November Council Meeting/Budget Hearing

COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 1 The Budget Hearing for the 2024 Budget was called to order by Mayor Schmidt at 6:15 P.M. No citizens were present for the hearing. The Mayor reviewed the 2024 budget. The City’s levy in the 2024 budget is $767,398.00. Clerk Gurtner reported that we will qualify for the expenditure restraint program with this proposed budget. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Hesgard to adjourn the budget hearing at 6:29 P.M. Motion carried with a voice vote. The regular meeting of the Colby Common Council was called to order at 6:30 P.M. by Mayor James Schmidt. On roll call: O’Brien, T Schmidt, Baumgartner, Hesgard, Hederer and Lindeman. Also present were Mayor James Schmidt, Clerk Connie Gurtner, DPW Harland Higley Jr and Greg Alberts from Kelley Supply and citizens. Agenda was posted by the clerk. The agenda will stand as the order of the meeting. Minutes of the October 2nd meeting minutes were pre-read and reviewed. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hederer to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Financial Statement and Bills were discussed. Motion was made Hederer, seconded by O’Brien to approve the financial statement and bills. The amounts approved are as follows: General Fund $133,702.58; Capital Fund 5,809.64; Water Department $35,315.84; Sewer Department $18,686.85; Net payroll $23,150.39. Motion carried with a voice vote. Public Comment: Mike Kraciak asked if the city council handles ordinance violations. He showed photos to council of the neighbor’s yard showing 2 x 4 boards with nails in it. Mayor Schmidt will show the pictures to the CAPD. Greg Alberts from Kelley Supply reviewed his business and expansions with the council. He explained to the council that they need to expand by adding a separate office building and use the existing office space as warehouse. He suggested that in the future that the city look at reviewing the TIF incentive process and engaging with neighboring businesses. City Planning Committee met on November 6th. The meeting on November 6th was held in closed session. Development Agreement Between the City of Colby and ND Real Estate Holdings, LLC: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Hesgard to approve the development agreement as drafted by William Gamoke between Development Agreement Between the City of Colby and ND Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – Baumgartner, Hederer, Hesgard, Lindeman, O’Brien, Schmidt. Noes – none. Motion carried. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 2 Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Lindeman to aggressively work with Kelley Supply to find additional lots for development in the Industrial Park. Motion carried with a voice vote. Personnel/Labor Relations Committee met on October 9th and November 7th. October 9th- Health Insurance Renewal: Clerk Gurtner reviewed the renewal from Security Health Plan for the health insurance. Security Health Plan had originally come back with a 19% increase and Spectrum negotiated it down to 10.2%. The reason for such a large increase this year was an error with the Security Health Plan underwriters. There are numerous plans available to the city under the Premier HMO changing the deductible amounts. The city currently has a $2,000/$4,000 umbrella deductible with a max out of pocket of $3,000/$6,000 with a new premium of 10.2% increase. The committee looked at the next level of deductibles with a $3,500/$7,000 embedded deductible and a max out of pocket of $4,500/$9,000. The monthly premium with this deductible is $1.00/single, $2.00/couple and $3.00/family more than our current plan. The committee will take these two options into consideration when discussing wages. Resignation of Deputy Clerk/Treasurer: Mayor Schmidt read a letter from Erin Hennes requesting the city to accept her resignation from her position as Deputy Clerk/Treasurer. Her last day will be January 31, 2024 or 2 weeks from another job offer. Job Description and Advertising for Deputy Clerk/Treasurer Position: Clerk Gurtner shared a job description for the Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position and also a copy of the advertisement to hire a new Deputy Clerk/Treasurer. The committee also reviewed a list of potential interview questions. The committee will review the job description and interview questions prior to the interview process and let the clerk know of any changes and gave Clerk Gurtner authority to advertise the position. The committee met in closed session to discuss employee wages/benefits and evaluations. The committee