City Council Meeting

Holdingford City Council Meeting Minutes July 14, 2014 Mayor Ernie Schmit called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and the pledge of allegiance was recited. Present: Ernie Schmit, Lewis Becker, Susan Marstein, Mike Odden, Lloyd Rausch, Sandra Meer, Keith Hommerding, Dorine Rausch, Tony Stalberger, Scott Lange, Ron Scegura, Nancy Scott, Molly Thompson, Linda Zapzalka, Kim Ebnet, Jeff and Karen Larson, Gordy Sjaaheim, and Louis Walz. Following questions on budget balances, a motion to approve checks was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve electronic transfers and withdrawals was made by Sue Marstein, seconded by Mike Odden. AIF Motion to approve bank reconciliation for June 2014 bank statements was made by Lewis Becker, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Motion to approve minutes of June City Council meeting was made by Mike Odden, seconded by Lloyd Rausch. AIF Motion to approve June 23, 2014 Public Hearing minutes was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Lewis Becker. AIF Reports Municipal Liquor Store report was read by Mayor Ernie Schmit. Gross profits for June = $32, 335.63. Expenses = $41,052.91. YTD lottery = $1, 865.68. Insurance bill was additional expense last month. Food orders from the convection oven have been going over well, but will ask to extend trial period for another month with E.A. Sween to see how the new restaurant opening will affect food sales. The revenue summary from Holdingford Daze indicated total sales for the week at $22,909.23 which is higher than 2013 but lower than 2012. St Rosa Lumber submitted a bid for a new glass front door for the liquor store which would not be covered by insurance. Sue Marstein made a motion to accept the $2,656.20 quote from St Rosa Lumber to replace the front door at the liquor store to coincide with front wall repair. Lloyd Rausch seconded the motion. AIF Fire Department report was given by Chief Keith Hommerding. 34 calls this year to date include four fires, 21 medical, eight false alarms (good intent) and one unauthorized fire. The Fire Relief Association donated $500 towards cost of the trophy case in the City Center. A full audit of the Fire Relief Association is being completed again this year. Training will begin in the fall for four new members Adam Lane, Adam Achmann, Amber Seifermann, and David Michelson. With new members joining, they are short two full sets of gear and will plan to buy needed gear. Water Ball team took 1st in Bowlus. The Holdingford Water Ball fight worked out well in front of Polar during Holdingford Daze. Initial correspondence on the FEMA grant is promising. Rescue unit from Long Prairie CentraCare Clinic has not been acquired yet. Their new unit has not been DOT certified and cannot be put into use. Rescue unit will be transferred as soon as it becomes available. Next month’s car fire training will use up remaining training dollars, although another allocation will be available since other departments haven’t applied for reimbursement. Stearns County now requires all fire chiefs to take National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) 300 training. Other members on the department have expressed interest in taking the new NIMS training classes as well. Resolution 14-07-14-1 for the increase of the Holdingford Fire Department retirement pension was presented as discussed at the annual fire budget meeting. Sue Marstein made a motion to approve Resolution 14-07-14-1 to increase the Fire Department retirement benefit pension for fully vested fire fighters from $1,000 to $1,100 per year of service beginning January 1, 2014. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. Vote in favor; Lewis Becker, Sue Marstein, Mike Odden. Abstain; Lloyd Rausch. Motion passed. Maintenance Report was read by Mayor Schmit. Calcium chloride dust suppressant was sprayed on 1st Street West from County Road 17 to the Maintenance Shop. Weeds were sprayed. A bid was received from Preferred Controls for $2,200 for installation, training and a 4 channel dialer at the Main Lift Station. Quote does not include phone line or phone equipment. Mike Odden made a motion to approve the system quoted by Preferred Controls, Inc. Lloyd Rausch seconded the motion. AIF Preferred Controls was called to replace contactor at Well #3, after a complete breakdown on June 23rd. Lead and copper sampling was completed and sent to Minnesota Department of Health. Maintenance Supervisor Jeremy Freudenrich met with Stearns County Highway Department to request cost share for Main Street curb and sidewalk repair. Stearns County agreed to $3,000 towards repair. Two businesses were contacted for quotes for jetting main sanitary sewer lines; received one quote from American Environmental for 3,000 foot minimum at $ .75/foot and $350 for lift station on 4th and Meadow Street. No response was received from Professional Drain Service. Maintenance suggested cleaning the sewer lines in sections, oldest section which is on west side of the city would be done first. Lloyd Rausch made a motion to accept quote from American Environmental to clean 3,000 feet of sanitary sewer lines this year at $ .75/foot and clean the lift station on 4th and Meadow Street for $350. