City Council Meeting
Date: August 8th at 6:00 P.M.
Location: Professional Building
Present: Jeff Watts, Connor Snitker, Ken Norby, Allen Huttunen, Mayor Mike Fitzgerald, Renee Thomas
Absent: Pat Burton
Guests: Debi Stainbrook, Greg Koropatnicki, Rob Fleming, Brad Bail, Blaine Eisenbeis, Brenda Maslowski, Phil Hall, Cole Hegg, Rachel Gornowicz, Eric Jackson, Brad Breioenbach, Nicole Venter, Jasper Venter, Patty Dexter
Meeting called to order at 6:00 P.M.
Public Hearing:
Patty Dexter had 2 requests and 1 question. Street signs should say north, east, south, west, and should have avenues. Does not like the name Hayden Street. To change the name of the street, she would have to petition to all owners who live on Hayden street. She would like to have a ditch all the way around her yard to plant trees.
Phil Hall is asking about the repair of dips on 3rd street south, and 2 dips on Moorhead St. Water is constantly sitting in the street on Moorhead Street.
Changes to Agenda:
Phil Hall under engineering, camper under old business, lease under Rob, streets and stutsman under Employees Report, dike under new business. Motion to accept the changes by Watts, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Approval of Prior Minutes
Minutes included July’s city council meeting on 7/12. Motion by Snitker to approve minutes, seconded by Watts. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Old Business
Drainage west end along dike/mci drainage ditch – We should contact Nate from Corps of Engineers, so they are notified of what is going on. No work has been done yet.
Garbage truck/rates - Countrywide was here to talk about their services for residential and commercial garbage pickup. They would need more information about dumpsters and will give us a quote before our next city council meeting.
Generator – Tabled
Lagoon – Koropat updated us on the lagoon. Twamley came out and tried to get it open with no success. Brad will come up with a plan so we can start getting bids.
Ramp Light – called DOT and they said they have a contract with Drayton and Pembina to take care of ramp lights. It is not covered under our insurance. Blaine will send Debi the sheriff report and to find the semi driver that hit the pole.
Signage – We cannot post the same signs as the ones on the street as the load limit is over 26 tons. Motion to retract changing the sign by Snitker, seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Committee Reports
Fire Department – No bids back for the roof yet. Working on a grant to get a drone. Blaine is going to class to become certified to use the drone. Have not received money from the city yet, which is $7,000. Blaine signed the application for open burning variance of clean wood at landfills.
Rec Board – Called Dakota fence to come and look at the fencing around the large baseball field. Some areas need to be repaired, some replaced. Ashton held 2 sessions of frisbee disc golf. Rec board has a meeting next week to work on the budget.
Employees Report/Concerns
Streets and Stutsman – The west side looks like its fallen. Koropat tried cutting the east side and it doesn’t seem to want to give. He has an eighth of a barrel of crack seal to try use on it. Motion to purchase 2 barrels of crack seal by Huttunen, seconded by Watts. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Engineer Report
Brad started looking at the drainage. We could put leads out there for storm sewers and manholes. Brad can put numbers together for the catch base project.
Phil Hall – We need to do patching and filling on those streets. Brad will send the council an email with a link to see streets block by block of which streets should be patched, and which ones should to be replaced.
Attorney Update
Council Pay ordinance update – First reading done by Rob. Motion to approve first reading by Watts, seconded by Norby. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Food Truck ordinance update – Rob will add the Food Truck ordinance
Resolution for tax exemption – Resolution 2022-1. Motion to approve resolution by Huttunen, seconded by Watts. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Special Election date – Motion to hold the Special Election on November 16th by Huttunen, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carried. Filing deadline is September 12th by 4:00 P.M. Applicants need 10 signatures.
Lease – Daycare lease has not been turned in yet. Golf Course lease has been sent to Debi.
Update & Business: City Auditor/ Debi Stainbrook
August Bills & Financials – Motion to approve bills presented by Watts, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Golf Membership vouchers – Watts rescinds his motion to extend Schiltz’ golf membership, seconded by Snitker. Motion to extend Katie Siemer’s membership by Huttunen, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Audit quotes – We are on the waiting list to have the state audit our financials. They advised us to find someone else in the meantime. Motion to have Brady Martz complete a one-year audit by Watts. Motion dies. Reach out to 10 other companies to see what their rates are.
Painting quotes – Presented a quote from Frank’s Painting and Drywall to paint the professional building and community center. Tabled.
Mosquito spray – Motion to purchase a 55 gallon barrel by Huttunen, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carried.
Budget - Debi presented the budget. Motion to approve the budget by Watts, seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carried.
New Business
Nicole Venter – Nicole is looking at opening a salon in the Professional Building. She plans to be open 3 full days, plus evenings and weekends. There will be walk-in days. Motion to have her start November 1st rent-free for one year by Snitker, seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carried. Rob will draft up the contract.
South Pembina Dike – See if we can get bids to fix the dike. See if we can add this to FEMA as it was flood damage.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn by Norby at 8:42 P.M.
Submitted by: Debi Stainbrook, City Auditor
The next city council meeting will be held September 12th at 6:00 P.M. in the Professional Building. There will also be a Special Budget Hearing meeting held September 12th at 5:30 P.M. in the Professional Building.
