RIVER FALLS — The River Falls City Council heard a presentation for the city’s police officer of the year and approved a road work bid during the March 25 meeting.

To open the meeting, River Falls Police Officer Matthew Miller was awarded the 2024 Officer of the Year honor.

“This is a wonderful day. This is my favorite day of the year,” Chief of Police Gordon Young said.

Miller was chosen for the award off the criteria of dedication, professionalism and commitment to the community.

“Since joining the department in 2021, Officer Miller has consistently demonstrated a thoughtful and thorough approach to policing,” Gary Donath of the Police and Fire Commission said. “Officer Miller’s positive attitude and friendly demeanor make a lasting impact on both his coworkers and the community.”

The council approved a 2025 mill and overlay program bid to Monarch Paving without discussion. The process involves removing 1.75 inches of the top asphalt pavement on the streets and overlaying the pavement with 1.75 inches of asphalt to smooth and align it.

“Staff has reviewed all city streets and prepared plans and specifications for a 2025 Mill and Overlay Program for streets that would benefit the most. This includes milling and overlaying Valley View Drive, South Fork Drive, and Broadway Street in the neighborhood southwest of Cascade Avenue and South Wasson Lane. This bid price also includes an allowance to perform limited base corrections in severely damaged areas of each street to ensure a long-lasting roadway,” city documents state.

Bidding included two alternatives, the first for milling and overlaying of West Johnson Street from Bartosh Lane to High Ridge Road and Bartosh Lane from West Johnson Street to Foster Street. The second alternative was for a portion of the Paulson Road trail.

Monarch Paving Company was the lone responsive bidder, with a base bid of $248,697, $154,788 for alternative 1 and $65,928 for alternative 2. Staff recommended the approval for all three at over $469,000 and it was granted by the council.

Town of Clifton resident Dana Linscott returned to speak during public comment about lack of transparency from the city. Linscott said City Administrator Scot Simpson said River Falls stacks up well in transparency with Wisconsin’s other cities, but Linscott believes differently.

“I thought I’d check around and see how well River Falls stacked up, and it wasn’t very well,” Linscott said. “The main thing that it fell short in is keeping records of closed meetings.”

Linscott said keeping these records is the law, but the city falls short in his opinion. Linscott also mentioned when the reason for the closed session is “no longer applicable,” the city should reopen these meetings.

“The city clerk does pretty darn good on honoring the requests for public records,” Linscott said. “Not so good with the River Falls city police department. The average in the state is 10 days, I am out to over 65 days on my last very simple request with the River Falls Police Department. Probably because it has to do with calls for the last year for the homeless.”

Alderperson Jeff Bjork informed the council that the Women’s Division III Hockey Championship would be in town, asking River Falls residents to be welcoming to the people coming in from out of town.