City Council Meetings 2016-2024

MINUTES REGULAR MEETING MOOSE LAKE CITY COUNCIL Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 4:00 pm; City Hall PRESENT: Mayor Ted Shaw, Council Members; Walt Lower III, Doug Juntunen, Greg Sarvela, City Administrator Ellissa Owens, City Superintendent Phil Entner, Chief of Police Darren Juntunen, Deputy Clerk Ryan McKeon, Administrative Assistant Taylor Hansberry, Deputy Registrar Karen Dahlen, Bette Kreul 1. CALL TO ORDER A. Pledge of Allegiance B. Approval of Agenda  Motion made to approve the Agenda by Councilor Lower, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. 2. CONSENT AGENDA A. Minutes 1. Regular City Council Meeting – March 8, 2023  Motion made to approve the Minutes by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. B. Financial Reports 1. City Accounts Payable – March 2023 2. City Financial Statements – March 2023 3. Liquor Store - Profit & Loss Statement – March 2023  Motion made to approve the Financial Reports by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT This time is reserved comments from the public on matters not listed on the agenda. Please keep comments to 3 minutes. 4. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS A. Police Chief a. Department Report March 2023  327 total calls for service.  Chief is working on a few grants for equipment.  Looking to get a couple flashing lights up by the school which will be funded by Power and Light. A flashing pedestrian sign has also been approved and paid from funds through Water and Light. B. City Superintendent a. Department Report March 2023 Water Department: 1. The water department distributed 6.0 MG month of March. 2. Hydrant flushing will be happening at the end of April. 3. MDH source water protection grant a. Phil applied for the exact same grant on March 1, 2023 and if successful, he will put together a lining project for the 7th street lift station. Currently #4 on our well head protection plan hazards.  b. Preliminary numbers for costs of the lining are coming back very close to within budget. i. + or – 1% = on a $20,000.00 project total. Sewer Department: 1. Collection system a. 11.1 MG collected in the month of March. 2. Currently random wastewater sampling and testing is happening. a. About four different areas of town b. This is preliminary work for our Phosphorus Management plan and our Mercury Management plan. c. Future discussions will have to happen if results are found to be of stronger concentration than household strength. 3. MRWA, in partnership with the USDA and the University of MN, is offering a Pond Optimization program that Phil had mentioned in the past. Moose Lake is involved in this. a. With our participation in this we are eligible for grant opportunities for valve and structure replacement at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. No details yet as far as monies and timing, but Phil will share that information when he hears more. b. They are currently doing surveys of selected facilities in the state of MN. 4. MH 95 Ironwood Avenue collapsed during cleaning and was replaced 4/3/2023. 5. The televising approved last month was completed last week. 6. Lift station cleaning and service checks completed yesterday. Phil will have service reports at next month’s meeting. Street Department 1. Pot hole filling is happening daily. 2. Hot mix patching/blade patching is going to start around Memorial Day when the hot mix plants open up. 3. Storm cleanup is underway. Most of the downtown area has been hit once already. After the snow melts these areas will be revisited. 4. 2023-2024 winter road salt requirement – Phil submitted this on Monday of 100 tons of un-treated salt. Cemeteries / Campground/ Park 1. Park a. The punch list for maintenance items will begin in the spring. 2. The Cemeteries a. Storm cleanup happening. b. Water systems will be started by the beginning of May. 3. Campground a. Doug Wolf will be managing our campground for the summer. b. The water system will be fired up the beginning of May. c. Spring cleaning is underway now and will continue. 4. The bath house renovations will happen later this summer. 5. Arena a. Ice is out and the building is shut down. b. Small maintenance needs are still getting completed on an as needed basis. C. Municipal Liquor Store a. Department Report March 2023  Ryan stated he continues to check in with Mari. We had a recent request from MLAHA wanting to hold a fundraising event at the arena for compressors; Ryan is working with Mari through that request.  A couple more applications have come in for the Manager position.  D. Technology/Library Department a. Quarterly Library Department Report b. Monthly Technology Update  Walt stated the book sale is June 16-17; discussed adding craft vendors to this event.  Ryan stated we recently had the DMV and MLPD work stations swapped out; this happens yearly- some issues were discovered. Ryan stated working with CW has not gone well by history and recommends the City look at other company options. Customer service has been poor. Chief Juntunen supports this recommendation as he has also encountered issues with CW.  Mayor Shaw received communication back on broadband from Bill Carlson. More information to follow. E. Motor Vehicle a. Quarterly Department Report  Karen stated the office has been very busy.  Exams are continuing and these are increasing; as of January 1, 132 exams have been done which is about 30 more than last year at this time.  Karen would like to send out letters to the local schools to inform them of the testing available at our office.  On March 23, five State employees came in to do a sticker and plate audit; this went well. F. City Engineer a. Monthly Update- April 6, 2023 Meeting Minutes  Administrator Owens and Superintendent Entner have continued to meet with the Sewer District; working on Significant User Agreements.  