CITY OF CLAREMONT

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015

7:00 P.M.

Mayor Daniel Martinez called the City Council Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Council Members present: Rick Butler, Dean Gray, and Michelle Welch. Council Members absent: Marie Lindblom. Others present: City Clerk/Treasurer Liz Sorg, Maintenance Supervisor Gary Gray, Maintenance Worker Ryan Swenson, Claremont’s Financial Advisor Mike Bubany, Claremont’s Community and Business Development Specialist Tom Monson, Lloyd Von Ruden, Ed Krenke, Tara Lindquist with the Star Herald, Ralph Schwanke, Nancy Schwanke, Karen Jorgenson with the News Enterprise, Jon Klejeski with CHS, Bryon Wolf, and Romell Matejcek.

Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve the agenda, second by Gray. Carried unanimously.

CONSENT AGENDA

Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Welch. Carried unanimously.

COMMITTEE/COMMUNITY REPORTS

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: Nothing at this time.

PUBLIC HEALTH SAFETY COMMITTEE: The Fire Department approved the Fire Service Agreements with the Township of Claremont, Township of Aurora, and Township of Ripley and recommended the council approve them also. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve all 3 Service Agreements, second by Welch. Carried unanimously.

Garrett Warpinski applied to be on the Fire Department and they recommended the council approve him. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve Garrett to the Fire Department, second by Butler. Carried unanimously.

PARKS COMMITTEE: TruGreen and D&D Yard Service turned in proposals for weed control in Henning Park, Memorial Park, and the Claremont Development. TruGreen was a little cheaper. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve TruGreen for weed control in Henning Park and the Claremont Development, second by Welch. Ayes: Mayor Martinez, Welch, and Butler. Nay: Gray. Carried. Since Memorial Park is going to have dirt work done and the park equipment area moved, weed control will not be applied there this year.

Mayor Martinez made a motion to open the floor for Nancy Schwanke to speak, second by Butler. Carried unanimously. Nancy presented a $400 donation for the park equipment. Motion by Mayor Martinez to close the floor, second by Welch. Carried unanimously.

The total cost of the park equipment is $54,187.63 for everything except the wood engineered fiber fill. Romell Matejcek will order that as she can get it cheaper. A fence or caution tape will need to be put up while installation and dirt work is being done. The old equipment will be removed and thrown away. CHS said they can store the new equipment in their shed until installed. The Chamber will order the equipment and it takes 3 – 4 weeks to arrive. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve the park design and get the equipment ordered, second by Welch. Carried unanimously.

PLANNING ZONING COMMITTEE: A meeting will be held June 2nd for a Variance Request from CHS.

EDA: They had a meeting May 7th. The council members received copies of the minutes.

BUILDING COMMITTEE: The building is moving right along and is still under budget.

ADMINISTRATION: Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve the Financial Reports and payment of the bills, second by Gray. Carried unanimously.

Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve payment of the bills, second by Gray. Carried unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

Novel Energy Solutions sent an email stating that the city did not get picked for the 5 solar lottery applications.

The maintenance department will give a tour of the New City Hall, Water Treatment Facility and Wastewater Treatment Facility for anyone who would like to go. It will be Tuesday, May 26 starting at 5:00 p.m. For those interested they should meet at the current City Hall.

NEW BUSINESS

Motion by Mayor Martinez to open the Public Hearing on the proposed adoption of Business Subsidy Criteria, second by Gray. Carried unanimously. Mike Bubany addressed the council and said CHS has rescinded their request of tax abatement from the county due to the low benefit amount. The Mayor asked for any comments or concerns from the public and there was none. Motion by Mayor Martinez to close the Public Hearing, second by Butler. Carried unanimously. Now, the city has a formal application for future abatement requests. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve Resolution Adopting the Business Subsidy Criteria, second by Gray. Carried unanimously.

Motion by Mayor Martinez to open the Public Hearing on the Tax Abatement in Connection with CHS Expansion Project, second by Butler. Carried unanimously. CHS is purchasing the property for .50 cents/square foot with a 5 year tax abatement of 80% starting in budget year 2018. The tax abatement plan was in the packet and summarized in the Resolution Approving Tax Abatement. The budget for 2018 will need to include a levy for the CHS Tax Abatement. In 2018, all things being equal, the city could levy an additional $1800 and resident’s taxes would not increase. All questions from the visitors and council were answered by Mike Bubany. Motion by Mayor Martinez to close the Public Hearing, second by Gray. Carried unanimously. Motion by Mayor Martinez to approve Resolution Approving Property Tax Abatement Related to CHS Inc. Expansion Project 2015, second by Welch. Carried unanimously. Motion by Mayor Martinez to give the Mayor and Clerk the authority to sign the Development Contract on the basis of the bullet points and the abatement discussion, second by Butler. Carried unanimously.

A rough draft of the CHS Purchase Agreement was in the packets, but the Attorney is preparing a final draft. The survey should be done in about a week. The county is working on getting the abstract clear. So the wheels are slowly turning and moving along.

Mayor Martinez appointed Dean Gray to the Tree Board.

A survey was put on the website asking if resident’s would like to pay an extra $2.00 to $2.50 on every monthly water bill to be put specifically towards a city wide clean-up day. Including verbal responses there were 19 no’s, 3 yes’s and 1 not sure. The city will not be having a city-wide clean-up day this year as it wasn’t in the budget. Also, the city received an anonymous letter in the drop box about the condition of some properties in town. City Hall also received a call that said about the same, that the properties in town are a mess. Liz said clean up letters are sent 1-2 times per year and if someone complains on a property, it is checked, and sent a letter if needed. Liz asked if the employees work on the nuisance letters, will the city council back them up? The council stated they will back up the employees and to follow the ordinance. Letters will be sent in the next month or so.

Motion by Mayor Martinez to adjourn at 7:58 p.m., second by Butler. Carried unanimously.

______

Elizabeth Sorg, City Clerk/Treasurer Daniel Martinez, Mayor