The City of Luverne will help the Luverne School District improve its technology for live-streaming school activities, according to action at a recent council meeting
The council approved a resolution to increase the loan amount for PEG access equipment.
LUVTV, the city’s online streaming services, was modernized with new programming equipment and cameras in 2017 with broadcast of live City Council meetings.
At the time, the council created an internal loan fund to pay for the upgrades to the channel and implemented a 95-cent per month PEG fee that all cable subscribers pay.
At that time the original loan was $67,825.93.
The Luverne School District made the request to the city to be reimbursed for a live-streaming camera system so that live school events (sports, drama, music, etc.) could be broadcast and archived on the access channel.
The city approved the request and reimbursed the school district $13,059.88 for the camera system.
The money for the live-streaming camera system will come from the PEG access fees, and the cost of the camera will be added to the existing balance in the fund.
“The community now has broader access to live and archived school events, which is a real positive for LUVTV and its users,” City Administrator John Call said.
Law enforcement contract
At the Nov. 10 meeting, the Luverne City Council approved a one-year contract for law enforcement services.
Since 1998 the City of Luverne and Rock County have been partners in Law Enforcement with the City of Luverne contracting with the Rock County Sheriff’s Department for the services.
This is the fourth signed agreement between the two entities, and this contract is for one year (2021) and the cost is $937,135. That’s a 5-percent increase from 2020.
“The agreement has worked well for the city and county,” Call said. “And there are no substantial changes to the contract.”
The contract covers all aspects of law enforcement including dispatch services, 911 and emergency communications services, traffic control, criminal investigation, patrol services and enforcement of city ordinances.
Electrical improvements
In other business at their Nov. 10 meeting, the council took action to document IRS guidelines related to bond regulations for electrical upgrades.
The city recently authorized an $8.5 million project that includes adding 6.2 MW of generation to the power plant building.
It also includes various improvements to the East Substation area to modernize the existing 1960s-style switch yard.
Engineers from DGR are working on the plans and specifications of the project and also the air quality emissions permit that will be needed from MPCA for the project.
The bonds for the project will not be issued until sometime in 2021, and expenses for the project are underway and ongoing now — before the debt issuance is completed.
The IRS has issued regulations that allow for the city to be reimbursed for expenses incurred prior to the issuance of the bonds.
The council’s action Nov. 10 documents the steps toward following IRS guidelines.