Unofficial Minutes for December 9, 2024, Pembina City Council
Date: December 9, 2024
Council Members Present: Mayor Fitzgerald, J Watts, K Norby, C Snitker, A Huttunen, K Needham, S Carattini
Guests: G Koropatnicki, City Super; T Stoiber, City Auditor; R Fleming, City Attorney (via phone); B Eisenbeis, PVFD; Phil Hall; Crystal Volk; Jason Volk; Nick Volk; Darcy Reis; Dan Anderson; Deputy Marazzo; Lyndi Needham; Ben Kneeshaw; Tracy Foy
Public Portion called to order at 6:00pm by Mayor Fitzgerald
o Phil Hall: metal detectors & digging on city property/golf course? Should there be an ordinance prohibiting it?
o Crystal Volk: what small businesses bring to Pembina & the mosquito fee on apartments is unfair.
o Jason Volk: how is 4 br home & office called apartments?
o Nick Volk: Mosquito fee
o Darcy Reis: Mosquito fee on apartments—only 4 apartments & 4 daily rental rooms
o Dan Anderson: uptick in refugees
o Deputy Marazzo: what US Customs is working on about refugees; suggest speaking to BP as well
o Lyndi Needham: someone drove on 272 W Stutsman, piling snow, left treadmarks
Public Portion closed at 6:25pm by Mayor Fitzgerald.
Regular Council Meeting called to order at 6:26pm by Mayor Fitzgerald
· Changes to Agenda: Move building & zoning concerns to Attorney Update; move Dan Anderson from New Business to Public Portion; remove City Cleanup Day/Valley Landfill; add training in Bismarck for Koropatnicki; add snow removal letter discussion under Koropatnicki; add employee evaluations and applicants to Mayor; remove Erin Parker from new business. Motion to approve changes by Snitker; 2nd by Carattini; all ayes, motion carries.
· Approval/Changes to November 12, 2024, Meeting Minutes: motion to approve by Huttunen, 2nd by Needham, all ayes, motion carries.
· Old Business
o S Pembina Septics—County Health Department Report—waiting on update
o Automated WaterMeterReaders – 229 residences completed, 222 W Rolette changed to AMR; 262 Jerome St—as per Council Meeting in July. Should 262 Jerome be shut off or should he be charged $85/month for 3 months? Getting more difficult to turn off water due to cold. Motion to disconnect by Needham, 2nd by Carattini, 4 ayes, 2 nays; motion carries,
o Rec Board – no minutes as they submitted 11-1-24 minutes last month—Playground equipment ordered and Self-Help Grant applied for. 1 piece of equipment has arrived, 2 more scheduled to arrive Feb 2025. Auditor, Fitzgerald, Watts, and Huttunen to be added to signature card. Stoiber directed to send shipping updates to Koropatnicki.
o Ice Rink—see attached—still need $5000 to finish paying for tin project. Mayor & Norby are members. Auditor added to signature card.
o Airport—no response from letters about getting own FEIN, etc.—send letter of demand, per Mayor.
o 4th of July Committee – Intends to get own FEIN and move bank account and continue to maintain their own books.
o Catfish Committee— per Snitker, will get own FEIN by end of month.
o Cemetery—will be turning accounting over to Auditor. Fitzgerald, Auditor, Watts, and Huttunen to be signatories.
o Library—Watts and Huttunen not notified of any meetings; Auditor and Fitzgerald to be added to signatories; City needs a budget; Motion to change item 4 on proposal from “Librarians must seek Library Committee approval for any purchases exceeding $500” to “Library Committee must seek Council approval for any purchases exceeding $500” by Huttunen, 2nd by Needham; all ayes, motion carries..
o Professional Building—table rent increases to next month—Huttunen to meet with Stoiber; waiting on bids from contractors for repairs. Two tenants vacating by end of December. Stoiber to continue researching insurance possibly covering damaged wall. Suggestion to use balance of Frank Moll bequest for upkeep of building in addition to previously collected rents.
· EmployeesReport/Concerns
o Greg:
o Jan 21-23 training in Bismarck; motion to send Koropatnicki by Carattini, 2nd by Snitker; all ayes, motion carries.
o Snow Removal letter—don’t blow snow in street, post ordinance in Chronicle Dec & Jan and on website.
o Truck replacement—Koropatnicki to provide Stoiber with spec sheet for vehicle to provide to Ford, Dodge, and Chevy; Stoiber to look into Nelson Ford fleet vehicles and state procurement office;
o radios ordered, will be a couple of months; fire hydrant in S Pembina issues; pancake feed successful; PVFD cannot be a committee by State regulation.
o Auditor is on signature cards for both accounts; Jan 1, 2025, Auditor will get checks, deposit slips, and bank statements. account.
o Joint Powers Agreement for $54,000 check; given check; Aimee, Blaine, Fitzgerald and Stoiber to sign and get it notarized. Motion by Huttunen to accept Joint Powers Agreement with the word “entre” changed to “enter,” 2nd by Snitker; role call vote--all ayes; motion carries.