voted to recommend to the council to offer a raise of $1.50/hour to city employees and renew with Security Health Plan using the $3,500/$7,000 deductible Premier HMO Plan. All employees will pay 15% and employer will pay 85% of the premium cost. Motion was made by Lindeman, seconded by Hederer to approve a wages increase of $1.50/hour to city employees. Allan Raatz $27.29 to $28.79, Clint Smith $27.29 to $28.79, Craig Lieders $26.79 to $28.29, Merlin Schaefer $26.79 to $28.29, Harland Higley $33.03 to $34.53, Connie Gurtner $30.75 to $32.25, Erin Hennes $19.75 to $21.25. Motion carried with a voice vote. Motion was made by Lindeman, seconded by Hesgard to approve the COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 3 renewal with Security Health Plan using the $3,500/$7,000 deductible Premier HMO Plan. Motion carried with a voice vote. November 7th – The committee voted to recommend to the council renew with Delta Dental choosing the Current Plan w/tier payment. All employees will pay 15% and employer will pay 85% of the premium cost. Motion was made by O’Brien, seconded by Lindeman to approve the committee’s recommendation. Motion carried with a voice vote. Colby/Abbotsford Police Commission met on October 16th. The commission approved minutes and expenditures. Health Insurance Renewal: Chief Bauer said renewing the health insurance for 2024 under the current plan would result in a 10.2% increase in the premium cost. Increasing the deductible will result in the same premium cost as in 2023. Monthly premiums will be $601/$1,324/$1,805. The commission voted to recommend to the respective city councils renewing the health insurance with Security Heath Plan as presented. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by O’Brien to approve this recommendation. Motion carried with a voice vote. Dental Insurance Renewal: Chief Bauer said renewing the health insurance for 2024 under the current plan would result in a 0% increase in the premium cost. Monthly premiums will be $41.59/$77.34/$135, with employees paying 15% of the premium cost. The commission voted to recommend to the respective city councils renewing the dental insurance with Delta Dental as presented. Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Hesgard to approve this recommendation. Motion carried with a voice vote. Chief's Report: Chief Bauer said the K-9 was deployed three times in September resulting in five arrests. He said the TRACS system with computer data stored at the state was working well, with no extra local costs. He said the vendor approved to do the equipment transfer for the K-9 squad at the cost of $5,883.94 would not be available to do the work for several months. Chief Bauer contacted Light'em UP LLC out of Loyal to do the work at a cost of $2,910. They handled the equipment transfer for the existing K-9 squad and did good work. There were 843 total CAPD activities reported for the month of September 2023. There have been 6,252 total CAPD activities reported for the first nine months of 2023, compared to 7,314 activities for the first nine months of 2022. The CAPC authorized the payment of a monthly fuel invoice to Kwik Trip of approximately $300, which did not make it into the financial report for September. Chief Bauer presented a letter announcing his retirement from the CAPD effective February 1, 2024, concluding a 27.5 year career in law enforcement. The commission voted to recommend acceptance of Chief Bauer’s retirement. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 4 Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Schmidt to approve this recommendation. Motion carried with a voice vote. The commission voted to offer the Police Chief position to the top scoring candidate Alex Bowman. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Schmidt to appoint Alex Bowman as Police Chief with the conditions outlined in the contract which includes a salary of $77,000/hr with a start date of February 1, 2024. Motion carried with a voice vote. Central Fire & EMS District met on October 19th. Todd Schmidt reviewed the activities of the Central Fire & EMS District with the board. Public Works Committee met on October 23rd. Sewer Lateral Back Flow Issue @ 306 N 6th Street: Melody Lewis (resident) addresses the council regarding a sewage leak that occurred at their residence at 306 N 6th Street by providing a history of the sewage issue and steps that they have taken for a solution. She had various questions regarding the history of the saddle/lateral and asked the council if the city would provide some reimbursement for the sewer issue as the road was built in 1996 and the house was built in 2000. The