City Council Meeting

Holdingford City Council Minutes Public Hearing for Two Rivers Enterprise TIF Public Hearing for Two Rivers Enterprise MIF Monday, August 8th, 2024 Councilmembers in attendance: Eric Berscheid, Jayme Opatz and Tim Winter. Others in attendance: Nicky Lahr, Gordy Sjaaheim, and Herman Lansing, Dave Blommel, Amy Opatz, Jason Murray, Angel Becker, Dawn Opheim, Rick and Bonnie Meier, Travis Harlander, Susan Sanchez Mohs, Dustin Siegle, Robert Warzecha Eric opened the public hearing for Two Rivers Enterprises TIF request at 7:00 p.m. There were no questions or input. He closed the hearing at 7:03. Eric opened the public hearing for Two Rivers Enterprises for the Minnesota Investment Funding request. There were no questions or input. He closed the hearing at 7:05. Eric opened the City Council meeting and the pledge of allegiance was recited. Jayme made a motion to approve Resolution 24-8-12-01 for TIF district 5. Tim seconded, and the motion passed with all in favor. Jayme made a motion to approve Resolution 24-8-12- 02 of support for MN Investment Fund for Two Rivers Enterprises. Tim seconded, and the motion passed with all in favor. Jayme made a motion to approve Resolution 24-8-12- 03 of support for Job Creation Fund for Two Rivers Enterprises. Tim seconded, and the motion passed with all in favor. Jayme made a motion to approve the Consent agenda including financials and minutes from July. Tim seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Dave Blommel, City Engineer, gave an update on current projects. He said that the well location search is continuing. Tim made a motion to approve resolution 24-8-12-4 authorizing advertisement of request for quotes for the North High Court project. Jayme seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Eric made a motion to get at least 3 quotes (instead of bids) and to include pricing for fall of 2024 and spring of 2025. Jayme seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. There were no Fire Department, or Land use committee updates. Amy gave the July Muni updates. She said they are up $5900 for the year due to Holdingford Daze profits, and moving a portion of her wages to the City. They are issuing a new Husker card special and a loyalty punch card. Liquor storage was moved upstairs, with very little product remaining in the basement. Amy referred to data that she has been collecting, and recommended pushing the open time to 12:00 instead of 11:00. She said this would save more than $5000 annually, and sales at this time do not justify being open. Jayme recommended that they continue existing hours, with the other Council members agreeing. Bartender, Angel stated that the Muni is busier in the winter and also recommends keeping existing hours. Jayme asked Amy to come up with more ways to increase profits. He would like to see more events that draw in customers. Amy explained that events are more successful in the fall and winter and had some in the works. She also stated that they have a gun drawing arranged with the Fire Relief Assoc. however they also did not want to do extra events in the summer as there isn’t a history of good turnout. Amy said she is planning a back to school liquor sale to eliminate more dead stock. She is also still in need of one more PT bartender. Minutes are not official until approved by the City Council and signed by the Clerk. Eric read the Maintenance report. In July, they did; pot hole patching; spraying for rough potato weeds and reached out to the County for more assistance with the issue; did maintenance on City work truck; did preventative maintenance on the loader; pressure cleaned the clarifiers at the WWTP and jetted pipes to improve flows; repaired campground faucets, preventative maintenance on lawnmower; submitted copper and lead site surveys for the department of health. Jayme asked for Steve to find out what can be done with the pothole on North High Court. Nicky gave the Clerk’s report. She stated that she was working on the TIF, MIF and Job creation fund support for Two Rivers Enterprises. She said the preliminary levy is due Sept 30th, so the September Council meeting will include a work session to review department budget requests. The city received the first ½ of LGA and Small City assistance in the amount of $141,597. The 2025 LGA amounts were released, and will be just slightly higher next year. Nicky submitted the SCORE grant to Stearns County, and should receive just under $3000 for the City Cleanup expenses. The Clerks will be printing newsletters in black and white going forward, as this saves up to $100 per month in printing costs. She also mentioned that employees will now be able to review their payroll in the Paychex application the Tuesday before payroll. This was put into place to help correct any payroll errors. Unfinished/Old business: Several citizens came to comment on the City’s compost site, and the decision to no longer accept twigs, branches/sticks. They made several recommendations. Eric explained that those suggestions were discussed at prior meetings, and all options had a high cost to the city, including permits, burning, and purchasing chipper equipment. The removal of these items has cost taxpayers between four and eight thousand dollars annually. Eric stated that citizens will need to contract a tree removal service, or bring these items to a county dump site. Jayme made a motion to approve ordinance 2024-8-12-1 for illegal dumping at the city compost site. Tim seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Jayme made a motion to approve Resolution 24-8-12-5 that describes what can and cannot be left at the city compost site. Tim seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. There will be a $100 fine enforced by the Stearns County Sheriff. New Business: Jayme made a motion to approve Nicky’s step increase from J2 $25.84 to J3 $26.25. Tim seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Additional Agenda Items: Amber Molitor requested a pay increase for her Emergency Manager role with the City. Her current wage is $10.50 per hour. Tim made a motion to approve a pay increase to $15.00 per hour. Jayme seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Angel Becker stated that she was assaulted by Steve Moonen during Holdingford Daze. She requested that he be trespassed permanently from the HMLS. The Council said that the manager has authority to make that decision. Amy said that he is not allowed in the bar for anything except off-sale purchases. The Council recommended Amy trespass him completely. Looking forward: City Hall will be closed on September 2nd for Labor Day, and Oct 14th for Columbus Day. The next City Council meeting will be September 9th, 2024 @ 7:00 p.m. Borgmann’s lawn waste pickup is on the First Friday of each Month, with the next one on September 6th. Minutes are not official until approved by the City Council and signed by the Clerk. Jayme made a motion to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. and Tim seconded the motion and it passed with all in favor. Past due water bills: James Berthelsen, Covered Bridge LLC, Joseph and Lana Doll, Roger Jensen, Nathaniel Posch, Jared Voudry, Duane Young. Signed: Nicky Lahr______________________________________ City Clerk-Treasurer, Holdingford Minutes are not official until approved by the City Council and signed by the Clerk.