· EngineerReport – Dustin Fanfulik—not present
· Attorney Update
o Letter to 241/251 N 2nd St will not be sent. Landowner can put fence up, fill hole, or put up no trespassing signs; if it gets flooded, it becomes public nuisance, and will be addressed.
o More tow notices will be sent to Stoiber to print out and Koropatnicki will put on appropriate vehicles.
o Sent Letter to Ms. Volk regarding open records fees.
o Frank Moll Will final bequest amount will be sent out by year end.
o Changed building permit verbiage: motion to accept by Norby, 2nd by Snitker; all ayes; motion carries..
o Meeting conflict with another City. 2nd reading of ordinance to change Regular Council Meetings from 2nd Monday of Month to 2nd Tuesday of Month. Motion to read ordinance change by Needham, 2nd by Snitker; all ayes; motion carries.
Update & Business: Mayor Fitzgerald
o Employee Evaluations were done, issues addressed.
- Mayor Fitzgerald recommended $2.00/hr. raise for Koropatnicki; motion by Snitker to approve, 2nd by Carattini; all ayes, motion carries.
- Mayor Fitzgerald recommended $1.25/hr. raise for Stoiber; motion by Snitker, 2nd by Carattiin; all ayes, motion carries.
o Applicants
- Assistant position still open; applicant not to be hired.
- Seasonal help (snow removal) applicant, Longworth, to be hired @$15/hr. Motion by Needham to accept, 2nd by Carattini; motion by Needham to hire for snow removal; 2nd by Carattini; 5 ayes, Norby Nay; motion carries.
- Update & Business:City Auditor/Teri Stoiber
o Nov Bills & Financials + cash balance report—motion to accept by Snitker, 2nd by Watts; all ayes, motion carries.
o Delinquent Accounts Update: city is not a bank. City needs to discourage late/delinquent accounts—$3282.47 in delinquent accounts at 12/5/24.
o Greg fixed Storage Unit 160—thank you!
o Have sent 2023 records and through October 2024 records to State Auditor. Will be sending November soon.
o Lot rents increase? Tabled. Motion by Snitker to remove “free storage unit” from lot agreements, no priorities to be given; 2nd by Carattini; 4 ayes, 2 nays, motion carries.
o Community Center Rates? Tabled to January.
o Complaint from 222 Rolette St they’ve been overcharged since 2021 for Mosquito Fee—wants refund going back to 2021. City ordinances state apartments get charged per unit. 231 N 3rd St. now being charged for 7 units, as well as owner is being charged for add’l 6 lot fees; MCI being charged for add’l 6 lot fees; Meuchadim now being charged add’l 4 lot fees plus 4 buildings; 155 S Cavalier St now being charged 12 mosquito fees (not sure how many units, best guess) as well as 415 S 2nd St is being charged 6 mosquito fees (not sure how many units, best guess); 653 W Hancock now being charged 2 extra mosquito fees for lots; Chale’s Apts being charged a total of 16 mosquito fees (she’s fine with that has no issues, didn’t know she wasn’t being charged correctly, and grateful it’s not retroactive); as per November directive, will continue to go through tax rolls looking for properties and homes that are not on the utility billing and should be. Stoiber to pull 3/8/2021 minutes and see if 222 Rolette St. was overcharged . Bring info. to Jan meeting. C Volk to petition changing mosquito fee rules. Huttunen to work with Snitker & Stoiber to change to being based on water usage.
o Complaint from J Volk: if paying for hookups, wants curb stops;says 231 N 3rd St. is not apartments, doesn’t want to want to pay extra mosquito fees; and says his vacant lots are all consolidated into 2 properties as of 1/1/25 (currently county tax rolls show he has 10 properties within Pembina, a couple of those are shown as 1 address, but not all). Water connection fee and M&R fee were implemented as “just in case” for upkeep, repairs, building, etc., per Fleming.
o Building Permit approval: no new building permits; Bridgestone included pump in 2nd detailed permit for drainage mitigation.
o Sent letter to Rec Board (info only), Ice Rink (info only), PVFD, Cemetery Committee, Library Committee, Catfish Committee, Airport, and 4th of July Committee asking for plan regarding FEIN and banking, gaming permits, committee rules, etc.
o Still working on cleaning up/condensing books. Found and corrected payroll entry regarding mosquito fund being charged incorrectly for payroll in 2023. For December 2024 have made a payroll entry for 2024 mosquito spraying by Greg—moved from General Fund to Mosquito Fund. $1738.42.
o Citizens are excited about 10% discount on water, sewer and lagoon fees. Huttunen suggested reviewing water rates.
o Pembina County JDA 2024 Self-Help Program: Fire Dept and Rec Board have been submitted. Need vendor’s check copy (front and back) from Fire Department to get the reimbursement from Self-Help.
Motion by Needham to adjourn at 8:35 pm, 2nd by Carattini.
By: Mayor Fitzgerald
Attested to: Stoiber, City Auditor
