RNR and Budget Passings, A New Ordinance, and Purchasing the Play Park Equipment Headline Russell City Council Meeting
The Russell City Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, September 2 at the Russell City Hall. Important items to come from this meeting include the RNR and budget hearings as well as passings, a new ordinance, and the approval of the purchase of the Russell Play Park equipment.
To start the meeting, the council held a hearing regarding the Revenue Neutral Rate (RNR). No comments were made, and a vote was had to accept the RNR. A roll call vote was held and the RNR passed 6-0, with 2 council members absent. A resolution for the RNR was passed unanimously right after.
The budget hearing was held after this and no comments were made.
Randy Baker, Russell water utilities director, then gave his water update. He stated and showed that Big Creek is getting decent flow. Pfeifer fell 2/10-4/10 of a foot. Overall, everything looks pretty good and production is steady. However, Russell will stay in stage 2 water conservation.
A motion was then made to adopt the 2026 budget and it passed unanimously.
The council then had the 2024 Financial Audit review and passed the audit unanimously.
Housing official Garrett Berry then presented a revised version of the new ordinance regarding permanent residence in RV's and campers. The council passed this ordinance unanimously. Click HERE to read the ordinance.
Kayla Schneider, City Manager, presented a mostly finalized estimated price for the order of equipment for the Russell Play Park. All prices were estimated except for excess pricing, which includes building a fence around the park and accessible bathrooms by the park. A motion was made to purchase the equipment in the total of $911,516.75 which is subject to approval of the Purchase Agreement by the City Attorney. This passed unanimously.
The council then approved a purchasing contract for a property at 930 E. Wisconsin in Russell. This passed unanimously.
Next up was a donation of a golf statue to the city golf course. This statue, properly named "Iron Byron", was made by James Pemberton with flat washers in the image of pro golfer Byron Nelson. A picture of the statue will be shown below. This was accepted by the council unanimously.
Lastly, Kayla Schneider gave her City Manager comments and all she had this time was to thank the staff who worked very hard on the 2026 budget.
The Russell City Council will hold their next regular meeting on Tuesday, September 16.