City Council

May 5, 2011 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Monday, May 9, 2011 5:30 p.m. Council Chambers, 315 N. Broadway 1. Call to Order 2. Agenda Additions or Deletions 3. Approval of Minutes – 4/26/11 4. Approval of Accounts Payable Listing 5. Police Chief Report • Speed Limit Signs at NE 3rd St. and River Road 6. Street/Park Superintendent Report • Tar Break-Up Fee • Sewer Fee • Summer Help 7. Utility Superintendent Report 8. Library Report 9. Financial Report 10. Planning Commission Report 11. Personnel 12. City Hall Building Purchase 13. License Renewal 14. Chamber of Commerce Raffle Permit – 7/1/11, 25 N. Broadway 15. Pelican Fest Promotion – “Platinum Partner” - $500 16. MIR3 System Update 17. Culvert Bridge Update 18. 800 MHZ Radio Update 19. EDC Meeting – 5/12/11 – 6:00 p.m. @ Library  CITY OF PELICAN RAPIDS COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – 05-09-11 The City Council of Pelican Rapids met in regular session at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, 05-09-11, in Council Chambers, City Hall. Mayor Ben Woessner, Council Members James Strand, Steve Foster, Kevin Ballard and John Waller, III, were present. No one was absent. Administrator Don Solga, Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert, Police Chief Jeff Stadum, Street and Park Superintendent Brian Olson, Utilities Superintendent Brent E. Frazier, Library Director Annie Wrigg and Lou Hoglund of the Pelican Rapids Press were also present. Mayor Ben Woessner called meeting to order. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. Motion by Strand, seconded by Foster to approve the agenda as presented. Council Members Strand, Ballard, Foster and Waller voted yes and motion passed unanimously. Council reviewed the 04-26-11 Council meeting minutes. Motion by Foster, seconded by Waller to approve the 04-26-11 Council meeting minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously. Council reviewed the 05-09-11 Accounts Payable Listing. Motion by Waller, seconded by Ballard to approve the 05-09-11 Accounts Payable Listing as presented in the amount of $224,682.09 for City bills with the addition of Ouren Construction, Inc. for SCDP expenses in the amount of $8,510.00; $5015.96 for library bills and $76,663.20 for liquor store April bills. Motion passed unanimously. Police Chief Jeff Stadum presented his report regarding hours worked, miles driven, complaints received, fines collected and departmental training. He reviewed traffic speeds on River Road and NE 3rd St. and recommended speed limit signs of 10 miles per hour because of the number of kids in the neighborhood. This would be similar to the speed limit in the trailer court. There is no signage on the streets at this time. Motion by Strand, seconded by Waller to install 10 mile per hour speed limit signs on River Road and NE 3rd St. as recommended by Police Chief Jeff Stadum. Motion passed unanimously. Street and Park Superintendent Brian Olson reported that he has spent considerable money repairing frost boils in City streets. Hydrant flushing has been accomplished. Superintendent Olson said there has been discussion about street assessment policy. Administrator Solga reviewed circumstances on SE 5th St. for Improvement Project No. 78. He said there are unique circumstances on this street because the lot sizes vary from 200 ft. to a cul-de-sac with very small street frontage plus some houses have frontage on both SE 4th St. and SE 5th St. He requested a subcommittee be appointed to work with city staff on assessment policy. Motion by Waller, seconded by Ballard to appoint Mayor Ben Woessner and Planning Commissioner Richard Peterson to work on this Assessment Policy Committee. Motion passed unanimously. Superintendent Brian Olson reported on various communities’ fee for street patching. He said the $350 bituminous break-up fee is too low. He said the City’s cost to patch is $800 to $1200. He also said the water and sewer connect fee is too low at $30 for water connect and $3.00 for sewer. The City has to run an air pressure test on the water service lines and observe that the service lines are connected correctly. Council Member Ballard suggested a $500 deposit. Motion by Ballard, seconded by Strand to raise the bituminous break-up deposit fee to $500 and charge actual repair costs when completed. