Photo by Deb Gau Marshall City Council members Craig Schafer and James Lozinski talked with Marshall residents at a town hall meeting Thursday. The public will also have another chance to speak to council members at an April 1 meeting.

MARSHALL — Members of the public had another chance to talk with their City Council representatives on Thursday, during the second of three planned town hall meetings with council members.

“We think it’s important we have contact with constituents,” said council member Craig Schafer.

Schafer and James Lozinski, the Ward 3 Marshall councilmen, met with residents Thursday evening and answered questions on subjects ranging from housing to city utilities and snow removal.

Some of the topics discussed Thursday included housing issues and city development. Residents asked if, in light of recent incidents with rental properties in Marshall, the city should talk about its rental codes. Last fall, all the residents of the Sunrise Court apartment complex were given a month to find new housing, because the complex’s new owners needed to refurbish the heating systems.

“I think we need to have a larger conversation” about rental properties, one resident said. However, the city would need to be fair to both landlords and tenants, she said.

Schafer and Lozinski agreed that the situation at Sunrise Court last fall wasn’t good for the community.

“I was really disappointed in the way that it was handled,” Schafer said. At the same time, the councilmen weren’t sure a rental code could have prevented it from happening.

Lozinski said Minnesota has a state rental code that the city enforces. But, he said, “The rental code is more about life safety.”

There are some ways that the city might be able to help rental tenants, Lozinski said. One example he thought worked was Marshall’s recent updates to its snow removal ordinances. Now the city can plow privately-owned streets if the property owner doesn’t clear them in a timely fashion. A group of residents from the Broadmoor Valley mobile home park had spoken out in favor of the proposal.

Lozinski said he thought both tenants and landlords needed to be better informed of their rights.

“It’s a two-way street,” he said.

Another question from residents was when the city planned to widen a narrow stretch of North Hill Street near East College Drive. Earlier, the city had bought a strip of land near the intersection, and removed a vacant house and trees that stood in the right-of-way for North Hill Street.

“It’s in our plan,” Schafer said of widening the roadway. However, he said, “It’s not on this year’s list.”

Some topics discussed at Tuesday’s town hall with council members Russ Labat and Steven Meister also came up at Thursday’s event. Residents had more questions about Marshall Municipal Utilities’ plan to pre-soften city water.

The water softening project won’t necessarily get rid of the need for home water softeners, council members said. Lozinski said city water will be softened down to six grains of hardness, but depending on residents’ preferences, they may still want to use a water softener.

“What we’re trying to do is keep the salt out of the river,” Lozinski said. If city water is softer to start with, it could cut down on the softener salt that ends up in wastewater.

High chloride levels in the Redwood River have been a known problem since a study was conducted in 1991, Schafer said.

“It’s taken this long to come to terms with, what are the impacts?” Schafer said. The current Marshall wastewater treatment plant has helped lower chloride levels since the 1990s, but there’s still a way to go, Schafer said.

Snow removal was another topic that carried over from Tuesday’s town hall. Residents thanked the city for its work removing snow during an extreme winter.

Council members said winter storm response was a task that involved Marshall’s streets and parks departments, Marshall Municipal Utilities, and the public.

“It’s a group effort, when these storms hit,” Lozinski said.

LeRoy Affolter said there were still areas around town where sidewalks weren’t cleared.

“You keep wondering why somebody doesn’t report it,” Affolter said.

“Are there issues out there? Absolutely,” Schafer said. But he and Lozinski said it was also important to keep in mind how difficult snow removal has been this winter. Some sidewalks are still difficult for snow removal equipment to even reach, they said.

“Sidewalks were a huge struggle in the month of February,” Lozinski said.