City Council Meeting

Holdingford City Council Meeting Minutes Public hearing for Rezoning and conditional use permit for Community Country Church. Public hearing for Alley Vacation. Monday, May 8, 2023 Present: Seth Young, Eric Bersheid, Tim Winter, Nicky Lahr, Sandy Skwira, Andy Higgins, Scott Lange, Jared Hillesheim, Herman Lensing, Carin Pedersen, James Vouk, Charles Warga, Robyn Rieland, Tara Christian, Dustin Rademacher, Carlena Johnson, Steve Horvath, Gordy Sjaaheim, Tim Yurczyk, Erin Gohl, Amber and Lisa Larson, Perez, Daniel Eiynck. Eric opened the public hearing for Rezoning the Community Country Church (CCC) from R1 to R2, and for a conditional use permit to have a school within the facility, at 7:00pm The school administrator stated that they are asking for this change in order to open a school within the church. Discussion from Seth and Tim in regards to any additional costs having a school on a property that does not pay taxes, the city could incur. Charles Warga explained that there will not need to be any street improvements as only a small shuttle bus will be used on/off the property. Tim made a motion to close the meeting at 7:05pm. Seth seconded it. AIF Eric opened the public hearing for vacation of the alley at 230 Washington street at 7:05pm. Scott Lange explained the portion of the alley exists between 220 and 230 Washington Street, he has no use and is recommending vacation. Scott showed the original plats, showed where the property lines fall, and stated the extra section would go to the 220 property. Carlena Johnson of 230 Washington, asked for clarification as to why she is losing property. Scott explained she would not be, the property line (where the car tracks are) would remain hers. Scott also recommended putting barriers at both ends of the alley. Seth made a motion to close the hearing. Andy seconded it. AIF Eric called the regular City Council meeting to order at 7:10pm, the pledge of allegiance was recited. Tim made a motion to accept the consent agenda. Seth seconded it. AIF Guests: Robyn Rieland requested that the park shelter fees would be waived for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program on Thursday July 20th, 2023. Tim made a motion to approve waiving the fees for the park shelter on July 20th, 2023. Andy seconded it. AIF. Lisa and Amber Perez from 250 Washington Street wanted to make the council aware of increased crime and nuisance violations in City limits. Their mail has been stolen, Cars are doing burnouts at the stop signs, etc. Eric recommended they go to the Post Office to request a mailbox at their home. If they are denied, the post office would need to provide a PO box at no charge. Lisa and Amber continued to discuss other issues of vandalism, noise ordinance violations, theft and nuisance behaviors and would like to get support from other community members. Eric recommended calling Stearns County Sheriff for increase patrol at certain times, and putting reminders in the next newsletter. Tim mentioned the possibility of a neighborhood watch, and if anyone is interested in starting one, they should contact City Clerks. Rick Solinger did not make it to the meeting. He is requesting the culvert on Riverbank lane to be plugged to try to reduce water in his back yard. Steve Horvath had met with Rick, and shared the results with the council. Steve is not recommending closure of the culvert as he just does not know what repercussions could occur. The Councilmembers agreed with Steve and recommends future monitoring. Sandy Skwira returned to discuss the sewer connection issues she continues to have. Scott Lange provided a quote from Larson for the repair of the fitting as the council requested. Eric asked when the issues originally started, and why. Sandy stated that she was told that it shifted with the ground, and became an issue this year. Eric said that the council would consider entertaining replacement of the fitting itself (not all the way to the house). He asked her to gather one more quote for the replacement of the fitting. Department reports: Fire Department report was read by Keith Hommerding. He stated that the Fire Dept had a house burn training that went well. Going to get door painted and new LED lighting put in. He also spoke to a mechanical issue with their grass rig. They used their new truck in place although it is not yet painted and logo. Maintenance report was read by Steve Horvath. He stated that they submitted biannual waste water sample to MPCA, main street has been swept, took down and stored ice rink, took down Christmas decorations, replaced tires on Kubota side by side, started lawn repairs from plowing, manage new record flow into WWTP in April with no incidents to property. He requested the approval of the council for the offer letter written to hire James Vouk at a wage of $19.44/hr. Andy made a motion to approve hiring James Vouk. Tim seconded. AIF. Steve also requested his and Dan’s comp time is paid down as they are over 100 currently. Seth made a motion to approve payout of comp time down to 40 hours for Steve and Dan. Tim seconded it. AIF. Steve shared two quotes received for the bolt replacement project. He is recommending going with the lower quote. Tim made a motion to hire Eagle construction for bolt replacement. Seth seconded it. AIF City Engineer’s report was presented by Scott Lange. He requested a motion for alley vacation. Seth made a motion to approve resolution number 23-5-8-2 to vacate the alley on Washington Street between 220 and 230 with the vacated segment going back to the 230 property. Tim seconded it. AIF. Steve will put barriers up temporarily. No updates on lift station replacement project. Scott shared his walk around of the City Hall building. He is recommending we get an architect and general contractor to take a look at it to get advice and estimates. Liquor Store report presented by Jared