City Council Meeting

OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF HERREID, SOUTH DAKOTA July 10, 2023 The Herreid City Council was called to order by Mayor Gary Weismantel on the above date at 7:30pm at City Hall. The following members were present: A. Dupper, K. Rossow, P. Weisbeck, L. Fuehrer, B. Vander Vorst, and B. Rossow. Also present were: K. Hall, Finance Officer; Orland Geigle, Prairie Pioneer; Peter Adair, IMEG; and Dick Werner, HAHD. Moved by Dupper, seconded by Fuehrer to approve the agenda. All members voted aye, motion carried. Moved by Weisbeck, seconded by B. Rossow to approve the minutes from June 5, 2023. All members voted aye, motion carried. K. Rossow moved, B. Vander Vorst seconded to approve the following regular and additional claims. All members voted aye, motion carried. Claims for June 2023 24/7 Gas Fuel $260.73 Agtegra Previous Balance Interest Charge $9.39 Bret Van Vugt Reimbursement for Rubble Site Parts $159.60 Cahill Bauer & Associates 2022 Audit $5,000.00 Campbell County Bank Safety Deposit Box Rent $25.00 City Pool 2023 Beginning Pool Cash Fund $100.00 Civic Plus Finance Charge $19.15 Civic Plus 2023 Renewal for City Codes Software $1,200.00 Curtis Rud Oil Propane Fills $2,885.62 Curtis Rud Oil LP Parts $1,175.31 Financial Agent Payroll Taxes $2,919.48 Hawkins Inc. Pool Supplies $20.00 Heartland Waste Garbage Collection $4,725.00 Herreid Concrete Supplies $200.00 Herreid Lumber Supplies $434.50 Huber & Son Repairs to fogger $528.20 Keith Hall Mileage Reimbursement $257.04 Kim Rossow Reimbursement for Pool Materials $66.97 Lester Goehring Vet Headstone $50.00 MDU Utilities $1,950.52 Prairie Pioneer Publishing $411.36 Premier Equipment Equipment Parts $115.08 Ramkota Hotel Room for Finance Officer Conference $230.00 Rieker Electric Parts for Pool Equipment $191.06 Riteway Business Forms Check Stock Printing $161.09 Sabertooth Electric Annual Service for Com. Ctr. Generator $1,748.98 SD Dept of Revenue Sales Tax - May $1,473.25 SD Dept of Revenue Liquor License Fee $150.00 SD Municipal League 2023 Budget Training Class $30.00 SD Dept of Transportation Airport Windsock $31.25 SD Retirement Retirement - May Payroll $1,235.54 SD Retirement Backpay $1,443.16 Servall Rugs $33.68 T-P Excavating Materials/Labor for Sprinkler System $267.00 USDA Loan Payments for Sewer Projects $7,727.00 Valley Telco Utilities $633.98 Visa City Credit Cards $2,101.69 WEB Water Bulk Water $10,445.30 June Payroll as Allocated to Department Finance Office $2,705.87 Streets $2,385.75 Water $1,690.54 Sewer $1,899.77 Claims Paid in May but Omitted from May Claims List SD Dept of Labor Sales Tax - Dec 2022 $516.91 SD Dept of Labor Sales Tax - Jan 2023 $349.73 SD Dept of Labor Sales Tax - Feb 2023 $347.71 Financial Agent Payroll Taxes - Jan-Mar 2023 $7,660.46 Financial Agent Payroll Taxes - Apr-May 2023 $4,292.11 Financial Agent Payroll Taxes - back pay $4,015.93 SD Reemployment Assistance Unemployment Insurance $212.51 Sheriff’s Report; The June report was reviewed Problem Resolution Forms: Discussion was held in regards to a previous form that was submitted concerning abandoned vehicles, garbage issues, and property maintenance. There was also discussion concerning multiple properties that were experiencing water pooling along the sidewalks and backing up into yards. The cause was believed to be due to low areas that should have been addressed during the sewer improvement project. The council will be reaching out to have this issue addressed and fixed in the near future. Building Permits: Moved by K. Rossow, seconded by Weisbeck, to approve the building permit for Julie Huber to build a 24’ x 24’ garage building. Council members P. Weisbeck, K. Rossow, B.Rossow, B. Vander Vorst and L. Fuehrer voted aye and member A. Dupper voted nay, motion carried. Moved by K. Rossow, seconded by B. Rossow to approve the building permit for Agtegra Coop to pour a new cement load pad for the bulk fuel plant at 111 Main St S. All members voted aye, motion carried. Public Comments: None Old Business: Pool - It was agreed on to arrange a meeting with the contractors and engineers to address many remaining issues that need to be resolved. Mayor Weismantel said he would reach out to the contractors and engineers to arrange the meeting. Heard that some of the ladder steps on the lifeguard chairs were broken or falling off and that there was a need for an outdoor weather resistant clock to hang on the outside of the pool house. It was noted that there are a total of 10 ladder steps on the two chairs and that replacement steps will cost about $83 each. The clock will cost about $51. The council advised FO Hall to work with the pool manager J. Rossow to order the parts. Pool Pay Request - None Vacate Alley - Heard that because state codified laws state that consent is needed from all adjacent landowners, the vacate request could not be approved. There