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor Woessner suggested that if it is a hardship to the property owner, then the property owner could request that the charge be assessed to their property. Superintendent Olson said the water and sewer connection expenses would vary due to the number of hours spent with the air testing and observing the work. Council Member Foster said we should have one fee for connecting the water, but he suggested it be postponed to the next meeting. Council agreed. Superintendent Olson recommended that Council permit the street and park department work summer hours from after Memorial Day to after Labor Day. Administrator Solga and Mayor Woessner said they would like the hours rotated so that someone in the department will be working until 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Council said the matter was up to the department and Administrator Solga. Council asked for a report on the matter at the end of June. Motion by Waller, seconded by Ballard to accept Superintendent Brian Olson’s recommendation and hire the following pool employees: Pool Manager and Water Safety Instructor Jessica Holte Willson; returning lifeguards Austin Lammers, Hope Livdahl, Anna Skow-Anderson and Ally Berube and new lifeguards Alexis Smischny, Rachel Appert and Kelsey Appert. Motion included that employees will be paid according to the salary schedule for each position. Motion passed unanimously. Superintendent Olson recommended hiring returning summer park employees. Motion by Foster, seconded by Strand to hire the following summer park employees: Richard Peterson, Porfirio Diaz and Dan Ditch. Motion included that employees will be paid according to the salary schedule for each position. Motion passed unanimously. Utilities Superintendent Brent Frazier reported on the water and sewer departments. He said the City’s mandated Water Quality Report has been completed, published, posted at West Central Turkeys and sent to the State of Minnesota. Administrator Don Solga said City Engineer Bob Schlieman and Utilities Superintendent Brent Frazier have discussed water tower maintenance. It would be a good candidate for cleaning and repainting rather than having to do a complete sandblasting prior to repainting. Paint jobs on water towers last 10 to 15 years. Administrator Solga said estimated cost for project is $180,000 and he will be checking on low interest financing. Library Director Annie Wrigg reported on library programming. All library programming from now until the end of June will be paid for by Legacy funding. On Monday, 05-23-11, 6:30 p.m., Pam Brunfelt will present a program: Dark Days, Hope, at the Grass Roots and the New Deal. Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert presented the Clerk’s Recap and Investment Report of 04-30-11. Council accepted report as presented. Administrator Solga reported that the Planning Commission will be conducting the Spring Tour on Thursday, 05-19-11. Administrator Solga and Liquor Store Manager Bob Leslie recommend hiring Cassandra Borah. Motion by Strand, seconded by Waller to hire Cassandra Borah as a liquor store employee at the starting level of $8.16 per hour. Motion passed unanimously. Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert reported to City Council that employee Julie Lammers has resigned from the City. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to accept the resignation of Julie Lammers, effective 05-16-11. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Strand, seconded by Waller to authorize advertising for the position in the City Clerk’s office. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator Don Solga reviewed the lease-purchase proposals considered by the Facilities Committee from Wells Fargo calling for the City to make a down payment of $32,000, financing $112,500 at an interest rate of 5.15% with rate adjustable in five years. The period of the agreement would be 10 years and fees were estimated at $1700 to $2,900. Minnesota National Bank provided a fixed interest rate of 4.71% for $150,000 for 10 years and a fee estimated at $1500. The monthly payment will be $1500 per month plus the $2,000 utility costs will be an expense of $3500. The Facilities Committee recommends accepting the Lease Purchase Agreement with Minnesota National Bank and Kinetic Leasing. This program will be similar to the Lease-Purchase Agreement the City entered into for financing the Liquor Store. City Attorney Greg Larson has reviewed the Lease Purchase Agreement and has no concerns with documents. Motion by Waller, seconded by Foster to introduce RESOLUTION RELATING TO LEASE- PURCHASE AGREEMENT NO. CIT3400-102 GIVING APPROVAL TO THE ISSUANCE THEREOF; AND APPROVING THE FORMS OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS RELATING THERETO. (A complete text of this resolution is part of permanent public record in the City Clerk’s Office.) Council Member Ballard said he will not support the purchase of this building. Council Members Foster, Waller and Strand voted yes. Council Member Ballard voted no. Motion carried and resolution declared duly adopted. Motion by Foster, seconded by Strand to authorize Administrator Don Solga to sign the Certification of Minutes Relating to Lease Purchase Agreement No. CIT3400-102. Council Members Foster, Waller and Strand voted yes. Council Member Ballard voted no. Motion carried. Motion by Foster, seconded by Strand to authorize the Mayor to sign the Lease Purchase Agreement with Kinetic Leasing. Council Members Foster, Waller and Strand voted yes. Council Member Ballard voted no. Motion carried. Motion by Foster, seconded by Waller to authorize the Mayor to sign the Purchase Agreement between the City of Pelican Rapids and State Bank & Trust for property at 315 N. Broadway, City Hall. Council Members Foster, Waller and Strand voted yes. Council Member Ballard voted no. Motion carried. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to authorize the Mayor to sign the Assignment of Purchase Agreement which will re-assign the property to third party Kinetic Leasing prior to closing. Council Members Foster, Waller and Strand voted yes. Council Member Ballard voted no. Motion carried. State Bank has sent the abstract to N.F. Field. Council Member Ballard said that since the City will not be building on the lot across from City Hall, he proposed that the City offer the property for sale. Administrator Don Solga said there were some items that needed to be accomplished on the lot, but that would be the goal. Motion by Waller, seconded by Ballard to approve renewal of an Off-Sale 3.2% Malt Liquor License for Rick Loerzel of Paul’s of Pelican, Inc., 209 S. Broadway, and an On-Sale 3.2% Malt Liquor License for Janet Widman of Jimmy’s Pizza, 41 N. Broadway. Motion passed unanimously. Motion by Waller, seconded by Foster to approve a raffle permit for the Chamber of Commerce to conduct a raffle on 07-01-11 at their offices, 25 N. Broadway. Motion passed unanimously. Clerk-Treasurer Glenys Ehlert presented information received from the Chamber of Commerce regarding funding for promoting Pelican Fest. Motion by Ballard, seconded by Strand to support the Chamber of Commerce and promote the Pelican Fest as a Platinum Partner with a $500 contribution for advertising. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator Don Solga explained that the City of Pelican Rapids would like to see Otter Tail County upgrade to the next level of MIR3 System. At the present time the City can only notify 72 people on the system. The upgrade will cost the County an additional $16,000 in addition to the present $14,000 annual fee. Administrator Solga said with all the townships and cities that would like to participate, the fees would ultimately go down. Commissioners tabled it to the next meeting because Larry Krohn wanted to have the Advisory Committee review the various systems. The County’s IT group said the County has already invested in this system for three years and the system is one of four approved by Homeland Security. “I said the system is useable, but it’s not the way we envisioned it working,” concluded Administrator Solga. Administrator Don Solga said he met with the County Engineer and Interstate Engineering about the Culvert Bridge. Two 16 ft. x 16 ft. box culverts will be designed to replace the present bridge with lane width based on an average of 50 cars per day. Each drive lane will be 10 ft. plus a 10 ft. bike lane for a 30 ft. bridge. Administrator Solga said to keep process working, he recommends that the public parking lot be resurfaced. Solga said the City will want to talk to business owners in the area so they can be prepared for the project. In order to determine the costs, the City will need to obtain a preliminary engineering report. To simplify things, in this case, Administrator Solga suggests the City use Interstate Engineering, Inc. and that Council ask for a proposal. Motion by Waller, seconded by Strand to authorize Administrator Don Solga to request a proposal for a cost on the preliminary engineering report from Interstate Engineering. Motion passed unanimously. Mayor Woessner requested that the bridge project be designed with alternates for the alley south of the bridge, business parking and senior center parking. Administrator Don Solga reported on the 800 MHZ system. All counties and cities have to be off the wideband radio system by 2013. County commissioners have decided they will buy the initial 800 MHZ system radios for Otter Tail law enforcement agencies. These costs were estimated at $20,000 for the City Police Department. The City will need to buy accessory equipment and replace any radios after the initial purchase. The City will also need to budget for street department and City Hall radios. Administrator Don Solga said the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will meet on 05- 12-11 at the Library at 6:00 p.m. Administrator Don Solga said he has attended a meeting about a web casting that will be presented at the EDC meeting. Solga said, “This may be a very good way to start changing the perception of the Pelican Rapids community.” Council Member Strand and Mayor Woessner will attend the EDC meeting to represent the City. Council Member Ballard requested information about Liquor Store paving. Administrator Solga said the landscaping needs to be in place prior to the paving and he hopes to have landscaping quotes by next Council meeting, 05-31-11. Motion by Strand, seconded by Foster to adjourn at 7:30 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Glenys Ehlert, CMC Clerk-Treasurer