City of Pembina, ND

Unofficial Minutes for May 8^th, 2023, Pembina City Council Meeting

City Council Meeting

Date: May 8^th, 2023, at 6:00pm

Location: Professional Building

Present: Mayor Mike Fitzgerald, Connor Snitker, Pat Burton, Renee Thomas, Allen Huttunen

Absent: Ken Norby,eff Watts

Guests: Sherri Carattini, Greg Koropatnicki, Rob Fleming, Brad Bail, Phil Hall, Ben Kneeshaw, Brenda Masloski (via phone), Lyndi L. Needham, Emily Hall, Eric Jackson

Public Meeting: 6:00 pm

Meeting called to order at 6:07 pm

Changes to Agenda: Add Bank signs to New Agenda; add mowers and building maintenance under Employee Reports for Greg; add Remodeling Garbage to new business. Motion to accept changes by Burton, seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.

Approval/Changes to April’s Minutes: Motion to approve minutes as presented by Burton, seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.

Old Business                   

• Lagoon – Rob Fleming stated that Tim signed the purchase agreement and that the city paid the $5,000 down payment. Rob will work on finalizing all the paperwork. No motion required.
• Generator – tabled
• Water meter readers – Brad mentioned that there are no grants available, but we could apply for a loan that would be 2% interest for 20 years. Greg mentioned that we could have Karen Olson from Ferguson to come and provide us more information at the next meeting before the council makes a final decision. This was agreeable. No motion required.
• Street Repairs – Greg presented a quote from Knife River, which covers areas of the city with the biggest concerns. Burton made a motion to accept the quote. Seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Masloski’s lot – this was included in the street repairs quote.
• Weight Limit Signs – completed
• House Condemnations – 422 N 5^th St – Rob Fleming stated that ownership has transferred to realty company and that the condemnation process is still ongoing. Burton asked about the house at 251 2^nd Street. After some discussion, Burton made a motion to start the condemnation process for that property. Seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries
• Fish & Game – Tabled
• Daycare – Mike confirmed that the current daycare operator will be resigning at the end of her contract. There are still some uncertainties about who will take over the day care. This was tabled until more information could be provided.
• Flood Prep – Mike reported that the Flood Committee decided at their last meeting that, due to lack of flooding concerns, no further actions need to be taken.
• Public Works Assistant Applications Update – Sherri mentioned that no one has applied and the ad has run out. She asked the council if they wanted to rerun and/or amend the ad. After some discussion, Burton made a motion to rerun the ad to present the position as a Temporary position at 32-40 hours per week, with the potential for it to become a permanent position. Seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.

Committee Reports

• Fire Department – Blaine was absent.
• Rec Board – Brenda (via phone) said that ball practices would begin at the end of May, and that she would provide a schedule. She also stated that during the last week of school some students will be volunteering to do some community cleanup.

Employees Report/Concerns –

• Greg stated that he received quotes from True North to trade our current City Mowers for new ones. This would cost the city $38,000. After some discussion, Thomas made a motion to accept the quote as presented and trade our old mowers for the new ones. Seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Greg also presented a report concerning City Building Maintenance. He mentioned that we needed a new garage door on the shop (approximately $15,000 to install a wider door or $7800 to replace the door that’s there), the old museum needs a new roof (approximately $12,000 for a metal roof), the Pembina Court steel building needs gutters, as does the Community Center. Greg provided a quote to replace the gutters on the Center. After some discussion, Mike said that the west side was of vital concern. Snitker then made a motion to replace the gutters on the west side of the Community Center for $5000. Seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries. Mike asked Greg to get a separate quote for the east side of the Center.

Engineer Report/Brad Bail – Brad mentioned that he is reviewing options to help with the backup problem at the Rec Center.

Attorney Update – Rob mentioned that the parking ordinance states we can only designate guest parking. He also stated that Koda would have to pay for the signs, but that the city would select them and install them. Sherri said she would talk with Koda to get a final decision made.

Update & Business: Mayor – no updates

Update & Business: City Auditor/ Sherri Carattini

• March Bills & Financials – Motion to approve financials by Snitker, seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Sherri provided a Delinquent Accounts update. Only one property’s water was disconnected. Others have made payments.
• Residential Dumpster Rentals – currently we are not charging. However, with new Valley Landfill rate changes, we will begin charging the new rates, once those are determined.
• Budget meetings – First one for 2023 will be at 5:30 on June 12^th.

New Business

• BEK-TV – the council decided they did not want to purchase a commercial at this time.
• Koda Insurance Coverage – Thomas made a motion to accept the property insurance as presented. Seconded by Thomas. Three ayes, one opposed. Motion carries.
• Valley Landfill – Al stated that Valley will be raising their rates. He is currently working on a letter to send to all the Commercial Properties prior to the next billing period. The rates will now be $36/yard, minimum of 2 yards. The overflow fee will be $72 + $20 one time fee.
• Clean Up Day – Al said we would work with Valley Landfill to set this up. Hoping for late June or July. In the meantime, the city cannot put construction materials in our current dumpsters, designated for paper and garbage. People will need to haul their own stuff to the dump.
• Summer Help – Two new applications received. Motion to hire Tom Masloski and LaRochel Steyn. Motion to pay all three summer workers (which includes Ayden Stainbrook hired at the last meeting) at $17.50 per hour. Seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Zelda Hartje – Motion by Burton to increase her salary to $3000. Seconded by Thomas. Three ayes, one opposed. Motion carries.
• Poppy Days – motion to accept by Huttunen, Seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion Carries.

Adjournment – Motion to adjourn at 8:14 PM by Thomas.

By: Mayor, Mike Fitzgerald                                                                                  

Attested to: Sherri Carattini, City Auditor

The next city council meeting will be held on June 12^th, 2023, at 6:00pm in the Professional building. This will be preceded by a Special Meeting at 5:30 to discuss the budget.