City of Pembina, ND

Unofficial Minutes for August 14^th, 2023, Pembina City Budget Meeting and Council Meeting

 

 

Date: August 14^th, 2023, at 6:00pm

Location: Professional Building

Present: Connor Snitker, Pat Burton, Renee Thomas, Ken Norby, Al Huttunen, Mayor Mike Fitzgerald

Absent: Jeff Watts

Guests: Sherri Carattini, Greg Koropatnicki, Rob Fleming, Lee Cariveau (Widseth), Crystal Volk, Dawn Carpenter, Lyndi Needham, Brenda Masloski, Darcy Reis, Pete Huttunen, Deanna Hager

 

Public Meeting: 6:00 pm – Guest Crystal Volk addresses council re: Pembina business growth concerns. Guests Volk Darcy Reis discuss Countrywide Sanitation’s separate charges for commercial and residential 96-gallon dumpsters.

 

Regular Meeting called to order at 6:07 pm

 

Changes to Agenda: Add Library to Committee Reports (Huttunen); add janitorial wages to Employee Reports/Concerns (Mayor Mike); add S. Pembina water Leak, Exercising Valve Boxes, Curb Stop Malfunctions, and Burn Pile to Employee Reports/Concerns (Korpat). Motion to approve changes by Burton, Seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.

 

Approval/Changes to July 10^th, 17^th, and 25th Minutes: Motion to approve minutes as presented by Snitker, seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.

 

Old Business:                  

• Garbage/Recycling/Clean Up Day – Tabled
• Daycare – Motion by Snitker to run an ad in several papers for a daycare provider to utilize the city’s daycare space according to the following parameters: Provider must be licensed to run/operate a daycare; provider will sign a 1-year lease to use the facility rent free, with the option to renegotiate after that year has expired; the city will provide and pay for all utilities including electricity, water, sewer, air conditioning, heat, and gas/propane fuels; The city will provide general maintenance and repairs to the building – unless repairs have been determined to be caused by negligence or carelessness of the facility operator; and the city will provide mowing and snow removal services. Motion seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Lagoon Update – Tabled
• Automated Water Meter Readers – Two quotes were provided from Ferguson: one residential-only, one including commercial properties. Burton made a motion to go forward with the residential-only option, to be paid for via SRF Loan. Seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• House Condemnations:

o   422 N 5^th St – Rob Fleming stated the new owner wants to deed property back to city, but wants the city to write him a donation letter for tax purposes.

o   251 2^nd Street – Tabled

• Daycare – Mike mentioned that Darcy Reis had someone potentially interested in taking over, but that cleaning and repairs would need to be completed before re-opening. Sherri said she would contact Darcy to see if there was any further information on this.
• Pembina County 2023 Self-Help Application – Tabled
• Fish & Game/Widseth Rock Dam – Lee from Widseth provided a handout with current information. Further action tabled until information regarding costs is provided from fish & Game.
• Employee Evaluations – will start in September 2023, and be completed every 6 months.

 

Committee Reports:

• Fire Department – Pete Huttunen was introduced and welcomed as the new Pembina Fire Chief. He reported that they are currently in the process of hiring an assistant.
• Rec Board – Brenda reported that, now that baseball season is over, they will start repairing the fence.
• Library – Al says they are looking at options to upgrade current equipment. He also mentioned that the committee voted to increase the librarian wage to $16.00. Finally, he requested $5250 to purchase 5 new bookcases. Motion to approve request by Snitker. Seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.

 

Employees Report/Concerns:

• Janitorial Wage – Motion by Huttunen to raise hourly wage to $16.00/hour. Seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Water Leak in South Pembina – Greg stated that the water needed to be shut off until the leak is located and repaired, and that the bathrooms will need to be locked until further notice.
• Valve Boxes – Greg mentioned that J&R Wastewater had exercised and cleaned some of the valves, and will come back to do more.
• Broken Curb Stops – after some discussion, Rob Fleming read from the city documents that curb stops are the responsibility of the homeowner, and that everything needing repairs/replacements from the home to the main were the homeowner’s responsibility.
• Burn Pile – The burn permit has been received and burning will soon commence.

 

Engineer Report: Brad Bail was absent, but Lee said Widseth will be working with Greg to begin the Street Study for street ratings.

 

Attorney Update – Rob stated he is still working on the Lagoon Land Purchase.

 

Update & Business: Mayor – no updates

 

Update & Business: City Auditor/ Sherri Carattini

• July Bills & Financials – Motion to approve financials by Burton, seconded by Norby. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Delinquent Accounts – Sherri was directed to send appropriate letters to those listed.
• 2024 Budget – Sherri shared what had been sent to Linda Schlittenhard. After some discussion, it was decided that the Public Hearing date would be changed to September 5^th at 6:00 pm, to be followed by the September City Council Meeting. Sherri will publish current budget documents prior to the meeting.

 

New Business

• Meeting Minutes from Committees: Sherri reported that she has not been receiving any information from any committees - including meeting dates & times, agendas, or copies of minutes. As these need to be provided to the city as public record, Mike directed that an email reminder of this policy be sent to all committee members.
• Weed control at MCI – Sherri mentioned a letter was sent. After some discussion it was determined that all businesses need to be reminded of the city’s Grass and Weed Ordinance.
• Bridgestone: Dawn Carpenter requested permission to close the street on September 16^th for their anniversary celebration. Motion to approve request by Snitker, seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries. Dawn also requested the city to paint diagonal lines on the road next to the outdoor seating area. Motion to approve by Snitker, seconded by Huttunen. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Changing Profession Building Locks/Keys: Motion by Ken to get a quote from Lock & Key in Grand Forks. Seconded by Snitker. All ayes present. Motion carries.
• Local Paper for City Publishing: Huttunen made a motion to accept the Cavalier Chronicle as the new City Paper for the purpose of publishing Council Minutes as well as other city business, notices, information, and ads. Seconded by Thomas. All ayes present. Motion carries.

 

Adjournment – Motion to adjourn at 8:01PM by Thomas.

 

By: Mayor, Mike Fitzgerald                                                                                  

Attested to: Sherri Carattini, City Auditor

 

 

The next city council meeting will be held on September 5^th, 2023, at 6:00pm in the Professional building. This will also serve as the Public Hearing for the 2024 Pembina City Budget.