I&I process – looking at how to spread the word regarding this.  Grant submissions have taken place for the campground expansion and Phase 2 of Hwy 73 trail.  Hail Claims Roof Replacements Phil has broken down the 24 full roof replacements into three projects. He is meeting with the two roofing contractors to go over this work. Mayor Shaw, Administrator Owens and Phil will set up a bid opening date and time to open these bids in the City office.  2023 Sanitary sewer cleaning program at the western edge of town/Arrowhead Lane. 25,000 feet of clay tile sewer main.  Mayor Shaw stated the Council needs to relook at the road projects and asked for feedback regarding forming a committee. Councilor Juntunen recommends looking at the lining project to be able coincide with these projects. G. Chamber of Commerce Updates a. Monthly Update  Administrator Owens stated event season is underway; Moose Run Saturday, May 6; in addition on May 6 the ML Farmers Market will start back up. They will be at Our New Adventures. Please see the Chamber website for more details and additional events.  The Chamber is working on their new fee schedule and having discussions on increasing membership. 5. PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED BUSINESS A. Moose Lake City Campground Update  Administrator Owens stated the online registration system is going very well.  Functionality has been looked into. Hosts of the campground we have found need to be employees. Phil stated applications for part time seasonal help have been coming in. A combination approach to staffing will be looked at for this season; hosts will need to be on the City’s payroll; wages for this have been budgeted. 6. NEW BUSINESS A. 2023 City of Moose Lake Annual Appointments – Updated  Administrator Owens reviewed the additions.  Motion made to approve the 2023 City of Moose Lake Annual Appointments by Councilor Lower, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. B. 2023 City of Moose Lake Fee Schedule – Updated  Motion made to approve the 2023 updated fee schedule by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. C. J&M Displays Fireworks Proposal Administrator Owens stated only one entity responded.  Motion made to accept the J&M Displays Fireworks Proposal of $12,000; while also seeking donations, by Councilor Lower, seconded by Councilor Juntunen. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. D. Moose Lake Police Department – Taser Quote  Motion to approve the taser quote by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. E. League of MN Cities – Property Casualty Insurance Member Analysis  Administrator Owens and Superintendent Entner met with Troy Walsh regarding this analysis. F. League of MN Cities – Workers’ Compensation Insurance Member Analysis  Combined with Agenda item E. Informational only. G. State of MN Joint Powers Agreement – Bureau of Criminal Apprehension  Administrator Owens stated Chief Juntunen has gone through agreements that have expired or need updating.  Motion made to approve the State of MN Joint Powers Agreement – Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Memorandum of Understanding - Human Development Center by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Sarvela. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. H. Memorandum of Understanding – Human Development Center  Please see G. I. Rink-Tec International, Inc. Memo  Administrator Owens stated we are operating with a system that is now obsolete. Knowing this, we wanted to make sure we had a good handle on what the cost would be to replace the compressors. This is informational only at this time. Current quote to replace the compressors is $557,270.00. J. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP – 2022 Exit Presentation  Administrator Owens states this takes place in June. Special meeting discussed to be held in June for this exit presentation either on June 6 or June 7. Administrator Owens will contact Council members directly regarding setting this special meeting date. K. Pederson-Maunula, Post 379 – Gambling Permit Request  Motion made to approve the Pederson-Maunula Post 379 Gambling Permit Request by Councilor Juntunen, seconded by Councilor Lower. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. L. Bette Kreul – issue with water run off  Bette submitted correspondence to the Council. Her concern is the excess snow pile that is by her garage. The business property located behind her is also sloped into her yard. Bette asking for feedback and recommendations to help alleviate this problem. Mayor Shaw stated this will be readdressed. 7. REPORTS AND CORRESPONDENCE A. Carlton County Transportation Department – Annual Bridge Inspection 8. COMMITTEE AND BOARD MEETING MINUTES A. Park Board Regular Meeting Minutes – April 3, 2023 B. Moose Lake Area Fire Protection District Meeting Minutes – March 16, 2023 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS Regular Moose Lake City Council Meeting, Wednesday, May 10, 2023 - 4:00 p.m. Moose Lake City Council/Town Board Chambers. Moose Lake Economic Development Authority, Wednesday, May 17, 2023 – 12:00 p.m. City Conference Room Moose Lake Water and Light Commission, Regular Meeting– Tuesday, April 18, 2023 – 1:00 P.M. Water and Light Office. Moose Lake Housing and Redevelopment Authority Board – Monday, May 8, 2023 – 11:00 A.M. Hillside Manor Office. Moose Lake Area Fire District – Tuesday, May 9, 2023 - 6:30 p.m. – Emergency Response Center. Moose Lake Park Board Meeting – Monday, May 1, 2023 – 5:00 p.m. City Council/Town Board Chamber. 10. ADJOURNMENT  Motion made to adjourn by Councilor Sarvela, seconded by Councilor Lower. Vote: Yes – Juntunen, Sarvela, Lower. No – 0. Recorded by: Paula Arnold