Buffalo City Council
October 4, 2010
The meeting of the Buffalo City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Mjor at7:32PM, October 4, 2010. Council present: Antoinette Babcock, Wes Beilke,Jean Jager, and George Richman. Employees present: Lisa Beilke. Also present: Brian Julius (Moore Engineering), Bill Babcock, Lee Fischer, Randy Mundt, Tom Cole, and Jim Jager.
Motion by Jean/Westo approve the September 13th, 2010 minutes; MCU.
Agenda items added-Mike’s letter to the citizens. Motion by Wes/Jeanto approve the agenda; MCU.
Financial:
List of Bills-Discussed bills. Updated council on the situation with NDIRF on the Moore Engineering bill for $3515. NDIRF is unable to cover this cost to the city from Moore Engineering. In the event, the City is sued, they would provide a defense. Mike will follow up with Moore Engineering on this bill to see how we can work this out. Lisa reported that she spoke to Del regarding the RR Management issue and bill. Del will contact the person he has been dealing with this on. Can Del give us more direction on where we should go with? Can we contact the state on this? What is going on in other towns that have easements across the railroad track, are they seeing this type of increase? Mike will contact Del on this matter. Mike talked to Nick (Moore) about the number of hours that Ron worked the first week of the water tower project. Motion byJean/George to approve the bills to be paid as presented with the exclusion of Moore Engineering and RR Management Company, Mike will contact Del regarding the RR Management bill and contact Moore Engineering regarding their bill; MCU.
Budget Analysis update-Information provided.
Reports:
Auditor-Report submitted.
FEMA/Grant Report-Brian Julius with Moore Engineering was here to report on the water tower project. Due to acquiring the additional SRF money, we have to pass new resolution to cover this increase. Motion by Wes/George to approve the resolution regarding Water Treatment revenue Bond, Series 2010 in an amount not to exceed $100,000; MCU. Motion by Wes/ Jean to approve the municipal security form from Onhstad Twichell regarding the new amount for the revenue bonds; MCU. When they were sand blasting they found 2 small holes in the tank; it required a change order of $2,400. Motion by Jean/Wes to approve change order number one to repair the hole in the tank in the amount of $2,400; MCU. Reviewed partial pay application number one which includes payment of Administrative expenses- $3,051.70; Engineering basic fees-$20,000; Construction and project cost-$106,390, of which we would hold 5% ($5,319.50)until work is completed; so pay amount would be $101,070.50. Motion by Wes/Jean to authorize the partial payment of $101,070.50; MCU. Motion by Jean/Wes to authorize Brian Julius (Moore Engineering) to request payment from SRF and CDBG for partial pay application number one; MCU. (Antoinette arrived at 8:42 in the middle of this discussion, so she abstained from voting on this issue.
SWG Report-None submitted. Water Loss for the month was 7.44%
Public Works-Report submitted.
Sheriffs-Nothing presented
Mayor-Report submitted.
Attorney –None submitted.
Park Board-Report submitted
Development Authority-Report submitted.
Historic Preservation Commission-Report submitted.
Arbor Board-None submitted
Public Library-Reportsubmitted
Zoning-Nonesubmitted.
Assessor-None submitted,
Portfolios:
Ordinance violations-Nothing submitted
Water Tower-See FEMA/Grant Reports
Welcome Wagon-Nothing submitted
Tree Dump site-Nothing submitted.
Roads-Wes reported we got better gravel this year and that has helped the roads. They will need to be maintained. Culverts were not put in;instead the road ditches were cleaned out to allow the water to run through.
RV Park-Report submitted. Meter was removed. Wes seeded the grass, (Flint helped with this also). The city appreciates all the help given with the RV Park. Discussion on what the expectation was of what the city would be expected to spend for the park. It was always stated that city would spend up to $10,000. A loan was taken out at First State Bank in the amount of $15,000 for 10 years at 4.54%.
Community Involvement Project-Nothing reported
Library-Nothing reported
Equalization/assessments-Antoinette is working on getting a committee together to equalize. If someone is interested in being on this committee, let Antoinette know. It was stated that we need to determine a good set of criteria for the equalization process.
Old Business:
Approve final 2011 budget-Motion by Antoinette/Georgeto increase the street light fee on the sewer, water, garbage bill from $3.00 to $3.35; to increase the park board’s use of equipment charge from $6.75 to $8.00 per hour and charge the park board for the gas used to mow their property; to increase annual hall rental fee for the Wildlife Club from $800 to $1200, Senior Citizens from $800 to $1000, the churches (Buffalo Lutheran, Presbyterian, St Thomas) from $200 to $225; no change with the current governing board pay; MCU. Lisa presented final budget numbers. Total Certificate of Levy is $45,286 (this includes $33,771 for General Fund). Discussion. Motion by Jean/Wes to approve the final budget as presented, with the general fund mill levy at 81.14; MC (Antoinette-no, Jean-yes, Wes-yes, George-yes). Discussion on how the JDA is using their money. They would like to investigate into adding on to the low income apartments (Buffalo Housing)in town as one possible use. It was questioned as to whether that would generate any financial benefit back to the community, since the Buffalo Housing is a government program and the property is not taxed. Another issue is the grocery store? If he closes, would JDA have to buy the inventory and open the store? George asked whether they would consider using the JDA savings to reinvest in the city to cover items that we have needed to spend money on (such as roads). George asked that Lee educate the board on using this reserve money to reinvest back into the city. Antoinette asked we consider a 20% (of fund balance) transfer of sewer, water, and garbage into general fund before the end of the year. This issue should be revisited again in December.
Cabinets-Have they been moved out of Harold & Marian’s garage? Yes, they have.
Culvert status-See roads under portfolios.
RV Park loan status-See RV Park under portfolios.
Sewer/water/garbage bill increase-See Approval final 2011 budget.
Citizens Concerns:
Barb & Tom Cole-Concerned with spring water/flooding issues on the north side of town, especially around their house. The city needs to be proactive in the fall, not reactive in the spring. George thought that Mike should approach Jerry Melvin regarding either a snow fence or else snow blowing out so that melting/drainage could occur in the spring. Mike will visit with Jerry Melvin.
New Business:
Renaissance Zone update-Randy Mundt was present to explain the current status of this project as a whole for the city. He gave us a spreadsheet that showed the projects that we have done to this date. The following was summarized from the spreadsheet. State income tax abatement are $89,250, property tax abatements are $83,799.33 for total abatements of $173,019.33. Property tax revenues after zone benefits are $235,866.28, and property tax revenues based on current status are $162,303.10 for a total increase in tax revenue of $73,563.18. To clear up a misconception, we do not have millions of dollars tied up in renaissance zone exemptions. On properties that have existing property taxes, they still pay property tax as they always have. They just don’t pay on the improvement. The length of the project is 15 years; it was started in 2002, so it will continue until 2015. There is an allocation on the state income tax side, but not on the city property tax. There is no limit.
Mike’s letter-Discussion on what we want to accomplish with this letter? We would like to provide the citizens with an accurate financial picture of where the city is at. This should be done in a positive way. It should be noted what loans/bonds will be paid off over the next 5 years. It should state that we have increased the mill levy and what exact effect this will have on the property owner.
Tabled Items:
20% SWG Fund transfer to general fund-December
Anhydrous tank removal-
Petition to vacate road on south side-
Grapple Fork-
Harrow material-
Snow removal ordinance-
Dates to Remember:
Next Regular Council Meeting: November 1st, 2010 at 6PM
Motion byAntoinette/Georgeto adjourn; MCU. Meeting adjourned10:40PM.
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(Lisa Beilke, City Auditor) (Mike Mjor, Mayor)