MINUTES OF THE MINNEOTA CITY COUNCIL MEETING
PURSUANT TO CALL AND DUE NOTICE
THEREOF, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF MINNEOTA, COUNTY OF LYON,
STATE OF MINNESOTA, MET IN REGULAR
SESSION IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
ON MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010 AT 6:00 P.M.
COUNCIL PRESENT:
Acting-Mayor Anthony Esping
Councilman Timothy Koppien
Councilman Lyall Gislason
Councilman Todd Bretschneider
STAFF: Daniel A. Canton, M.J. Hennen
COMMUNITY: Rodney Stensrud (Chairman, Lyon County Board of Commissioners)
MINNEOTA MASCOT: Byron Higgin
ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER
Acting-Mayor Anthony Esping asked for a moment of silence to remember Mayor Paul Larson who passed away on December 20, 2009. At conclusion of remembrance, Esping called regular monthly meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.
ITEM 2: CALL FOR AGENDA ADDITIONS
Acting-Mayor Esping called for agenda additions.
ITEM 3: ADOPT AGENDA
Koppien, seconded by Gislason, made motion to adopt agenda with following addition: a) Sunday Beer Sales. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
OLD BUSINESS
ITEM 4: APPROVE MINUTES
Gislason, seconded by Koppien, made motion to approve minutes from November 30th, December 7th and 15th. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 5: REPORTS
Council reviewed reports: a) November Police, b) 2009 LMCIT Insurance Dividend, c) 2009 Recycling Report.
ITEM 6: CONCERNED CITIZENS
Lyon County Commissioner Rodney Stensrud talked to council about Minneota Library and proposed 2010 Jefferson Street Sanitary Sewer Project. He stated that Minneota might want to consider becoming a part of Marshall-Lyon County Library System now that improvements are being made to the Big Store for a future library. Minneota, like Tracy, currently operates as an independent municipal library and could benefit from county tax dollars rather than rely exclusively on city tax revenues. Mr. Stensrud said joining the Marshall-Lyon County System could mean enhanced library services at a lower cost for Minneota residents.
Stensrud also informed council that Lyon County would be able to contribute approximately $225,000 to city’s Jefferson Street Sanitary Sewer Improvement Project slated for 2010.
At conclusion of comments council thanked Mr. Stensrud for the information and stated they would investigate library matter further.
ITEM 7: APPROVE BILLS
Gislason, seconded by Bretschneider, made motion to approve payment of monthly bills in amount of $121,664.65 as per itemized check register. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 8: APPROVE ENGINEERING PAY REQUEST
Gislason, seconded by Bretschneider, made motion to authorize payment to DeWild Grant Reckert & Associates (DGR) in amount of $16,266.10 for engineering fees related to proposed 2010 Sanitary/Storm Sewer Improvement Project. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 9: STATUS OF PROPOSED 2010 SEWER PROJECT
Engineer Trent Bruce indicated by memo that total costs for proposed 2010 Sanitary Sewer Improvements are currently estimated at $2.59M. Minneota share of proposed costs are estimated at $1.1M although there are several grants pending. Most significant pending grant is from Public Facilities Authority (PFA) through Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program and could be as much as $675,000. Bruce noted that cost estimates are on high side and that actual bid prices should be less than anticipated. He concluded by stating that DGR would proceed with project preparation and continue to finalize details with MnDOT and Lyon County.
ITEM 10: CITY ENGINEER SLATED FOR MILITARY DUTY
City engineer Trent Bruce submitted letter of military obligation explaining his scheduled deployment to Afghanistan as part of South Dakota Army National Guard. Bruce will be mobilized with his unit in May of 2010 and will return to U.S.A. in May of 2011. He also noted that DGR engineer Justin Christensen would be his replacement during the absence.
ITEM 11: APPROVE ADVERTISEMENT FOR SWIMMING POOL EQUIPMENT
Administrator stated that as part of 2010 Budget council planned to replace obsolete water filtration system in swimming pool and install a new Auto Water-Fill for main pool as required. Estimated improvements were expected to cost approximately $55,000. At conclusion of comments, Koppien, seconded by Gislason, made motion to proceed with Request for Proposals (RFP’s) for swimming pool equipment as discussed and advertise RFP in official city newspaper. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 12: PROPOSED CAPX 2020 TRANSMISSION LINE
Council discussed one (1) of three (3) proposed CapX 2020 Brookings Transmission Power Line routes that could pass just south of Minneota along 340th Street and extend in an easterly direction north of Ghent. It was noted that placement of huge steel transmission towers and attached cables that close to Minneota could be detrimental to future residential housing and commercial development. It was agreed that most small towns have limited areas of growth due to infrastructure feasibility and could lose potential development sites in the future if massive 150’ power poles are built that close to city limits.
At conclusion of comments, administrator was instructed to write a letter to Judge Richard C. Luis in opposition to proposed CapX2020 Power Line route stating that a path that passes further from towns and fewer housing sites would be more appropriate.
