Official Minutes for October 11th, 2021, Pembina City Council Meeting
Council Members Present: Mayor Mike Fitzgerald, President Jeff Watts, VP Ron Fritz, Greg Koropatnicki, Jennifer Martin, Pat Burton and Allen Huttunen
Absent: none
City Employees Present: Lisa Hall/Auditor, Gary Helland/Public Works Superintendent
City Attorney Present: Rob Fleming
City Engineer: Brad Bail and Trent Eliason
Others present: Blaine Eisenbeis-PFD Chief, Betty Pelletier, Ashely and Amber Anderson
Public Portion- Amber Anderson presented an idea for tree lighting event. Huttunen arrives at 6:03 p.m. to meeting.
Meeting called to order by Mayor Fitzgerald at 6:06 p.m.
Changes to Agenda
Add tree lighting, semis on streets, trailer at DFA, overnight parking and log crossing under New Business, add Pembina Court lots for sale, computer estimate and amateur radio under Lisa, add daycare lease under old business, add employee reviews under Mayor and add alley repair under employees. Motion by Martin second by Fritz to accept agenda with changes. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Motionby Fritz,second by Watts to approve September’s meeting minutes. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
Old Business
- Ambulance budget- Betty Pelletier informed council she had called the Chris in Bismarck that Watts spoke to and the policy did just change on required amount from city to get the state monies. Ambulance does their budget in June. Betty presented a report for the spending of the $3,000 the city gives the ambulance monthly. They are trying to get bingo scheduled as a fundraiser.
- Demolition of houses- Contractor is hoping to do the work in the next couple weeks. Rob brought the agreement with needed terminology for the contractor.
- Drainage ditch west of Gastrak- JR Wastewater will be coming next week. It was delayed a little due to equipment breakdown.
- Generator at school – Parts are no longer available for the generator. Gary will contact Stateside Electric to have them see what size we would need for either the school or the community center and fire department and come back with pricing.
- Nuisance garage 5th St- The garage has been cleared out. Motion by Huttunen second by Fritz to start the process to condemn the house at 422 N. 5th Street. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
- Shop cameras- Shane from Stateside Electric should be up in next couple weeks to install.
- Garbage rates- Tableduntil next meeting.
- Daycare lease- Watts brought up that the lease is showing 2 years and motion made was to renew for 1 year. Rob will redo and see if provider will sign the new one. Rob stated the currently signed one is a solid contract.
Committee Reports:
- Fire Department- Chief Eisenbeis will be attending training in Fargo next week. On Halloween the volunteers will be handing out candy for the kids at the fire hall.
- Rec Bd Disc golf - The items for the course have been ordered and Seeds will handle receiving of it at Red River Freight and arrange setting it up depending on weather.
Employee Report/Concerns-
- Alley Repair- Watts asked how to go about getting some gravel added to the alley behind him to fill the hole that is getting bigger. Gary will add some to this spot.
Engineer Report/Brad Bail –
Brad has Trevor with to see how things are done. There is a catch basin by DFA and apartments that has failed and will need to be pulled out and install a new one.
- Pembina River Bridge- Silt and debris have been cleaned out and DOT’s contractor will be up in November to inspect the bridge. If they load rate it that is the sign that has to be posted not the No Trucks sign because it is the regulation of bridges. Lisa will order another Low Head Dam warning sign since the pole was removed with old sign still attached.
- Street/alley repairs- Survey crew has not been up here yet. Waiting on them to proceed and decide how we want to do repairs.
- Updated maps- Lisa had messaged Brad earlier asking about updating the different maps we have in the office. He will look at them after meeting.
Attorney Update / Rob Fleming-
- Towed cars- The 2 cars on lot that were not licensed have been towed and will sit at BK Towing for the 30 days before going up for sale on auction.
- Wade Crotty lots- To be able to sell the 2 triangle pieces we need to have a legal description. To go back to the 70’s or further to try find the information at county. Hoping Wade’s survey will be able to help county. Rob stated easiest way to go about would be to give Wade a quit claim deed.
Update & Business: Mayor –
- Police contract- Mayor Fitzgerald will request the Sheriff and/or Deputy attend the November meeting to discuss service.
- Employee Evaluations- Council went over evaluations completed by each member for each employee. Mayor Fitzgerald will go over Lisa’s with hers tomorrow. The mayor and Burton or Koropatnicki will review Gary’s on Friday when Gary is back from conference.
Update & Business: City Auditor/Lisa Hall
- Motion by Watts second by Huttunen to approve the September financials and October bills as presented. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
- Internet update- Office and fire hall are both now switched to Polar’s internet. The shop is scheduled for next week.
- American Recovery Plan Act- First of the two payments has been received.
- Pembina Court lots- Kathy Phelps contacted office to find out if city would be willing to sell a couple of the lots in Pembina Court to put mobile home and garage. Brief discussion regarding this. The city will not sell the lots from Pembina Court.
- Computer estimate- Lisa presented the estimate she received from Polar for updating office computer. Current computer is over ten years old and outdated. Motion by Huttunen second by Martin to purchase the computer for $682.80 through Polar and an external backup. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
- Amateur radio- Lisa had an email from a person looking at a home in Pembina and they inquired about any regulations or ordinances for television towers. Rob looked in ordinances and we do not have anything preventing this.
New Business
- Christmas tree lighting- Mayor Fitzgerald voiced concern of the wine being served but rest is good idea. A liquor license is needed. Motion by Huttunen second by Martin to approve the Christmas Tree Lighting event with the wine bar being conditional on finding an entity with license on-site to serve. Ayes all present. Motion carries.
- Overnight truck parking on Stutsman- Watts said when he came home from game other night there was a parked truck in front of grocery store running.
- Log crossing- When Brent Symington was removing the trees along right of way he made a log crossing. Gary will contact him to make sure he plans to remove it.
- Trailer at DFA- The trailer from port has been sitting in the parking lot for over a year now which is against the city’s ordinance. Lisa will send them notice to remove.
Motion to adjourn by Fritz at 7:36:p.m.
By: Mayor, Mike Fitzgerald
Attested to: Lisa Hall, Auditor
