City Council Meeting

City of Holdingford Public Hearings (2) and Council Meeting Minutes (Approved) September 10, 2012 Present at the meeting: Kim Ebnet, Lloyd Rausch, Susan Marstein, Ernie Schmit, Vicki Statz, Scott Lange, Pat Meier, Keith Hommerding, Louise Winkler, Karla Kalla, Laverne Woidyla, Luke Sjurseth, Deb Kostreba, Jeanette and Phil May, Karen Solarz, Roger Schmidt, David Herzog, Ann Imholte, Gil Statz, Pete Becker, Lewis Becker, Kristy Becker, Louis Walz. Council person Mike Odden was not present. Mayor Ernie Schmit called the first public hearing to order at 6:30 p.m. City Engineer, Scott Lange from SEH, explained the costs of the Curb/Gutter assessment. Payment will be according to the length of feet along the address side of the property. Full or partial payment may be made to the City of Holdingford until November 16, 2012. After that full payment may be made to Stearns County Assessor’s Office. After January 1, 2013, assessment will be put on property with an interest rate of 5.5% payable over 20 years. This may be paid off in full at any time including any interest accumulated. Curb/gutter installation will begin within the next week for Main, Second, Third, Park, and Gertrude Streets. Residents are asked not to drive over the newly poured concrete for at least seven days, preferably 10 days. Residents had several questions, comments on the installation process and payment. Motion to suspend public hearing for curb/gutter was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. Public hearing suspended at 7:05 p.m. Mayor Ernie Schmit opened up the public hearing on redoing Ordinance 154 Floodplain Management Ordinance. According to the DNR, there were several discrepancies in this ordinance that needed to be corrected. Hearing no comments from the public, motion to close this public hearing was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Mayor Ernie Schmit reopened the curb/gutter public hearing at 7:15 p.m. Hearing no further comments or questions, motion to close the public hearing on curb/gutter assessment was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Mayor Ernie Schmit called the regular city council meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. Motion to approve Resolution 12-09-10-01, Adopting Curb/Gutter Assessment for Main, Second, Third, Park, and Gertrude Streets was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Motion to rescind Ordinance 154, Floodplain Management Ordinance, was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Motion to approve the new Floodplain Management Ordinance 154 that Does Not Allow Conditional Uses or Floodproofing of New Uses, was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Motion to approve checks was made by Lloyd Rausch seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve bank reconciliation for August, 2012 statements was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve electronic transfers, debit card purchases was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Motion to approve minutes of the August, 2012 council meeting with correction on public hearing times was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. Voting yes Sue Marstein, Kim Ebnet. Abstaining was Lloyd Rausch. (He was not at the meeting). Liquor Store report was given by manager, Pat Meier. Gross receipts for September was $34,981.56. Gross expenses came to $33,235.53. Lottery YTD is $2,882.92 for a net revenue of $2,582.92. We now have bingo on Wednesday nights, Friday’s $1.00 beer. Darts will be on Tuesday’s later this fall. The fix it list has on it: the chimney, roof, roof vent and front wall. The side door is completed. Fire Department report was given by Fire Chief, Keith Hommerding. There were only four calls this past month. Did some training. Grant $s of $5,000 from the Training Board needs to be used by end of June, 2013. We also have voucher dollars, $2,700, that will be used for training. Currently there are two people in FFI and FF2 classes. Chief Hommerding requested that the firefighters get paid for 2 hours on training nights. The time spent on training and meeting usually lasts over two and a half hours. Motion by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet to pay firefighters an extra hour for training nights. AIF Maintenance report was gone over by Mayor Ernie Schmit. Some of the items the Maintenance guys have taken care of this past month: cut trees down along Gertrude, took mercury samples for wastewater, fixed fence along trail, worked on temporary floats in lift station due to lightning strike. Motion to move Adam Krebs from Lane H Step 1 to Lane H Step 2 was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Sue Marstein would like to have an added comment field of information about what an employee has done above and beyond normal work requirements and/or ideas to improve the job. Mayor Ernie Schmit gave his report. See end of minutes for details. Old Business Motion to approve resolution 12-09-10-03 Accepting the Offer of the United States of America to Purchase a $3,873,000 General Obligation Water and Sewer Revenue Bond of 2012 and Providing for its Issuance was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. Voting yes: Sue Marstein, Lloyd Rausch, Kim Ebnet. Council person Mike Odden was not present at the meeting. Motion