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. AIF Maintenance requested quotes be obtained for switching all city buildings over to natural gas. Brian Zapzalka needs to attend a refresher course for his Biosolids Land application certification which expires in December 2014. The Council agreed that he attend the course offered in September at St Cloud Kelly Inn, as it is the least expensive alternative. Mayor Ernie Schmit gave his Mayors’ Report. See end of minutes for details. Council Report: Mike Odden reported that contact information concerning natural gas is posted on the city blog. Holdingford native, Greg Konsor met with council members to share his vision to build an art center on 20 acres that he has purchased on the northeast side of town. He plans to have natural grass trails, outside sculptures, student activities and an artist in residence program. Original City Council minutes from 1897 to 1930 were recently turned over to the Holdingford Historical Committee by the Arnie Soltis family. Mike Odden is in the process of digitalizing the minutes after which they will be returned to City Hall. Historical Museum was open this last weekend during Holdingford Daze and three bulletin boards were put together with photos and displays. Author Elaine Davis, is doing a documentary on prohibition and visited the museum. She donated a case of her books, Minnesota 13: Stearns County’s Wet Wild Prohibition Days. All proceeds will go to the Historical Museum. Many local people have been interviewed for the documentary. Clerk Sandra Meer reported that three golf cart permits have been issued in the last month. Filing for open council positions including two, four-year councilor and one, two-year mayor position will be open July 29 through August 12, 2014. Filing fee is $2.00 and can be done at City Hall during normal business hours. Election judges are attending required training in July. The County collected election judge wage information which indicates that the average hourly wage paid to election judges in Stearns County is $11.27 and head judges is $11.79. Holdingford election judges are paid $9/hour, head judges $11/hour. Mike Odden made a motion to approve meal expenses for election judges working during the Primary and General Elections. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. AIF Guests Linda Zapzalka from the Husker Boosters requested a gambling license for Rough Riders Bar & Grill. Resolution 14-07-14-3 for a gambling license for Holdingford Athletic Booster Club at Rough Riders Bar & Grill was approved on a motion by Mike Odden, seconded by Sue Marstein. AIF Scott Lange from SEH presented a cost summary for the 2012 Street Utility Project. Two areas were disputed regarding final payoff to Larson Excavating including sidewalk by City Hall and landscaping restoration. Three sidewalk panels on north side of City Hall cracked and Larson cemented the panels twice already. Mr. Lange recommended Aggressive Masonry cement the panels for $750. Larson agreed to the deduction. There was discussion on the landscaping and seeded areas that have damage from snowplowing and from being driven on. Mr. Lange had an independent landscaper look at the whole town, most of the project looks OK but the soil wasn’t good, thus the grass didn’t come up as expected. The landscaper suggested three heavy fertilizer applications this fall and estimated about $2,700 for two tons. Karen Larson requested they be given a chance to fertilize one more time this fall and then get through winter. Council agreed that Larson Excavating will put on two tons of fertilizer this fall and reseed the bad spots in the spring of 2015. Aggressive Masonry will complete projects by Louis Walz residence and two curbing areas on 2nd Street which should be covered by SEH. The payoff amount for the project should be finalized by August. Sue Marstein made a motion to approve SEH invoice #282267 for $617.64. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. AIF Nancy Scott, the city’s building inspector noted that State building code requires that any fence over six feet needs a permit and needs to be inspected. Opatz Metals has not submitted a permit for the fence that was erected along their Main Street property. For commercial properties, normally the fee is based on the cost of the project, but Ms. Scott will accept residential rate flat fee of $30. As the building inspector her job is to enforce the building codes. A complete site plan, building permit application, and a set of construction plans along with the permit fee for the fence will need to be submitted by Opatz Metals for building code compliance. Molly Thompson of Schlenner Wenner presented the 2013 audited financial statements and reviewed the audit findings. Over all, assets increased from 2012-2013 and liabilities decreased. General governmental revenue decreased mainly due to grant revenue received in 2012 for the Street Utility Project. The management letter included five recommendations regarding mileage logs for municipal vehicles, combining separate liquor store bank account with general city account, limit use of petty cash account at the liquor store, consider a Point of Sale (POS) system at the liquor store and modify the utility fee structure to maintain a positive balance in the sewer fund. Ms. Thompson will look into the possibility of combining the water and sewer funds to maintain fund balance. Lewis Becker made motion to accept the 2013 audited financial statements from Schlenner Wenner as presented. Sue Marstein seconded the motion. AIF Ron Scegura presented a renewal offer from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. With the Affordable Care Act the premiums went up, but they are calculated using a community rating which levels out the premiums for all involved. Ron reviewed quotes from BC/BS and Medica. Medica quotes were almost double those of Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Sue Marstein made a motion to approve the renewal of Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan: Blue Access HSA $2,650 Deductible/0/0/w/d. Lloyd Rausch seconded the motion. AIF Kim Ebnet requested that the weeds be cut along Riverside Road. One attempt to cut had been made in June but it was too wet. Old Business The purchase agreement for the sale of the vacant city lot was reviewed. Purchased agreement should include condition that buyer will pay for new sidewalks in front of the building. Sue Marstein made a motion to approve the purchase agreement to include stipulation that the buyer pay for pouring cement sidewalks in front of the building along new parking area. Mike Odden seconded the motion. AIF FEMA mandates having a provision in the emergency plan to include storm shelters. The County is working on including that in their plan which will encompass the city’s structure. New Business Lewis Becker made a motion to approve Resolution 14-07-14-2 to approve the appointment of ten election judges for the 2014 Primary Election on August 12, 2014 and General Election on November 4, 2014. Lloyd Rausch seconded the motion. AIF A bid from Aggressive Masonry was submitted for removing and replacing 250 feet of sidewalk and 300 feet of curb on both sides of Main Street between Plymouth Street and Washington Street. Total cost would be $12,775 and Stearns County has agreed to pay $3,000 towards the project since Main Street is also County Road 62. Mike Odden made a motion to accept the bid from Aggressive Concrete to remove and replace 250 feet of sidewalk and 300 feet of curb on both sides of Main Street between Plymouth Street and Washington Street. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. AIF Aggressive Masonry submitted a bid for $6,800 to remove the raised cement sidewalk and steps on south side of City Hall and replace with two sets of steps leading up to the kitchen door and back entrance doors. Lewis Becker made a motion to approve the bid for $6,800 from Aggressive Masonry to remove the cement on the south side of City Hall and pour new concrete steps and walkway to doors; clean up block wall where concrete is removed; caulk along front of building and cut and replace 2’x 1’ section of angle cement next to building. Lloyd Rausch seconded the motion. AIF There was discussion on additional costs associated with paving where the cement is removed as well as the rest of the parking lot; restriping; and possibly finishing the outer block wall after the cement is removed. In five to ten years the city center building will need to be tuck pointed and water proofed, the angle cement can be removed at that time. Two quotes to replace the water