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City of Pembina, ND

Oldest Settlement in the Dakota Territories
 

Official 10-14-2024 City Council Minutes

Official Minutes for October 14, 2024, Pembina City Council Meeting

Date: October 14, 2024

Council members present: Mayor Fitzgerald, J Watts, C Snitker, A Huttunen, K Needham, S Carattini

                                  Absent: K Norby

Guests: G Koropatnicki, City Super; T Stoiber, City Auditor; R Fleming, City Attorney; D Fanfulfik, City Engineer; B Eisenbeis, PVFD; Great Plains Food Bank—Nikolean & Paige; L Needham; C Seed; Pastor Bridell; A Marazzo, Border Patrol

Public Portion called to order at 6:00pm by Mayor Fitzgerald

  • Great Plains Food Bank—Presentation on emergency food shelf by Nickolean Paige & Paige Brademeyer

o    Pastor Bridell willing to have at E Free Church IF there are more in the community to help with stocking and distributing

o    Huttunen suggested organizing a committee to plan and get assistance; Stoiber to organize a group

  • Border Patrol/Andy Marazzo introduced himself and plans for Border Patrol to speak with High School students about jobs at BP, steps to stop illegal border crossing. Fitzgerald explained there’s an issue by the cemetery, as well as homeless on the roof of DFA building.

Public Portion closed at 6:21pm by Mayor Fitzgerald

Regular Council Meeting called to order at 6:21pm by Mayor Fitzgerald

·         Changes to Agenda

·         Approval/Changes to September 9, 2024, Meeting Minutes—motion to approve by Watts, 2nd by Huttunen; all ayes; motion carries

·         Old Business

o    All Norby concerns tabled to November meeting as Mr. Norby was absent.

o    City Cleanup Day/Valley Landfill—Huttunen to provide invoice from Valley Landfill by October 23; Garbage Truck needs to be kept indoors for winter—city to provide storage?

o    Automated Water Meter Readers – 227 completed; 2 were billed the $50 non-compliance penalty on August and September billing.

o    Generator Update—Stoiber has contacted Generac, told warranty not needed at this time because first year is free

o    DFA property at 601 W Stutsman—Rob got repair order, and will send to DFA with demand that repairs to commence in 90 days and complete within 180 days; Eisenbeis trying to get building/land for free or little? Concerns about asbestos? PVFD can tear down for little to no money. Motion by Snitker to have repairs commence within 90 days, with repairs to be finished within 180 days; 2nd by Carattini; 3 ayes (Snitker, Needham, Carattini), 2 nays (Watts, Huttunen); motion carries.

  • Committee Reports

o    Fire Department -no report-State mandated radios $54,000+--can City help? City will add to Self-Help Fund Request. Fundraisers ongoing, PVFD has had several large expenses and financially drained; needs electrician to install wiring for dropcords—PVFD will install dropcords once the electrical is installed.

o    Rec Board – See attached—wants to get County Self-Help $ for playground equipment. Stoiber to apply once a quote is received.

o    4th of July Committee – Steel Canopy & Table construction started

o    Professional Building—Stoiber to contact contractors and get bids for repairs; rent increases tabled to November’s meeting.

·         Employees Report/Concerns

o    Greg:

·         Engineer Report – Dustin Fanfulik

o    Lagoon: questionnaire due 11/1/24; then kickoff meeting

o    Lidar Map update: gave Stoiber flashdrive with map on it; sign has been ordered

·         Attorney Update

o    Storage Unit Leases/Liability—Motion by Watts to increase Storage Unit rents to $100; no second, motion dies. Motion by Al to increase Storage Unit rents to $80, 2nd by Watts; Snitker abstained; 3 ayes (Huttunen, Watts, Needham), 1 nay (Carattini), motion carries. New leases to go out in November with rental increase to $80 to take effect January 1, 2025. Lot rent discussion tabled to November.

o    MidCo water tower lease changes/cancellation—letter to be sent out

o    Discussion on disposition of Masonic Lodge—Masons have removed what they wanted, Pembina Historic Society has taken photos to preserve. Crystal & Nick Volk took some documents and 8 chairs. Is building salvageable or is it condemnable? Will need to sell building as is and have contract relieve City of any liability regarding asbestos, mold, etc.—sealed bids with right to reject any and all bids, and stipulation that repairs must be made within a certain amount of time. Remaining contents to be sold as sealed bids? Tabled to November meeting.

