April, 2008 Minutesand Public Hearing for Aamot Rezoning Request
The Ashby City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at AshbyCity Hall. Mayor Thomas Grover called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with council members Carl Ulrich, Kristyn Fick, Peter Hoff and Lynn Jensen present. Also present were Richard Walton, City Attorney; Val Martin, Clerk/Treasurer; Paul Teicher, Public Works Superintendent and Thor Tollefson, Police Chief. Visitors included RandyHighland from Carlson-Highland, Andy and Deanna Aamot and Joe Hoff.
The pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Public Hearing
The public hearing the rezoning request of Aamot’s property was opened. The council had received minutes from the Planning Commission. It was their recommendation to rezone the property at 99 North Birch from Commercial/Business to Single Family Residential as requested by Andrew and Deanna Aamot. This property was previously owned by Trailside Auto and used as a vehicle repair shop. The Aamot’s own the adjoining residential property and have purchased the property for personal use, not business. Fick moved to rezone the property at 99 North Birch from Commercial/Business to Single Family Residential. Ulrich seconded. Jensen abstained. MC
Hoff moved to approve the agenda with the additions. Jensen seconded. MCU
Visitors:
RandyHighland presented the council with the 2007 audit report. Jensen moved to approve the report as presented. Fick seconded. The council thanked the Clerk/Treasurer on a job well-done.
Joe Hoff was present to discuss the horse shoe pits. The project was approved last fall so the committee can go ahead and start. The council is okay with Mr. Hoff purchasing materials and presenting bills for reimbursement for this project.
Consent Agenda
Fick moved to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:
- Approval of all March minutes.
- Approval of bills: Prepaid: $38,387.17 and Claims for Approval: $57,661.76 for a total of $96,048.93. Ulrich went through the bills prior to council and gave pre-approval.
Ulrich seconded. MCU
There were sevenoutstanding utility accounts scheduled to be disconnected tomorrow.
Open Forum
Fick and Jensen reported on Open Forum. One resident presented concerns over abandoned vehicles with expired license tabs. Tollefson reported that he will be sending letters to residents that have abandoned vehicles after he does a tour around the city.
Mayor’s Report
Attended the following:
- Meeting with Teicher regarding Public Works Department.
- Meeting with Martin, Teicher and Evansville’s mayor, clerk and public works superintendent regarding the agreement for aid after Paul leaves and discussion on how they would be reimbursed.
Public Safety
Police report was distributed:
- Suspicious Activity – 2
- Animal Complaints – 3
- Unlock Motor Vehicle – 3
The council discussed bad checks and how this is handled. There is one outstanding check dated back to December. Once the city attorney gets the paperwork to the CountyAttorney, it is handled from there. It can take several weeks for them to process.
Fire Department Report:
- 18 ambulance calls – 6 within the City.
- 2 fire calls – 0 within the City.
Public Works
Public Works Report:
- Alex Power is still looking for a used pull-behind mower for the tractor.
- Ordered 6 irrigation meters.
- Discussed a 100-gallon diesel storage tank or off-road fuel to put in the shop. Teicher will do some more checking.
- Made contact with Mike Payson, West Central Community Action – Lot that he is interested in splitting only has 1water and 1 sewer hook-up. The street would have to be dug up, etc. The sewer is also very shallow and made need a personal lift station in the houses.
- Mike Skatvold will meet with Teicher tomorrow or Friday regarding the assisted living.
- The Public Works Department received another award from the MPCA for the wastewater treatment facility.
- We will need to write up a contract with Jerry Buse, Evansville for the interim work on water and wastewater until we get another person hired. Martin and Teicher will work on this. Jerry has been getting training from Teicher. The public works superintendent from ElbowLake is also available if needed.
- The council okayed the quoted rate for Teicher’s services. He will be doing paperwork until the end of April.
- Hughes Lift Station is scheduled to go over the lift station pump – the council decided that it would be wise to hold this off until June and he will give us an assessment of the pump. He is also willing to train the new public works superintendent on the lift stations.
- The council was in agreement that the scheduled water tower maintenance should wait until next summer.
There was a discussion on the MN Warn program. The council felt that this is a great idea. It is a public works mutual aid program statewide. Resolution will be prepared for the next meeting.
The personnel committee presented a wage scale for the new public works superintendent. They also discussed the step/grade plan for all employees. Council would like to receive the background material that the personnel committee used and table until the next meeting.
Hoff suggested that the Personnel Policy be changed to request 30 days notice when any full-time employee resigns. Tabled for the next meeting.
Evansville will bill Ashby for Jerry Buse’s time including PERA, Social Security, Medicare, overtime rates, etc. Buse will handle locates and deal with storm water issues along with all the required water and wastewater items.
There was a discussion on disability insurance. This is paid by individual employees and we need to have 100% participation. We will change the personnel policy to make it mandatory.
Old Business
The Garbage Commission reported on their meeting held March 19th. All details have been worked out for the switch and containers will soon be ordered. Residents can expect a container delivered to their property at the end of April.
Grover, Martin and Jensen reported on their meeting regarding business incentives. Incentive would apply to new businesses and new business owners. These businesses would have to be in a commercial building and be noncompetitive with other Ashby businesses. The business would also have to be open a minimum of 9 month per year. Ulrich made a motion to approve the incentives. Hoff seconded. MCU A tax abatement policy will need to be drafted and be prepared for council approval.
Hoff and Martin reported on the meeting they had with Ken Johnson, manager of the Ashby Equity. We will need to get more information and involve members of the fire and ambulance departments for their input.
New Business
Information was distributed to the council on a clothing recycling program. It actually is a container that people could get rid of their used clothing. This company washes and distributes the clothing to different organizations. The council did not have interest in this program. There are a few residents that do this type of service for homeless and underprivileged people.
There will be a bike group coming through on June 14th and having lunch in the park. The organizer is Jim Klobuchar. Mr. Klobuchar is Senator Amy Klobuchar’s father and has organized other bike tours through Ashby over the last few years. There is a possibility that the Senator would also be a part of the group. They will not know this until a few days before the ride.
Fick moved to approve an outdoor liquor license for the Coots Banquet on May 3rd. Hoff seconded. MCU
The Grant County F.U.N. Festival is April 19th. All council members have agreed to attend and be greeters.
The Council approved the ordering of promotional magnets for the F.U.N. Festival, etc.
Adjourn at 9:45 p.m.
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Valerie Martin, Clerk
Page 1 April,2008 Minutes