City Council

February 18, 2011 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:30 p.m. Council Chambers, 315 N. Broadway 1. Call to Order 2. Additions / Deletions to Agenda 3. Approval of Minutes – 2/14/11 4. Approval of Accounts Payable Listing 5. 2010 Budget Review 6. HCH Loan Repayment to Wastewater Fund - $66,240 7. Jaycee’s Beer Garden License & Street Dances – July 8 & 9, 2011 • Noise Ordinance • Temporary 3.2% Malt Liquor License 8. Publication of Minutes - Requirements and Expenses CITY OF PELICAN RAPIDS COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – 02-22-11 The City Council of Pelican Rapids met in regular session at 4:30 p.m., on Tuesday, 02-22-11, in Council Chambers, City Hall. Mayor Ben Woessner, Council Members James Strand, Kevin Ballard, Steve Foster and John E. Waller, III were present. No members were absent. Administrator Don Solga, Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert, Jaycees Greg Sjostrom and Derek Satter and Lou Hoglund of the Pelican Rapids Press were also present. Mayor Woessner called meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Liquor Store Building Lettering was added to the agenda. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to approve the agenda with the additional item. Motion passed unanimously. Council reviewed minutes. Motion by Strand, seconded by Ballard to accept the 02-14-11 minutes as corrected from “instruct Administrator Don Solga to contact all three local realtors regarding the Council’s willingness to consider payment of a 3% commission to one of the three if they conclude an acceptable sale of the building” to “instruct Administrator Don Solga to contact all local realtors regarding the Council’s willingness to consider payment of a 3% commission to the realtor if the realtor concludes an acceptable sale of the building.” Motion to accept the minutes as corrected passed unanimously. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to approve the 02-22-11 Accounts Payable List as presented in the amount of $22,234.08 for city bills and $50 for library bills. Motion passed unanimously. Greg Sjostrom and Derek Satter from the Pelican Rapids Jaycees were present. Jaycees are requesting authorization and licenses from the City Council to conduct a street dance and beer garden on 07-08-11, from 6:00 p.m. to midnight and on 07-09-11 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 a.m., 07-10-11, as part of Pelican Fest. Jaycees expect 250 to 400 for Friday night street dance and beer garden and 900 to 1200 on Saturday night. Council and Jaycees discussed noise ordinance and 3.2% Malt Liquor licensing rules regarding the street dances and liquor sales. Council will add language to the noise ordinance to make it clear that the street dances are authorized events for the community. Jaycees agreed that the band will leave stage early enough that the final music encores will be completed by the closing times of midnight on 07-08-11 and 1:00 a.m. on 07-10-11. Jaycees will provide bonding information on security services and the names of two off-duty law enforcement officers who will provide security for the dances and beer gardens to the City by 07-01-11. Jaycees will notify the businesses on West Mill Avenue and tenants of nearby apartments by letter as to the events taking place and a copy of this notice and a list of those notified will be provided to City by 07-01-11. Motion by Ballard, seconded by Foster to approve the Jaycee’s 3.2% Malt Liquor license for 07-08-11 and 07-09-11 and street dances on West Mill Avenue, subject to the rules and regulations provided to Council on 02-22-11. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator Don Solga reviewed the 2010 Water Fund Year to Date Income and Expenses. Positive net income for the Water Fund was $38,768.41. Administrator Solga reviewed the 2010 Sewer Fund Year to Date Income and Expenses. The City did not meet sales revenue expectations as budgeted. True revenues were $1,298,336.21. The projected numbers from the engineers for phosphorus operating supplies had led the City to expect phosphorus costs to be much higher. Also Brent’s staff, in particular Dennis Heruth used his initiative to find a way to apply less alum (at the mechanical plant) and meet standards with less expense. Positive net income for the Sewer Fund was $174,399.54 with expenses at $1,123,936.67. Administrator Don Solga said that all the departments worked really hard to keep the budgets in line and come in under budget at the end of the year. The department heads did a really good job at watching budgets and keeping expenses down. Solga reviewed the 2010 General Fund: stayed under budget, were able to set aside dedicated funds and come up with $123,767.69 in net income. Administrator Solga pointed out that the City experienced unallotments and reductions in Local Government Aid and Market Value Credit reductions for multiple years. Administrator Don Solga said for the first year of new Fire Service Agreement the City budgeted $51,000 for fire public safety, but the expenses were $53,889.87. These expenses are based on a formula including population, land and building valuation and number of fire calls over a three year period. Mayor Woessner asked if the City postponed any scheduled equipment. Administrator Solga said the City has postponed capital expenditures to extent possible for several years. As the Budget Committee works on the 2012 budget this spring and summer equipment needs will be considered: the F250 pick-up will need to be replaced and the street maintainer/road grader needs to be discussed as it either needs to be replaced or the work contracted. Administrator Don Solga explained that the Wastewater Fund loaned the General Fund money to complete the remodeling of Historic City Hall (HCH) in 2001. The loan has been being repaid at the rate of $8280 per year. The General Fund has sufficient funds on hand at this time to repay the Wastewater Fund in full. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to authorize a lump sum repayment of $66,240, balance due, from the General Fund to the Wastewater Fund. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator Don Solga explained the cost to publish the minutes is about $7,000 per year. If the City discontinues publishing the minutes, the senior citizens might be most affected as they are less likely to get the minutes on their smart phone or the web site. Administrator Solga said, “If we were in a pickle in the General Fund, then absolutely we should discontinue publishing.” Council discussed checking with Pelican Rapids Press about a reduction in publication costs. If minutes are not published, the City would need to mail minutes to anyone requesting them. Clerk Treasurer Glenys Ehlert spoke about the value of accountability and openness in providing the minutes by publishing them after each meeting rather than putting the burden on the public to request the minutes. Administrator Don Solga reviewed the Liquor Store building lettering. The lettering should be able to be completed by the fourth week of March. The cost is $2,299 inclusive of the letters and installation. Motion by Waller, seconded by Foster to approve the cost of the Liquor Store building lettering. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Strand, seconded by Ballard to adjourn the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Glenys Ehlert, CMC Clerk-Treasurer