ITEM 13: STATUS OF FLOOD LEVEE CERTIFICATION
Administrator stated that engineering firm of Mead & Hunt (M&H) was wrapping up their initial analysis of Minneota Flood Levee. While not yet complete, Final Report will show that levee system has only a couple of minor deficiencies. It appears that south end of levee will likely need to be raised approximately 6” to meet free board requirements and grouting a septic system pipe that currently passes through the dike wall are main items that need to be addressed. Along with noted levee improvements, some maintenance work in interior drainage areas would need to be done as well. Once final report is received an action plan would be developed to facilitate M&H recommendations and subsequently achieve FEMA flood levee certification requirements.
NEW BUSINESS
ITEM 14: TEMPORARY LIBRARY STAFFING
Acting Librarian Elana Nomeland indicated that with a little help from Herb Pagel and Audrey Timm she would be able to cover the hours of operation while head librarian Mary Buysse is recovering from surgery.
ITEM 15: APPROVE ZONING PERMIT
Gislason, seconded by Koppien, made motion to approve zoning permit application from Minneota Building Materials to remove old entry roof and install new 5’x60’ roof overhang on front of main building. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Zoning permit requirements for improvements made by residents of the trailer park were discussed. It was decided to obtain opinion of attorney Engels as to whether trailer park owner or trailer owner should be submitting a zoning permit application for decks and entries that are to be attached to mobile homes.
ITEM 16: APPROVE PAY REQUEST TO MEAD AND HUNT
Koppien, seconded by Gislason made motion to approve payment to engineering firm of Mead & Hunt in amount of $10, 692 for work related to Recertification of Minneota’s Flood Levee System. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 17: AUTHORIZE LETTER OF ENGAGEMENT FOR 2009 FINANCIAL AUDIT
Gislason, seconded by Bretschneider, made motion to authorize letter of engagement for auditing firm of Gerber & Haugen, P.L.L.P. to prepare 2009 Financial Reports for city of Minneota. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 18: REVIEW SNOW REMOVAL/PARKING ORDINANCE
Council received memo from patrol officer Ben Standahl regarding current snow removal ordinance and asking for clarification of parking restrictions after a snowfall event that requires street plowing. Review was made of existing Ordinance Section 803.12 Weather Emergency/Snow/Street Repairs/Street Cleaning. Subd. 2. Snow Removal in Residential District. Timetable for issuing first notice, writing a parking ticket and subsequent towing protocol was talked about. After lengthy discussion, it was decided to leave ordinance language as is and have police department follow a common sense approach when issuing parking citations and/or initiating vehicle towing.
ITEM 19: DESIGNATE 2010 OFFICAL CITY NEWSPAPER & CITY DEPOSITORIES
Gislason, seconded by Koppien, made motion to make following 2010 designations: a) Minneota Mascot as Official City Newspaper, b) Bank of the west (BOW), State Bank of Taunton, LMC 4M Fund & RBC, State Farm Bank (SFB) and Edward Jones as Official City Depositories. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ITEM 20: DECLARE COUNCIL VACANCY/APPROVE MAYORAL APPOINTMENT
Upon review of Minnesota Statute 412.02, Subd. 2a. and 2b. regarding city council vacancies, motion was made by Koppien, seconded by Bretschneider, to Adopt Resolution No. 01/04/2010-A Declaring Council Vacancy and Appointing Tony Esping as Mayor. Voting Aye: Koppien, Bretschneider. Gislason. Abstain: Esping. MOTION PASSED.
Administrator stated the council would need to fill council position that is now vacant as a result of Esping being appointed Mayor. After various suggestions were considered, it was decided to advertise position in official city newspaper to obtain a list of candidates that might be willing to serve. Administrator was instructed to post vacancy notice in Minneota Mascot on January 13th and 20th and set a January 22nd deadline for receipt of applicants.
ITEM 21: ANNUAL EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
It was decided to meet in special session on January 25, 2010 at 6:00 P.M. to conduct annual employee performance evaluations for Street Superintendent Scott Holien and City Administrator Dan Canton.
ITEM 22: SUNDAY OFF-SALE BEER ORDINANCE
Question was asked about city Beer Ordinance as it relates to off-sale of beer on Sundays. State statute apparently allows sale of 3.2 beer beginning at 10:00 A.M. on Sundays while Minneota ordinance states 12:00 noon. Administrator stated he would verify state statute requirements as well as city beer ordinance language and report back to council at next meeting.
CLOSED MEETING
ITEM 23: UNION NEGOTIATIONs
Koppien, seconded by Gislason, made motion to close meeting to discuss on-going AFSCME Union negotiations.
ADJOURNMENT
At conclusion of closed meeting session, Koppien, seconded by, Bretschneider made motion to adjourn. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
ATTEST:
_________________________________ ______________________________
Anthony Esping, Mayor Daniel A. Canton, City Administrator
Date Approved: February 8, 201