passed. Scott Lange brought several pay applications before the council for approval. Motion by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch to approve app #11 to Larson Excavating for $22,728.10. AIF Motion to approve pay app #1 on the Second Phase to Larson Excavating in the amount of $294,948.36 was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Two quotes came in to fix a couple water problems, one on the property of Darlene Salitros on Prairie Street, the other by Clara Donnelly on Washington St. West. Bids: Ed Opatz Prairie Street $1,960.50 Washington St $2,260 Larson Excavat. Prairie Street $3,590 Washington St $2,200 Motion to have Ed Opatz do both areas was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF The city will pay this directly to them without going through RD. Motion to approve letter to Tim Berscheid stating his paying for his share of completing Park Street, not contesting the assessment, and to allow the city the amount of land needed for the right of way that’s required to complete the street was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Motion to approve SEH invoice 259695 in the amount of $31,048.73 for work completed in engineering, etc., was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve ITT (testing) invoice 28530 for $862 was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve David Drown Assoc. invoice 2416 for financial consulting in the amount of $750 was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve Reichert Wenner invoice 44532 for reviewing closing documents and confirming meeting date in the amount of $150 was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Rural Development is requesting that the city increase its Bond Insurance coverage for the clerk/treasurer from $50,000 to $250,000. Cost for this extra coverage will be $279/year. Motion to approve increase in bond coverage was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Approval of payment to Rice Lake Construction for its final payment of $54,037.50 has already been approved by the council. Scott Lange requested that all but $2,500 be paid. The dollars held back will be for completion of remaining work Council okayed this process. Luke Sjurseth came before the council seeking a liquor license and Sunday liquor. The city clerk prorated the license fee of $800 for the nine months left on this license term to be $600. Motion to approve license was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF The name of the restaurant will be Minnesota 13. Grand opening is set for as early as October 2 or as late as October 11. The council went over the preliminary budget for 2013. Total expenses/revenue budgeted: $1,238,488. New Business The donated refrigerator that was used in Veteran’s Park this summer will need to be given back. It does not meet the required standard for use in a public place. The council wishes to thank Phil and Jeanette May for their generous donation. The council will look for a replacement. Motion to certify the city’s levy of $258,663 was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Mayor Schmit proposed a pay increase of 5 % for the council members. He asked the council members to think about it and will discuss again at the October meeting. The council may only give themselves a raise before an election and if approved may only be applied after the election. Currently council members receive $107/month for meetings; the mayor receives $214/month for meetings. The council has hired a new city clerk: Sandra Meer from Albany. She is currently the township clerk of Krain Township and also works at the Albany schools. She and her husband run an outfitting kayak and canoe business. Sandra will be starting here the middle of October. Council okayed the purchase of tires for the front end loader. There is enough in our budget to do this. Also the council okayed the purchase of a new computer and printer for the mayor. Motion to approve tarring three spots in the alley behind the liquor store for a cost of not more than $6,000 was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve a new two year contract with Stearns County Attorney, Janelle Kendall in the amount of $3,000 per year was made by Kim Ebnet, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Utility delinquent accounts: Brandon Cottrell $309.43; Roger Richter $311.88; Roger Jensen $311.61; Brian Mader $496.61; Brian Mader $399.92; Michael Becker $470.79; James Urbashich $352.52; Diane Young $362.96; Dave Hagemann (trailer park units) $4,309.20; Ed Ehrlichmann $375.15. Truth In Taxation public hearing is set for Monday, December 10, 2012 at 7 p.m. Motion made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF The October council meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 9, 2012. Monday is Columbus Day, a Federal holiday. Council requested the city clerk call the sheriff’s department for more after school patrolling in the city. Motion to adjourn the regular meeting was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Kim Ebnet. AIF Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Mayor Ernie Schmit called to order a closed meeting for union negotiations at 9:32 p.m. Motion to adjourn the closed meeting was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Victoria R. Statz City Clerk, Holdingford