provider. We were informed that AT&T has plans to start the installation of the equipment early this spring. We are looking forward to our partnership with AT&T and welcome this expanded service coverage. I will post pictures of the ground breaking and keep everyone posted as to the progress.

Bus Stop Security

The City has installed a wireless security device in the bus stop on Bergmann drive. We hope that this device will help deter any future vandalism. The bus stop is for the benefit of our students while they wait for a ride to school. Vandalizing these structures is causing harm to a facility designed for the comfort of our students and the City is committed to taking the necessary steps in order to protect these assets. Please respect our community and protect our mutual assets and report any observations of damage or vandalism to the Sherriff’s office.

Yours in Service

Chuck Bradford

Mayor, City of Mantorville

MayorBradford.BlogSpot.Com

Random Acts of Kindness

Tonight our family went to Texas Road House for dinner. We all had a great dinner. There was a cute little kid across form us that keep looking at us. We smiled at him and his dad. We exchanged smiles throughout our meal, and they left before us. We patiently waited for for our check and finally the waitress came over and told us that our bill had been paid. This was a great unsuspected surprise. We had a long talk on the way home about how we can pay-it-forward. I encourage all of us took look for ways to pay it forward. You don't have to buy a family of four a meal, but look for easy ways to help someone else. I think we can all learn from this experience and use it as an example of how we should act towards one and other. My Challenge to you this week is pay it forward. Look for ways to help someone just because it is the right thing to do.

Yours in Service,

Chuck Bradford
Mayor, City of Mantorville

Muligan Stew on the Ides of March

The "Ides" of March, 2018

Pot Holes and Road Work:
The is watching the conditions of the roads and the pot holes that spring up every year. The City does have a plan to look at some of the roads in most need next year and will be preforming some road projects. Look for more details on the 2018 road projects in a future article.

Bridge Lighting:
A few weeks ago the City replaced some broken lights on the bridge over the river. Two days later those lights were broken again. When we installed the new lights we did notice that the globes did not match well with those that were faded so the City Council determined that we would order all new globes so that everything will match. These new globes will be installed as soon as they arrive.

Remember Mulligan Stew:
Every year the Mantorville Restoration Association conducts a “Mulligan Stew” and auction. This year this event will be held at the Hubble House on this Thursday March 15 from 4:30pm to 7:00pm. This auction is a fund raiser for the MRA and an opportunity for some nice items to find a new life. Individuals or organizations interested in making a donation for the auction are encouraged to contact City Hall for more details. I hope to see many of our friends and neighbors at this event.


Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford,
Mayor - City of Mantorville
MantorvilleMayor@Gmail.Com
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Getting the Word Out

February 26, 2018

VANDALS

The City is still investigating damage to City property that occurred the night of Saturday January 27. Two City signs and a bus stop were vandalized with spray paint. Anyone with information is encouraged to inform City Hall or the Dodge County Sheriff's office.

More Cell Coverage:

AT&T has renewed their building permit and has submitted updated drawings and designs for an antenna array on top of our water tower. This will expand the cell coverage for our community and surrounding area, provide our citizens with more choice in providers and bring the City some additional revenue. This is one of the projects we have been trying to get implemented for several years and it now looks like we are going to see some action this Spring. I will keep everyone posted.

Joint Venture:

The joint ventures group that consists of the Kasson-Mantorville School District, The City of Kasson and the City of Mantorville will be installing some plaques around the area to highlight the contributions that this group makes to our community.The group has updated basketball equipment in Riverside Park as well as in Kasson, worked on a lighting project and continues to invest in park infrastructure and equipment. Look for the new plaques to start showing up soon.

Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford,

Mayor - City of Mantorville

MantorvilleMayor@Gmail.Com

MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Reward offered for arrest

VANDALS
The City is investigating damage to City property that occurred the night of Saturday January 27. Two City signs and a bus stop were vandalized with spray paint. I have included of some of the  damage below and there was some that was too offensive to publish.