committee discussed the issue and recommended that the city would not provide any reimbursement as the connection was made over 20 years ago and would not be the city’s responsibility. Fee for Water Sewer Lateral Connection Legal Advice: Recommendation from Bill Gamoke states that his legal opinion is to keep it the same water and sewer prices/fees. SCS Development Agreement for use of North Wet Basin: S.C. Swiderski would like the City to make an out lot for a retention pond. There were some clarifications needed about the maintenance of the pond as it was suggested that the City would do the digging when appropriate and SCS would do the mowing and garbage pick-up since both entities would utilize the retention pond. Motion was made Hederer, seconded by Lindeman to agree to allow S.C. Swiderski to design a CSM to create an out lot for the retention pond and to work with them on an agreement to allow them to use and maintain the retention pond for their storm water discharge. Motion carried with a voice vote. Cross Connection Inspection Renewal: With the increase in CPI, there was a cost increase for contracting for Cross Connection inspection. The city needs to decide and sign a new 2-year contract. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Hesgard to approve cross connection renewal for a two-year contract at a cost of $275/month, $3,300 annually for two (2) year contact period totally $6,600. Motion carried with a voice vote. COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 5 Five Year Streets/Public Works Plan: The committee reviewed the plan. Motion was made by O’Brien, seconded by Schmidt to approve Five Year Street Plan as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. The committee reviewed the 2024 Water and Sewer Budgets. Mayor Schmidt: Mayor Schmidt reported on his meeting of the Clark County Economic Development meeting. DPW Higley: The following building permits were issued: Mark Viegut, 415 Dehne Dr, detached garage; TD LLC, 411 N 3rd St, basement wall repair; Loos Machine & Automation, 101 S 1st St, reroof; Franklin Hidalgo Mejia, 308 N 3rd St, garage roof; Allied Cooperative, 702 S Division St, signage; Zion Lutheran Church, 303 N 2nd St, garden shed; Colby Senior Care, 502 W Wausau St, interior remodeling; Mary Lamont Enright, 303 W Spence St, enclose porch, windows, service door; Lesa Hawkey, 602 S Main St, roof & siding; Matthew & Stacy Schnabel, 216 S 3rd St, kitchen remodel. DPW Higley reported on the precipitation and flows for October 2023 at the STP. He also reported on the pumpage of water for October 2023. DPW Higley did talk to the DOT about access to the city’s Venzke property that we want to divide for development. City Planning Committee will look at the information from the DOT and decide how to divide the property. He asked about going out for bids for basket truck, the pick –up truck and crushing bids that were approved in the budget. Operator’s Licenses: Joy Campbell, 1517 W Veterans Parkway, Marshfield; Sheila Briski, N13150 Resewood Ave, Withee; Amy Kingsley, 401 S Main St, Colby; Ashley Puphal, W5568 Willow Rd, Withee; Rita White, W2339 Cloverdale Rd, Colby. Motion was made by Hesgard, seconded by Lindeman to approve the operator’s licenses as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Liquor License – OK Corral Ballroom LLC, 506 N Division St, Colby: Motion was made by Schmidt, seconded by Baumgartner to approve the Class B Combination license for O. K. Carral Ballroom LLC for 506 N Division St, Colby contingent on the surrendering of the existing license at that location. Motion carried with a voice vote. Resolution 6-2023 Adopting City of Colby 2024 Budget and 2023 Tax Levy: The budget was discussed during the budget hearing. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by O’Brien approve the City of Colby Resolution 6-2023 as presented. Roll Call Vote: Ayes – Baumgartner, Hederer, Hesgard, Lindeman, O’Brien, Schmidt. Motion carried. Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by COLBY COMMON COUNCIL November 7, 2023 Page 6 Lindeman approve the 2024 Water and Sewer Budgets as presented. Motion carried with a voice vote. Committee meetings for November: Colby-Abbotsford Police Commission will meet on November 13, 2024 at 6:30 P.M. at the Police Department. Personnel/Labor Relations will meet on November 13, 2023 at 5:00 PM. Central Fire & EMS District will meet on November 16, 2023 at 7:00 P.M. at Station 2. Adjourn: Motion was made by Hederer, seconded by Lindeman to adjourn at 7:49 P.M. Motion carried with a voice vote. Approved _____________________ James W Schmidt, Mayor Attest _________________________ Connie Gurtner, Clerk