Hillescheim. He explained several bartenders attended training on safe liquor serving. He mentioned food service has started successfully. They are continuing to adjust pricing based on product purchase costs. He stated the fryer smell is present and he looking for quotes on an exhaust fan. Year to date profits are just under $3000. Jared also discussed the safety walk around done by the City’s insurance representative, and the various recommendations such as stair rail to basement, and extension cords. Emergency Manager Report No updates Land Use Committee was presented by Seth young. Dan Eiynch is adding a patio. Seth made a motion to approve permit 9-23-4-24. Tim seconded it. AIF. Seth made a motion to approve Holdingford School permit 11-23-5-1 to enclose a freezer/cooler. Andy seconded the motion. AIF. Seth made a motion to approve permit 12-23-5-1 for Tim Berscheid to expand his garage. Andy seconded the motion. AIF. Seth made a motion to approve Tara Christian patio and driveway expansion, permit 13-23-5-2. Andy seconded it. AIF. Clerk’s Report: was read by Nicky Lahr. The Paycom contract has been signed, the first payroll on Paycom will take over is in mid-June. Also, Banyon accounting software contract is signed, and will be fully implemented on July 1st. The annual audit for 2022 has been pushed back to the week of May 22nd. Schlenner and Wenner auditors will be on site for this. Ripplinger plumbing was called out to repair a leak in the kitchen sink at city hall. Continued complaints of loose dogs and several nuisance complaints for unregistered cars, unrepaired fences, and junk-filled yards. Letters will be going out to property owners. Slight changes to overdue notices have prompted 7 residents to make arrangement to catch up on their utility bills. City ARPA grant reporting is due. We are requesting an extension on our Well Head Protection Plan to give the state of MN adequate time to prepare the new one. TIF reporting is due this month. Clerks are requesting City hall to be closed on July 3rd in addition to July 4th They will use Vacation time to cover their time off. Andy made a motion to approve closer of City Hall on July 3rd. Tim seconded it. AIF. Unfinished/Old Business: The old Holdingford signs are still at the Maintenance garage. Seth asked if they should be repaired or thrown away. The council determined they should be thrown away and replaced at a later date. Carlena Johnson stated that she knows someone looking for an Eagle Scout project that may be interested. Eric stated that they would need to indicate desire to do this by next meeting or they will be scrapped. Jeremy Opatz will be removing the brush pile at the compost site. He stated that if we purchase a dumpster, he would be willing to dump it on a regular basis to prevent the large pile from happening again. New Business: Holdingford Youth Wrestling club requesting a temporary liquor license for Holdingford Daze softball tournament. Tim motioned to approve resolution 23-5-8-4 for a temporary liquor license for Holdingford Youth Wrestling club pending the receipt of their Certificate of Insurance. Andy seconded the motion. AIF. Results of the spring roof inspection were submitted, along with a recommendation for repairs. Seth made a motion to sign a contract for repairs with Roof 1 in the amount of $7200. Tim seconded the motion. AIF. Eric spoke in regards to the city clean-up fees. He is recommending a reduction or elimination of cost to the residents that are dropping off to continue to encourage residents to use the service. Seth made a motion to cover the first $30 of cost for each person. Tim seconded it. AIF. Seth and Eric stated that they would be helping that day. Eric will be collecting money, Seth and Maintenance will be unloading items. Nicky inquired about forming a Personnel committee. The council stated that they would consider it if more information would be brought forward in regards to what all the committee would oversee. The City received the $10K grant, to go towards locating a new well site. Holdingford Chamber of Commerce, is seeking road closures for Holdingford Daze. Seth made a motion to approve street closure of Main Street, on July 8th for a street dance 8am-1am July 9th. Andy seconded it. AIF. Andy made a motion to close the Main Street on July 7th from 2pm-10pm for a car show. Seth seconded it. AIF. Tim made a motion to approve parade permit on July 8th from 7pm-8:15pm. Andy seconded it. AIF. Motion was made to approve Resolution 25-5-8-3 for a gambling permit for the Holdingford Chamber of Commerce Ranger Raffle to be held on 8/25/23 by Tim. Seth seconded the motion. AIF Stearns County sent notification of intent to increase animal units on a feedlot at 42524 CR 9. No action needed. Andy made a motion to approve Ordinance #105 to Rezone the Community Country Church from R1 to R2. Discussion, Seth shared concerns with the church becoming a school, Tim noted concerns about their sewer system and heavier road use. Eric noted that the Church is on a township road. Tim seconded the motion. AIF. Tim made a motion to approve resolution 23-5-8-1 to allow the condition use permit to operate a school from the church. Eric seconded the motion. AIF. Additional agenda items/council member updates: Seth made a motion for Andy to become liaison for the Parks. Tim seconded it. AIF Past Due Water Bills: David Hagemann; Dale Lundberg; Estate of Nancy Mager; Duane Young; Greg Willenbring; Jacob Fischer; Hyatt House, LLC; Roger Jensen; Principal Logistics, LLC; Jacob Hanebuth Looking Forward: Next Council Meeting: Monday, June 12, 2023 Holdingford Cares/Cleanup day May 20, 2023 Public safety in the Park (Stearns County Sheriff) June 12th City Hall Closed May 29th for Memorial Day Hydrant flushing will occur the week of May 15th. Adjourn: Andy made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:54 pm. Seth seconded the motion. AIF