The Dodge County Sheriff's office is  collecting evidence and talking to witnesses. I am personally offering a reward of $500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. If those responsible would like to minimize the results from these actions, it is strongly recommended that they identify themselves to the City and work with staff to make repairs. The Dodge County Sheriff's office is investigating these criminal actions and will be following leads and witness reports soon. The City considers this vandalism a significant criminal action and will encourage the Sheriffs office to activity identify those responsible. Those with information regarding these events are encouraged to inform City Hall or contact the Dodge County Sheriff's office directly.

Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford,
Mayor - City of Mantorville
MantorvilleMayor@Gmail.Com
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

2018 State of the City

January 22, 2018

The City still has maintained it’s AA- Standard and Poor’s (“S&P”) rating for a fourth year in a row. During the last review a note of “no change expected” was noted and is a strong indicator that Mantorville is on solid fiscal grounds. The City is able to move forward with needed infrastructure projects and the City is currently planning for the future. The state of the City is strong, stable and very healthy.

Tax Levy Rate:

The City was able to once again reduce the tax rate.

Tax Year	Levy Dollar Amount	Levy Rate
2009	$406,611.00	56%
2010	$414,743.00	57%
2011	$423,037.00	63%
2012	$427,268.00	73%
2013	$427,268.00	72%
2014	$422,995.00	72%
2015	$424,525.00	72%
2016	$427,226.00	70%
2017	$440,118.00	68%
2018	$453,322.00	61%

Historical Tax Levy information for Mantorville

You may notice in the above table that the levy amount for the City exceeded the amount from 2012 for the first time for the 2017 budget even though our tax rate had decreased. The reason for this is that the taxable values of properties within Mantorville increase around 9% in 2016 and 13% last year. If the council had allowed both of these increases due to property tax values increasing the tax levy would be over $525K for 2018. The council did not want to raise our tax levy amount by 13% (zero rate change) while the housing market is just starting to recover. The council did feel that the levy needed to increase over the 2012 dollar value in order to meet some of the construction needs during the next two years.

Waste Water Treatment:

The City was able to break ground on the long awaited Waste Water Treatment Plant in 2016 and was able to complete the project in 2017. With this project being completed and the City benefiting from some grant money as well as low interest loans for this project, the council is now able to start taking a more focused look at the much needed street projects. In November we received an official letter that notified the City of a grant for our project in the amount of $1.8M with an additional PFA loan amount of $469K at 1% interest. This is very good news for the citizens of Mantorville. I will post the entire letter to my mayors blog (MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com).

Water Over the Dam:

Maybe I should say water under the dam. The City was able to conduct some maintenance on our dam. Maintenance was preformed on the foot of the dam as well as the mechanism of the gate on the dam. In 2018, there may be some additional maintenance needed on the dam, I will keep everyone updated on this process.

Speaking of Water:

We conducted a visual inspection fo the water tower to determine needed maintenance items and to check on the operation of the overflow control mechanism. We are still working with AT&T on a timeline for the antena upgrade to better serve the citizens of Mantorville with cell service.

State Capitol Re-dedication:

The State Capitol was repaired, refurbished and re-dedicated in 2017. Many mayors from around the state including myself, represented our cities at the re-branding ceremonies.

City Branding Efforts

The EDA and the City have been working on a branding project since 2015. The final three designs for the new look and feel for the City were on display and businesses and citizens voted on their favorite designs. After public input the EDA choose a design and the EDA was able to finalize this work in 2017. Logo items can be purchased from various merchants around town. After Mantorville rolled out our new Brand, The Secretary of State, Steve Simon, came down to Mantorville and discuss our process as well as to solicit some feedback on our observations of working with the Secretary of State's office. The City will continue to move forward with these efforts on additional assets as they are needed.

Streets and Infrastructure:

The City was able to complete phase one of the fifth street project and plans are in place for the continued work on phase two of that project. The City is also revisiting its street inventory study with our City Engineer and City staff. The City council uses this survey to evaluate which streets are next in line for attention and needs funds budgeted. This spring/summer construction season looks to be a very busy one again for Mantorville and I will keep everyone updated via my blog and articles.

A Bright Future

The last year brought both challenges and opportunities. The Council was able to move forward with some much needed constriction projects and infrastructure needs while maintaining our S&P rating with sound fiscal policy. The City's effort over the past several years to secure grant and bonding funds for the WWTP project were rewarded and the project was completed. In 2017, the City saw an increase in constructions permits.The state of the City is sound and healthy and every indication is that Mantorville will have another healthy year in 2018.