was previous discussion that vacating the alley would affect snow removal. That issue will be addressed in future meetings. New Business: Water Tower - Heard from Peter Adair with IMEG. He stated that although the official hearing for the water tower has been postponed, he was attending the meeting to address any general question about a potential project. He informed the council that he understood that there were inquiries about needing a 75,000 gal water tower instead of the 60,000 gal tower that was discussed in the initial survey. Adair noted that Maguire Iron (who installs towers) stated that the tanks normally are available in 25,000 gal increments. So for example, the sizes available would naturally be 50,000, 75,000, 100,000 etc. He said that the tank size stated in the survey was a recommendation based on the specifics, but that the city ultimately has to decide. He also noted that a 60,000 gal vs. a 75,000 gal would not be that substantial of a cost difference and that at this point in the process, it doesn’t really change anything concerning the grant application or timing. Adair stated that there is plenty of time to make a decision on the size and the exact location of the new tower should the project move forward. He thanked the council for their time and questions. Housing Infrastructure - Heard from Werner with HAHD. He stated that his attendance was strictly informational in nature. He wanted to make the city aware that the state has $200 million in funds that will be coming available in the form of grants for infrastructure projects. One of the potential projects that could be considered is to finish developing sewer lines, water lines, and paving to extend Elm St N for future residential property development. He noted that the timeline for the opening of the grant applications was quickly approaching and suggested that the city could reach out to Campbell County Economic Development to assist with the grant process. Herreid Economic Development - No one from HEDC was present, however, it was noted that HEDC is requesting to be included in the City’s 2024 budget. In years past, the city has contributed funds to HEDC to help with community needs. The council requested FO Hall to gather information to be discussed at the coming budget meetings. Code Enforcement - Heard from FO Hall that Code Enforcement has recently been in town and that several properties & issues were documented. More discussion will be held in future meetings. Elected Official’s Workshop - FO Hall informed the council that the 2023 Elected Official’s Workshop will be held in Pierre, SD on July 6th at the cost of $50 per attendee. Mayor Weismantel and Dupper plan to attend. 2023 SDML Annual Conference - FO Hall informed the council that the 2023 SDML Annual Conference will be held in Rapid City, October 3-6 at the cost of $125 per attendee plus hotel stay. FO Hall and Mayor Weismantel plan to attend. Mayor Weismantel noted that his room cost will be paid by the State so the City would only be responsible for his registration of $125. Moved by Dupper, seconded by Fuehrer to approve the Mayor and FO Hall to attend, all members voted aye, motion carried. Surplus Items - Heard that there are still several items from the former Senior Center, the pool, and the finance office that need to be surplussed. The council advised FO Hall to post the items for surplus on the City Facebook page once all the pictures are gathered and that the bids will be opened at the next regular council meeting on Tuesday, August 8th. WEB Water Rates - Heard that WEB will have another water rate increase of about 7.4% effective October 1, 2023. It was noted that the City Water Fund was already unable to support itself for the year and that rates would need to increase in order to recover some of the loss, avoid future losses, and compensate for the coming WEB increase. More detailed discussion on what the needed increase should be will be held at a future meeting. 2023 Officer & Employee Salaries Resolution - It was noted that according to recorded minutes, the 2023 Payroll Resolution was never voted on, passed, nor published in January 2023 as is required by SDCL 6-1-10. Duper moved, K. Rossow seconded, all members voted aye; motion carried to approve the 2023 Payroll Resolution 2023-01. Meter Reading Hardware Upgrade - Heard from FO Hall that he and maintenance supervisor B. Van Vugt had met with Karen Olson from Ferguson Waterworks concerning the upcoming changes and available upgrades to the Neptune system, which is the City’s current meter reading software. It was noted that the current system will be obsolete by the beginning of 2024 and that the city will need to make a decision on upgrading to the newer software and hardware. FO Hall informed the council that there are about 3 options, none of which had to be decided on immediately. It was noted however that either option would