City Council Meeting

Holdingford City Council Meeting Minutes Monday February 13, 2023 Holdingford City Council meeting was called to order by acting Mayor Eric Berscheid at 7:01 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Present: Eric Berscheid remote via Microsoft Teams, Seth Young, Jayme Opatz, Nicky Lahr, Kelly Abfalter, Tony Abfalter, Scott Lange, Keith Hommerding, Herman Lensing, Karla Kalla, Deb Kostreba, Louie Walz, Mike Trettel, Season Lowe, Anthony Tschida, Dominic Caldarello, Jordy Opatz, Carlena Johnson, Angel Becker, Terry Runge, Naomi Ring, Alex Schmitt, Gordy Sjaaheim, Jeremy Freudenrich. Eric made a motion to delegate Jayme for the duties to preside over tonight’s meeting. Seth seconded the motion. AIF Jayme made a motion to approve the consent agenda including meeting minutes from January 9th, and emergency meeting minutes from January 10th as well as the accounts payable and payroll. Seth seconded the motion. Jayme stated that a letter of resignation was received from the Mayor Sue Marstein. He made a motion to approve Resolution # 2023-02-13-01 accepting the resignation and declaring a Mayoral vacancy. Eric seconded the motion. Guests: Mike Trettle stated that he was thankful on behalf of the Alcoholics Anonymous group that rents the library once a week at city hall. He also mentioned that an anonymous donation was made to pay for the rent of the room in 2023. Denise Leahy from helping hands explained that the rent for the dining hall was doubled this year, as they used to receive a reduction from the published non-profit rates. Councilmember Jayme asked if she was asking for a reduction again this year. She stated that she was not prepared to answer, but would submit a request for the next meeting. Department reports: Fire Department report was given by Keith Hommerding. He stated that the calendar fundraiser is doing well. He also said that the fire department received $1000 from Gilleland Chevrolet and $5000 from WDS as donations which will be put towards the purchase of rescue wrenches for each firefighter’s turnout gear. They are preparing for another gun raffle to take place this spring. Keith asked for approval to hire Melanie Odden to the team. All council members were in favor. He is also looking into one more member to hire. We were not able to get all information needed to the grant writer that was hired in time to apply. The FEMA grant ended up being for 2022 with a very quick turn around time. We originally thought this was for 2023 FEMA grant. Keith also asked the council for approval to carry the title for a new fire vehicle. Albany Chrysler is offering a very nice discount on a used truck. Eric made a motion to approve truck purchase and Jayme seconded it. AIF. Upcoming breakfast fundraiser is on March 12. 21 total calls, 16 medical calls, 2 MV accidents, 2 structure fires, 1 vehicle fire. 11 in Holdingford, 5 in Holding Township, 4 in Brockway and 1 in Krain. Maintenance report was read by Scott Lange for Steve Horvath. Bec-T, Fluoride and QP testing was submitted. Nickel testing continues with the digester under limits. Skid loader repaired under warranty, mercury testing at WWTP, rented portable composite WW sampler for a month to help test for Nickel, preparing SOPs for sampling and biosolid application processes, PM done on Kubota side by side, city snow removal from piles and boulevards, completed annual SARA Tier II report to Dept of Homeland security. Liquor Store report was read by Council Liaison Jayme Opatz. He is requesting a wage for hours worked in the absence of the Muni manager. Eric made a motion to approve payment for hours worked. Seth seconded it. Jayme stated that the Muni had a profit of approximately $11k in January even with the Thursday closures. He extended an invitation to Season Lowe to return to the Muni as manager. Louie Walz raised concern about the Muni and stated that he thought the city should sell it. Council members Eric and Jayme shared their thoughts as to why they are not interested in doing that at this time, especially since there is a noticeable increase in profits. Emergency Manager Report Amber had no updates this month. City Engineer’s report was made by Scott Lange. He drafted a letter to have on file in case well 3 needs to be used at all. Will be meeting with staff to go over the recommended funding options for the lift station replacement. Land Use Committee: Seth young presented a building permit request for Brenda Hawn 740 Riverside Rd. for a home addition. Seth stated that the request met all set-backs and the land use committee recommended approval. Eric made a motion to approve Brenda Hawn’s building permit #2-23-01-30. Jayme seconded it. Clerk’s Report: was presented by Nicky Lahr. The City Hall had roof leaks repaired by Roof 1, and approved full inspection in spring. Furnace went out again, and mother board was replaced. The bill was not received, but we will be seeking warranty coverage for this. Updating personnel files, and requesting new W4 forms. New utility reader is ready and we are waiting for programming issues with Asyst issues. MCFOA clerk’s academy coming up, which is needed for clerk certification. Jayme made a motion to approve closing City Hall on March 21-24 to accommodate. Seth Seconded it. City hall will also be closed for a few hours on March 15th for a meeting. New utility billing format was successful, ACH fee was removed and billing changes for rates will show on the March billing. Nicky also explained the end of year reporting that was done with ABDO assistance including 1099, W2, PERA exclusion, OSA reports, and Quarterly reports. Both ABDO and Nicky shared concerns and recommendations for outsourcing payroll and obtaining new software. We are looking for the council’s direction on getting bids for these items. Eric recommended getting quotes for payroll and Jayme recommended getting quotes for the software replacement. Ashley from ABDO explained what the costs would be to move payroll to ABDO, and recommended also seeking other quotes on this. She also reiterated that the current software, Asyst caused many issues with year end closeout and created more work than necessary in the process. She strongly recommends moving to Banyon software as it automatically updates and completes many of those costs. Unfinished/Old Business: Midco internet install is in process. A second site survey has been done and we should get more information from them this week. New Business: The employee evaluations for Dan Lahr and Steve Horvath took place in January by Seth with a favorable outcome. Jayme made a motion to approve the employee evaluations and give step increase. Seth seconded the motion. Jayme made a motion to approve changes to the Maintenance specialist, Maintenance Supervisor and Lead Maintenance Specialist positions. Eric seconded the motion. Jayme made a motion to approve a promotion to Maintenance Supervisor for Steve Horvath. Seth seconded the motion. AIF Nicky shared next steps for moving forward with Mayoral vacancy. She explained that a special election is not necessary, and the position can be filled by appointment. The appointment can be a current council member or anyone that is eligible to be in a Mayor position. She stated that the council will need to decide what process they would like to use to decide on the appointment. Jayme asked that they hold off on that decision until Tim Winter is available to attend, and Eric would continue as acting Mayor until it is decided. A special meeting will most likely take place before the next meeting. Jayme made a motion to remove Sue Marstein from Stearn’s bank and Magnifi financial institution. Seth seconded the motion. AIF Past Due Water Bills: Nick Barbato, Nathaniel Posch, Jesse & Carlena Johnson Looking Forward: Office Closed for Presidents Day: February 20, 2023 Annual Fire Relief Breakfast Fundraiser: March 12, 2023 Next Council Meeting: Monday, March 13, 2023 Office Closed March 21-24, for Annual MCFOA Conference April 4th Board of Appeals and Equalization 6:00pm Jeremy Fruedenrich asked what happened with the Mayor. Eric stated that there was an email sent stating that she was not going to be able to govern with the current council. The rest of the council agreed that there were things they didn’t see eye to eye on and it was best to move forward that way. Adjourn: Jayme made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:47pm. Seth seconded the motion. AIF