Yours in service,

Chuck Bradford,

Mayor - City of Mantorville

MantorvilleMayor@Gmail.Com

MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2017

In 2017 I had the opportunity to visit Poland. While in Poland I was able to visit Auschwitz, the famous Nazi concentration camp. While this is a powerful and dark reminder for anyone who cares about religious freedom, I think for me it held an even more significant historical importance. My next door neighbor while growing up had not only been to this place, she had the numeric tattoo to prove it. I felt I needed to go see this dark place to try and understand what it must have been like for her. While I had read the stories and understood what happened in this place, I was not prepared for the sheer size and expanse of a facility that was dedicated to evil. While I thought about the images I was seeing and trying to relate the stories I heard from my neighbor I realized just how special the United States is and how lucky we are to have a culture free from religious persecution. I was also struck by the notion of just how important it is to celebrate our chosen religion. I remember how proud she was to wish us a Happy Chanukah and how she always smiled back as we wished her a Merry Christmas. This seasonal exchange of warmth, compassion and love is one of my favorite memories around Christmas. I have always remembered to share this seasonal greeting with those that are important to me, so let me wish all my neighbors and friends a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and a safe and prosperous new year.

Merry Christmas,

Chuck Bradford,
Mayor - City of Mantorville
MantorvilleMayor@Gmail.Com
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com

Formal Award Letter

Holidays and Celebrations

November 27, 2017

I hope everyone was able to have a nice thanksgiving celebration with his or her family this past week. Thanksgiving marks the start of our traditional holiday season and the season of giving. While many of us are focused on that perfect gift for someone special, we too often forget to consider the needs of our community and those outside our immediate circle. While donating to a charity, or volunteering are obvious ways to help another very important way to help others this holiday season is often overlooked. This time of year the local blood banks are dangerously low on fresh blood and you could literally save a life by donating a unit of blood over the holiday season. This simple gift could literally be the difference between life and death for someone, so please consider adding this special gift to your holiday tradition.

Fifth Street:
During the last City Council meeting the council asked our engineer to look at the options available for adding a pedestrian path to Fifth Street. Our engineer was going to look at a trail on the south side for safety reasons, look at a trail on the north side for cost considerations and any option where the road surface could be shifted. The initial design phase for any significant project is to look at all options, get a scope of work for each and fully understand the various implications of each proposal. Many of my neighbors have expressed their thoughts on this project and we will defiantly take those concerns into consideration when selecting the most appropriate option based on cost, feasibility and safety. I did want to share with you that while we are looking at all options your input and concerns are also an important consideration when making a final project plans. Once we have more detail from our engineer I will post an update on how the project is proceeding and the option that the council feels is most appropriate.

Grant Money:
The City was notified a few months ago of the preliminary allocation of grant money and loan funding options available for the Mantorville Waste Water Treatment Plant project. After the initial notification we were told that an official letter would be sent to the City to confirm those funds and the exact dollar amount. While I really wanted to share the news as soon as we received the unofficial notice, I thought it was more prudent to wait for the formal letter. Two weeks ago we did receive the official letter that notified the City of a grant for our project in the amount of $1.8M with an additional PFA loan amount of $469K at 1% interest. This is very good news for the citizens of Mantorville. I will post the entire letter to my blog.

Kiwanis Club:
There is a new Kiwanis club forming in Kasson Mantorville.  According to the Kiwanis web site (www.kiwanis.org) the focus of the organization is:
“Kiwanis helps kids around the world. Local clubs look out for our communities and the international organization takes on large-scale challenges, such as fighting disease and poverty. We are generous with our time. We are creative with our ideas. We are passionate about making a difference. And we have fun along the way.”
The club is still accepting applications for the charter members of our communities club. Anyone interested in joining this club and helping the younger generation within our community is encouraged to contact Randy Schmidt at RSchmidt.Kiwanis@GMail.com

Yours in Service,

Chuck Bradford
Mayor, City of Mantorville
MayorBradford.BlogSpot.com