o    Letter to 241/251 N 2nd St regarding filling in of basement on 251 to be sent out.

o    Discussion on utility disconnections verbiage for non-payment—Rob to provide examples of how other cities handle it—once someone is 60 days out, they are to be immediately disconnected.

o   Frank Moll Will Distribution—final payment will be sent once all expenses are satisfied

·         Update & Business: Mayor/Mike Fitzgerald

o    Assistant for Greg—Motion by Snitker to continue advertising until position is filled; 2nd by Needham; 3 ayes (Snitker, Needham, Carattini), 2 nays (Watts, Huttunen), motion carries

o    Unlicensed vehicle parking at 315 S 2nd St-- Fleming to send letter about removal—owner will have 48 hours to remove or get running and tagged or vehicles wb towed

  • Update & Business: City Auditor/Teri Stoiber

o    September Bills & Financials + cash balance report—motion to approve by Watts, 2nd by Snitker, all ayes, motion carries

o    Delinquent Accounts Update: city is not a bank. City needs to discourage late/delinquent accounts—Motion by Needham to put 2 properties on County Tax rolls, 2nd by Carattini, all ayes motion carries: to get reconnected, they will have to pay reconnect fee of $50 plus deposit of $250 and will continue to get minimum monthly billing for home on property. If nine other properties aren’t paid by 20th, they will be disconnected on 21st, charged disconnect fee and a security deposit of $250. $6357.25 in delinquent accounts at 10/11/24.

o    Building Permit approval: Curt Seed/RRF (2), Wyatt Ottem, Jake Cosley, Del Huttunen, 4th of July Committee; motion to approve all except Ottem by Watts, 2nd by Snitker, all ayes, motion carries. Fleming to get letter regarding culverts that will attach to the property to Stoiber to use for culvert issues/remedies. Stoiber to have Ottem sign and pay $100 filing fee. There are 2 other Citizens that need to sign these letters and pay the fees, plus others as reported. Once letter is signed and fee paid, Ottem will be ok to build, and other 2 citizens will be current.

o    Stoiber to send letter to Catfish Committee, Airport, and 4th of July Committee stating they must get their own FEIN and move their bank accounts to their FEIN and off City accounts by January 1, 2025.

o    City Ordinance 7.0224 states every person/entity that owns property within the City is to report all addresses they are in control of to the City Auditor and whether they are vacant lots ($14.20/month minimum/month) or residential/businesses ($69.12 minimum/month), for the purposes of utility billing. Have started sending out letters to property owners in preparation for software conversion, so we have current addresses & contact info and owned properties, and can bill appropriately.

o    City Water/Sewer Utility Policy water is billed out at approximately $7.40/1000 gallons. Starting October 25, 2024, billing, there will be a 10% early payment discount on water, sewer & lagoon; if bills are paid by 20th of the month (or Friday before if 20th falls on a weekend), citizens will receive 10% off those services only; On the 21st, the 10% is added back on, as well as 1.75% interest fee. Each month on the 25th, the new bills will go out with 10% discount on current billing (not retroactively).

o    Professional Building Sign: has arrived; Motion by Watts, 2nd by Needham to have Trails End remove old sign and install new sign; all ayes, motion carries.

o    Dedication plaque for Professional Building--- the dedication plaque from Awards.com was chosen—walnut backing and brass with image of Mr. Moll and dedication.

o    Ordered 1000 envelopes/stickers for Campgrounds with updated RV pricing—Rec Board to pay for them . Will get numbers for sign at campground.

o    Pembina County JDA 2024 Self-Help Program: Minutes to reflect Self Help for Rec Board playground equipment (Rec Board to supply quotes) and toward PVFD Fire Department radios—$54,000 quote received. Stoiber to fill out applications once appropriate documentation has been received.

  • New Business

o    Building & Zoning tabled to November

o    5 Properties considered for demo tabled to November. Stoiber can try for Urban Blight Grant to cover demo costs, but City has to have list beforehand.

o    S Pembina Septics—County Health Department will be inspecting

o    Golf Carts in town—children cannot drive, all others to be used only for going directly to golf course, not driving around town. If anyone has issues, they need to call Sheriff.

·    Call to adjourn at 8:45pm by Watts, 2nd by Carattini