softener at City Hall were reviewed and discussed. Both quotes were received over six months ago so contractors will be contacted for an updated quote and considered at the next council meeting. The Mayor received a request from the union representative to set a date for union negations to renew the union contract. Sue Marstein made a motion to hold a closed meeting to set a date and discuss union negotiation strategy immediately following the regular City Council meeting on August 11, 2014. Lewis Becker seconded the motion. AIF Announcements Residents who are delinquent on their utility payments are: Diane Young, Corey Johnson, Kevin Feia, Janice Zarbok, Mary Voss, and Melissa Gaebel. Motion to adjourn was made by Lloyd Rausch, seconded by Lewis Becker. Meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Meer City Clerk, Holdingford JUNE 2014 Department Gross Pay General $ 7,379.40 Public Works $ 7,991.25. Fire $ .00 Liquor $ 9,918.07 Total $25,288.72 3 pay periods ending 6/2, 6/16, 6/30  City of Holdingford - Equal Opportunity Provider Accounts Payable Check Register Report - STEARNS BANK For The Fiscal Periods Range From 2014-6 To 2014-6 For All Vendors And For Outstanding, Cleared, Voided Checks - Computer Generated Check # Type Date Vendor Name Amount Status 30098 C 6/9/2014 328 AllSpec Services, LLC $1,463.00 C 30099 C 6/9/2014 9 Bernick's Pepsi-Cola $738.45 C 30100 C 6/9/2014 586 Binsfeld's Office Machines Service $250.00 C 30101 C 6/9/2014 814 Cruise Control $200.00 C 30102 C 6/9/2014 792 CW Technology $222.00 C 30103 C 6/9/2014 52 E. A. Sween Company $17.60 C 30104 C 6/9/2014 550 Everything Signs $48.00 C 30105 C 6/9/2014 80 Gopher State One-Call, Inc $15.95 C 30106 C 6/9/2014 92 Headley Hardware $389.49 C 30107 C 6/9/2014 614 Holdingford Gas and Grocery $285.31 C 30108 C 6/9/2014 351 Holdingford Public Schools $50.00 C 30109 C 6/9/2014 117 Jerome Schueler $500.00 C 30110 C 6/9/2014 119 Johnson Brothers Liquor C $1,256.21 C 30111 C 6/9/2014 809 Lisa Burlage $500.00 C 30112 C 6/9/2014 452 MCFOA Treasurer $40.00 C 30113 C 6/9/2014 161 Mike Odden $75.00 C 30114 C 6/9/2014 476 Preferred Controls Corp $960.00 C 30115 C 6/9/2014 237 St Rosa Lumber, Inc $2,838.96 C 30116 C 6/9/2014 685 Star Publications, LLC $234.14 C 30117 C 6/9/2014 514 Tri-City Paving, Inc. $1,500.00 C 30118 C 6/9/2014 271 UC Lab $1,741.00 C 30119 C 6/9/2014 339 Verizon Wireless $53.28 C 30120 C 6/9/2014 360 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655037-5 $567.75 C 30121 C 6/9/2014 359 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655038-6 $1,281.44 C 30122 C 6/9/2014 361 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655039-7 $588.77 C 30123 C 6/9/2014 358 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655040-0 $2,159.40 C 30124 C 6/9/2014 383 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655041-1 $556.23 C 30125 C 6/9/2014 519 XCEL ENERGY 51-8242904-3 $33.27 C 30127 C 6/25/2014 9 Bernick's Pepsi-Cola $660.40 C 30133 C 6/25/2014 52 E. A. Sween Company $805.07 C 30134 C 6/25/2014 787 Granite City Jobbing Co $1,318.90 C 30136 C 6/25/2014 91 Hawkins, Inc $2,279.49 C 30139 C 6/25/2014 118 Jim's Snowmobile & Marine $6.41 C 30140 C 6/25/2014 539 League of MN Cities Ins. Tr/BKLY $35,003.00 C 30150 C 6/25/2014 266 Traut Wells $75.00 C 30153 C 6/25/2014 281 Viking Coca Cola Bottling $184.00 C 30154 C 6/25/2014 359 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655038-6 $185.59 C 30155 C 6/25/2014 383 XCEL ENERGY 51-5655041-1 $759.61 C 30156 C 6/25/2014 519 XCEL ENERGY 51-8242904-3 $34.92 C 30126 C 6/25/2014 5 Albany Area Hospital $180.00 O 30128 C 6/25/2014 507 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota $2,885.00 O 30129 C 6/25/2014 18 C & L Distributing, Inc $4,814.20 O 30130 C 6/25/2014 814 Cruise Control $200.00 O 30131 C 6/25/2014 792 CW Technology $222.00 O 30132 C 6/25/2014 48 D & D Beer Co. $191.75 O 30135 C 6/25/2014 90 Harry's Frozen Foods $138.00 O 30137 C 6/25/2014 481 Heggies Pizza $60.40 O 30138 C 6/25/2014 106 Holdingford Mill $52.00 O 30141 C 6/25/2014 730 Midcontinent Business Solutions $182.90 O 30142 C 6/25/2014 431 MPCA $300.00 O 30143 C 6/25/2014 207 Postmaster $102.00 O 30144 C 6/25/2014 208 Principal Financial Group $609.23 O 30145 C 6/25/2014 750 St Cloud Times #1076 $31.00 O 30146 C 6/25/2014 242 Stearns Cty Auditor-Treas $4,812.00 O 30147 C 6/25/2014 258 The Nut Man $57.00 O 30148 C 6/25/2014 263 Tom's Refuse $5,062.58 O 30149 C 6/25/2014 804 Toshiba Financial Services $99.12 O 30151 C 6/25/2014 270 Two Rivers Enterprise $1,945.13 O 30152 C 6/25/2014 339 Verizon Wireless $92.26 O Cleared $59,877.64 Outstanding $22,036.57 Void $0.00