be a considerable upgrade that would streamline and speed up the processes of our meter reading. The new system would also provide much more detailed information on each meter that would be very beneficial to the city and to city residents. More discussion will be held on the matter in future meetings as FO Hall continues to receive more details from Ferguson. Maintenance Report: None. FO Hall was advised to contact MDU concerning a utility pole replacement. Finance Report: Reviewed the financial reports and delinquent utility accounts. Banyon Update - Heard from FO Hall that all modules were now current and up-to-date within Banyon following the May software crash and information loss. He and former FO Hague were able to retrieve and re-enter all previous transactions and details. Previous Publishing - Heard from FO Hall that several months of claims lists were never published in the newspaper and that according to the auditors, the city would need to have each missing month’s claims published as well as the 2023 Appropriation Budget Ordinance. City Accounting Software - Heard from FO Hall that he had been in contact with several governmental accounting software companies since the last meeting. He had several video meetings with them and after much research, his recommendation was a company called gWorks. FO Hall spoke to other South Dakota Finance Officers that had previously converted to gWorks and they all spoke very highly of the company. He noted that on the new system, there would be a mobile-friendly online resident portal which would allow residents to choose paperless utility billing, see their utility account history, request service, track their usage, set up ACH bank drafts, and make multiple other payments online such as pool fees, fitness center fees, license fees, etc. The new system would also allow the city to send information such as emergency messages and public notices to residents faster and more efficiently. He also listed the significant advantages with the new system’s payroll features. The transition to the new system would take place in phases over the next few months but should be fully operable by the end of 2023. FO Hall detailed the cost difference between gWorks and the current Banyon software which expires Nov. 30th. The gWorks software system would cost approximately $1925 more annually than what the city is now paying Banyon but with significant advantages and cloud backup. Currently the city pays Banyon $3,379 annually and the gWorks proposal is $5,304 annually which would be prorated for the remainder of 2023, plus a one-time implementation fee of $3,600 and includes set-up, integration, and full hands-on training. Motion was made by K. Rossow and seconded by B. Rossow to accept the gWorks proposal and transition to gWorks. All members voted aye, motion carried. At 10:02pm B. Rossow moved, Weisbeck seconded to go into Executive Session pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2 personnel. All members voted aye, motion carried. At 10:14pm Mayor Weismantel declared the council out of Executive Session. No action was taken. The next regularly scheduled Council meeting will be Tuesday, August 8th at 7:30pm With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:14pm APPROVED: _________________________________________ Gary Weismantel, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________________ Keith Hall, Finance Officer This institution is an equal opportunity provider. RESOLUTION 2023-01 PAYROLL PUBLICATION: WHERE AS SDCL 6-1-10 provides that the governing board of each municipality shall publish with the minutes of the first meeting following the beginning of the fiscal year a complete list of salaries of all officers and employees and thereafter shall publish once any salary paid to any officer or employee who has been added or whose salary had been changed. The governing board shall publish, in their minutes, at least monthly, a total of payroll by department. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the entire wage schedule for the City of Herreid for the year 2023 includes no wage increases, and be published as follows: Mayor, Gary Weismantel $600.00/year, plus $60.00 per meeting attended; Council Members: Adrienne Dupper, Troy Fuehrer, Abbie McNeil, Kim Rossow, Robert Rossow $500.00/year, plus $50.00 per meeting attended; Maintenance Supervisor, Bret Van Vugt $21.00/hour, plus $3.50/hour in-lieu-of insurance; Finance Officer, Keith Hall $23.50/hour, plus $3.50/hour in-lieu-of insurance; Part-time Maintenance, Darion Barker $14.50/hour; Part-time Maintenance Rick Quaschnick $16.50/hour. The mayor and council will be paid quarterly; part-time and/or seasonal will be paid monthly; full-time permanent will be paid semi-monthly. APPROVED: _________________________________ Mayor City of Herreid ATTEST: ___________________________________ Finance Officer City of Herreid