Official Minutes for July 13th, 2020, Pembina City Council Meeting
Council Members Present: President Mike Fitzgerald, VP Ron Fritz, Pat Burton, Greg Koropatnicki, Jeff Watts and Allen Huttunen
Absent: none
City Employees Present: Lisa Hall/Auditor, Gary Helland/ Public Works Superintendent
City Attorney Present: absent Rob Fleming
City Engineer: Brad Bail
Others present: Blaine Eisenbeis/Fire Chief, Phil Hall, Ryan Degelder and Heather Hoffman
Public Portion- Ryan here to inquire about purchasing the city lots next to him. Phil Hall addressing public portion speaking policy-would like all questions, if pertaining to the city operations, should be addressed by council. Also wondering if the fire department applied for the two grants they were asked to by council when they received extra funds for equipment and training. Phil asked if the camera at yard waste dump site going to be operational because it is pointing up to the sky and back after Memorial day he pulled out a few wreaths that should not have been there. Also voiced opinion about selling the land the Spot is on after it is demolished at estimated value not given away. Blaine answered fire department question that seven grants have been applied for but with Covid-19 everything has been on delay. Received email informing that grants will be issued in next sixty days.
Meeting called to order by President Fitzgerald at 6:05 p.m.
Changes to Agenda
Add supervision of employees, camera, forklift and skid steer certification/OSHA training under employee updates, machinery insurance, Pembina Professional Building roof under Lisa, Corner Bar under new business, blue pump hose under employee reports/concerns and move mayor vacancy to old business.
Motion by Burton, second by Huttunen to approve the agenda with changes. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Motionby Huttunen,second by Watts to approve Junes meeting’s minutes with correction. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Old Business
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Mayor vacancy- There were no petitions received for holding a special election. Motion by Burton, second by Koropatnicki to appoint Mike Fitzgerald as Mayor for the remaining two years of term. Roll call: Ayes: Fritz, Huttunen, Koropatnicki, Burton and Watts. Nays: none. Motion carries.
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Customs house building- Motion by Burton, second by Fritz to not purchase Customs building. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Engineer Report/Brad Bail – Will run around $140,000 for WSN to do the design and paperwork to be ready to apply for grants if they become available for lagoon update. Ditch work in front of Gastrak will be started this week. Shot the ditch on Hancock and 3rd St for grade of culvert.
Attorney Update / Rob Fleming- Not present but had let Lisa know earlier that the building inspector has not been able to get here yet to look at the houses to condemn.
Employee Report/Concerns-
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Camera- Gary informed council the piece that is aimed towards the sky is the solar panel. The game camera is panoramic so aimed at both piles. SD card is checked once a week.
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Blue pump hose- The current hoses have holes in them and need to purchase new ones. Council advised Gary to get pricing on new ones.
Update & Business: Mayor –
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Full time employee annual reviews- Motion by Burton second by Koropatnicki to put a freeze on all wages until further notice pending employee reviews. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
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Supervision of employees- Mayor Fitzgerald made recommendation that Burton take over as Gary’s supervisor. Motion by Huttunen second by Watts to have Burton as the primary supervisor over Public Works and Koropatnicki as secondary when Burton not available instead of Lisa but continue to keep her in the loop with information. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
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Council vacancy- Mayor Fitzgerald declared an open seat on council. Motion by Burton second by Huttunen to accept Mayor Fitzgerald’s declaration of city council vacancy. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Update & Business: City Auditor/Lisa Hall
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Ryan Degelder- Motion by Watts second by Fritz to reject the offer from Ryan Degelder. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
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The June financials and July bills were reviewed and approved.
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Spot update - Lisa spoke with Forest River Colony representative and will call again beginning of August to find out if they are on timeline since they got busy with the school in Grafton.
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Insurance- All paid employees are covered under our policy. We have a separate volunteer policy that we have submitted a list of approved operators. Burton asked to have Lisa check if any discount for being certified.
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Professional Building roof- Last year all the pipes, screw holes and vents were caulked but it is still leaking in the salon. Have not been able to determine where the leak is coming from. Recommendation since salon is vacant remove the ceiling tiles and next time it rains to determine location so can repair.
Committee Reports:
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Fish Station- Lisa was able to receive a cost-share agreement with Game and Fish in the amount of $4500 to rebuild the fish station with the help of Garrett Masloski and Eric Martin collecting needed bids/invoices. The Catfish Committee has torn it down and will be disposing of old station and Charlie Fritz will be building new one in its place.
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Fire Department- Chief Eisenbeis informed they will be needing property to build a new department building. Repairs would end up costing the city a lot to make current building usable in the future. Grant can be applied for once property is obtained and bids gathered. This would be more of a five year plan not immediate. Had planned several fundraisers for this summer but due to Covid-19 pandemic they have been cancelled. Grant applied for hose. Received $5000 from Larry Wilwant Foundation grant. Six or seven other grants have been applied for but are on hold. Since Blaine has taken over they have spent approximately $35,000 which went towards 12 new sets of turnout gear to replace expired gear, new hoses and nozzles. For new department would like a stall for each rig similar to Hallock’s. Their department was about $350,000 to build. End of August first part of September the pipeline is scheduled to come through area by Joliette and protestors are expected. Department had a plane crash they were called to other day west of town.
New Business:
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Post office – Letter was sent but has not been signed for. Parking lot has been repaired but weeds still need to be tended to.
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Corner Bar- Kyle Dorion sent pictures of standing water behind his business. Requesting that the city lower and grade the property they own behind Spot Bar by water tower to prevent water from flowing into his basement. Council stated no solution at this time.
Motion to adjourn by Fritz at 7:08 p.m.
By: Mayor, Mike Fitzgerald
Attested to: Lisa Hall, Auditor
