Call to Order
Public Comment
Approval of Agenda
Approval of Bills
Public Hearings
New Business-
Police Report
Council Reports
Administrator’s Report
Adjournment / CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Monday, October 2, 2017
Mahnomen City Hall
6:30 P.M.
COUNCIL PRESENT: Lee, Durant, Schouveiller, Gieseke, and Wiemer
COUNCIL ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Mitchell Berg, Carl Malmstrom, Lee Cariveau, Sue Kraft, and Brian Ose.
Pledge of Allegiance
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Wiemer.
There were no comments from the public.
Lee made the motion to approve the agenda with the removal of the September checks from the consent calendar. The motion was seconded by Schouveiller and the motion passed 4-0.
Durant made a motion to approve the September 20, 2017 payment of bills for $17,902.06 and October 2, 2017 payment of bills for $19,094.98. The motion was seconded by Gieseke and the motion passed 5-0.
Mayor Wiemer opened the public hearing at 6:31 pm.
Berg presented to the council his staff report dated September 25, 2017, and the three options of accepting, extending, or revoking the “after-the-fact” variance to SCWC LLC, a/k/a Thunderbird Commodities, located at 424 N. Railway Street.
The authorized agent, Tom Chisholm was present and said that his goal was not to harm his neighbor and to bring more jobs into Mahnomen. He indicated snow guards and rain gutters were installed onto the new addition.
City engineer Lee Cariveau agreed that the installation of the snow guards and rain guards should mitigate the issue of any snow or storm water run-off from coming onto the neighboring property. Lee also concurred that the placement of the rain gutters, onto the concrete pad, should direct run-off to the southwest and away from the north property line.
Mayor Wiemer raised a concern about the amount of run-off coming off the roofline where the older building meets up with the new addition. He expressed a concern of which the rate of the run-off could lead to mud and gravel washing out into the street, creating maintenance issues to the city’s street and storm water system.
Berg recommended, since the city engineer and he had little opportunity to review the changes that were made to the site that the council should table the hearing until the October 16, 2017 meeting.
Durant made the motion to table the public hearing. The motion was seconded by Lee and the motion was approved 5-0.
Berg recommended the council reject the proposal for a position classification and compensation system due to cost. Lee made the motion to reject the one proposal from “Give It a Look See” for a position classification and compensation system. The motion was seconded by Schouveiller and the motion passed 5-0.
Berg indicated the city received a request from a resident to have an additional street light installed, due to the fact that the light from the one existing light pole in the alley is impeded. Schouveiller said that the one existing light pole in the alley is in a good location; it is just that a pre-existing building impedes the light from shining down onto the full length of the alley.
Berg also said because of the cost of each light, he would like to explore ways to shift the cost of the lighting to the property owners or those that are benefiting from the lighting. Lee made the motion to approve entering into a Municipal Application with Ottertail Power Company to have an additional light installed and to direct the City Administrator to explore options of spreading the cost of the lighting in a more equitable manner against the properties within the city. The motion was seconded by Gieseke and the motion passed 5-0.
Berg indicated the 2018 Group Health Care renewal was anticipated to increase 3% over last year and to recommend the following changes to the master agreement:
- Shifting the renewal date from 1/1 to 12/1.
- Requiring that full-time qualifying employees are no longer eligible for health care benefits on their first day of hire, rather they will have to wait until the first day of the next month following their date of hire.
Berg indicated that the city closed on the $80,000 RLF and TIF loan with Harold and Gladys Gordon. Since the city was the issuer of the note, he was requesting that the city enter into an agreement with the HRDC to service both of the loans. Lee made the motion to enter into a Contract for Services between the HRDC and City of Mahnomen for Administrative services for the City’s RLF and TIF. The motion was seconded by Gieseke and the motion passed 5-0.
Schouveiller made the motion to direct the Street Department to dispose of items that were being stored at the City Lagoon, for an abatement which occurred at 619 S. Railway Street, on July 20, 2017. The motion was seconded by Gieseke and the motion passed 5-0.
Berg indicated that WSN was willing to complete a feasibility study on the proposed the 2018 CIP Street, Water, Sanitary Sewer, and Storm Sewer Project for $1,000. He also indicated if the engineer was awarded the engineering contract that the $1,000 fee would be credited to the city. Lee made a motion to contract with WSN to complete a feasibility study on the proposed 2018 CIP Street, Water, Sanitary Sewer, and Storm Sewer Project at a cost not to exceed $1,000. The motion was seconded by Schouveiller and the motion passed on a 5-0 vote.
Berg indicated he received notification that an air compressor may not rank well for an OSHA Safety Grant. Since the air compressor was less than $25,000, the City could just purchase one on the open market. Chief Ose was recommending the one quote for $17,240, as it was the lowest of the quotes for a new air compressor. He also noted that Tri-State has serviced the prior air-compressor and also serviced the air-compressors for the other departments within the area. Durant made a motion to authorize the Fire Chief to purchase an air compressor and containment filling station with control pad for a total price not to exceed $17,240 from Tri-State Diving. The motion was seconded by Gieseke and the motion passed 5-0.
Berg explained that he reached out to the City of Waubun to enter into a mutual aid agreement in the event of a water emergency. Schouveiller made a motion to approve Resolution 10-2-2017-1: A Joint Resolution for Potable Drinking Water between the City of Mahnomen and City of Waubun. The motion was seconded by Durant and the motion passed 5-0 on a roll-call vote.
The legal description on the 5.0 acre White Earth Head Start property needed to be corrected. As a result, the ordinance adopting the rezoning of the property needed to be amended. Schouveiller made the motion to approve Resolution 10-2-2017-2: A Resolution Amending the Legal Description for Ordinance 2-2017: The Rezoning of 5.0 acres in the Industrial Park PID #18.002.2600 from Light Industrial (I) to Public Use (P) within the City of Mahnomen, Mahnomen County, Minnesota.
Sargent Wise indicated that there was an incident at Kings Corner where they had locked the doors.
Mayor Wiemer mentioned the Fire Department did three control burns and responded to one fire call. Council member Schouveiller expected delivery on the brush attachment soon and the North Main Street sewer main and water service lateral extension is near completion. Council member Lee reported on the last HRDC board meeting.
Berg presented his report to the council.
Lee made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:24 pm. The motion was seconded by Schouveiller and the motion passed 5-0.
Mitchell Berg, Administrator Dave Wiemer, Mayor