Osakis City Council – Regular Meeting
September 5, 2017
7:00 PM
Present: Keith Emerson, Randy Anderson, Jim Snyder, Justin Dahlheimer, Jerry Olson
Absent: None
Others Present: Angela Jacobson, Greg Gottwald, Chad Mathews, Jason Schultz, Chad Gulbranson, Sheila Krohse, Jason Murray, Julie Didier, Nikki Nessman, Mark Grinstead, Sam Larson, Nick Eldred, Roberta Olson, Sharon Fredrickson, Bev Snyder, Ryan Peterson, Danny Dillabough
Meeting called to order by Mayor Keith Emerson at 7:00 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance was spoken.
Motion by Anderson, seconded by Dahlheimer, to approve the agenda as presented with the addition of Coalition of Greater MN. All Ayes
Motion by Dahlheimer, seconded by Anderson, to approve the general consent items, including the August city bills in the amount of $1,230,130.31, and meeting minutes from August 7, 2017, August 8, 2017, August 9, 2017, August 15, 2017 and EDA meeting minutes from August 22, 2017. All Ayes
Project #24: Liquor Store
Julie Didier was in attendance. The council received the August Liquor Store reports.
The inventory increase for August is $31,772.55. The total profit was $24,471.10 after the inventory was adjusted.
Clerk Jacobson has not received a letter from the MMBA with recommendations for the Liquor Store. The letter should be sent out next week. When Clerk Jacobson received the letter, a meeting will be set up to discuss the recommendations.
Didier informed the council that she would like to book the band Cherry Gun for the 2018 Festival weekend in June. Council is ok with the band and it will be included in the 2018 Budget.
Didier will have a customer appreciation day on Friday, September 8th, 2017 with food and music in conjunction with Moonshine Madness.
Project #73: First Responders
Jason Schultz was in attendance. Council received the run report for August. The First Responders had 15 calls for the month.
Schultz presented information to the First Responders for pay calls as discussed at the budget meeting. Schultz felt a lot of First Responders were happy with the change and would be a big help.
Council felt good with the program but will be looked at again and finalized at the budget meeting.
Project #74: Fire Department
Chad Mathews was in attendance.
· One call in August.
· No word from FEMA.
· New truck is in service.
Mathews asked the council safety lifts on the fire hall doors. The department submitted an OSHA grant through the safety committee but had not heard from them.
Mathews would like the council to consider approving the following:
· 4 garage door openers with battery backups.
o 9 remotes
o Safety lifts on doors so they go back up if an object is in the way of the door shutting.
o Cost for the door openers is $5,200.
Motion by Olson, seconded by Emerson, to approve 4 garage door openers with safety features for the firehall for a cost of $5,200. All Ayes
Gottwald and Mathews will work together to install the door openers.
Project #76: Police
Chad Gulbranson was in attendance. Council received the August police reports. The department had 239 calls. Call outs for the month are in the report for Gulbranson and Grinstead.
Project #60: Ordinance Changes
Council received two proposed ordinance changes from the police department.
Council received the full ordinance for chapter 71 and chapter 92.
Gulbranson suggested the following changes:
· #113 – add language for no winter parking.
· #114 – change ordinance to enforce snow removal on all sidewalks.
Council felt for safety reasons, the sidewalks should be kept clean. The council has concerns about the properties that receive snow on the sidewalks from when the streets are plowed.
Clerk Jacobson will check with other cities what they do with their sidewalk, major highways and how they are cleaned and who pays for it.
Council discussed the changes and felt that no parking from November 1st to April 1st is a good idea. Considerations will be made for holiday weekends when family is in town.
Dahlheimer read out loud ordinance change #114 for snow removal on all streets.
Motion by Dahlheimer, seconded by Anderson, to read the second reading of ordinance change #114 at the October 2, 2017 meeting. All Ayes
Motion by Olson, seconded by Emerson, to approve to add Lake Street and Main Street for snow removal in addition to other streets in ordinance #114. All Ayes
Emerson read out loud ordinance #113 for no winter parking from November 1st to April 1st.
Motion by Emerson, seconded by Snyder, to read the second reading of ordinance #113 at the October 2, 2017 meeting. All Ayes
Project #205: City Crew
Greg Gottwald was in attendance. Council received the August public works report for August.
Gottwald informed the council that he has not received a price on the clock replacement at this time.
Project #460: Downtown Project
Sheila Krohse was in attendance and updated the council on the Downtown Project.
· Caps were put on the street lights and some decorative bases.
· Brick needs to be fixed on the front of the building at 21 Main Street East.
· Clock needs to be installed.
Project #467: 2017 Project
Sheila Krohse was in attendance.
Council received pay application #4 from Riley Brothers in the amount of $337,792.60 and the engineering bill for July from Bolton & Menk in the amount of $38,989.50.
Krohse updated the council:
· Paving will be done on Main Street and Central Avenue this week.
· There is a property dispute on Main Street West between the Galeon and Dustin & Carla Graham. Grahams had part of their driveway on the Galeon property. Letters will be sent to the property owners that the project is moving forward and going to be completed. They must finalize the driveway location.
· The DNR parking lot is being worked on. The parking lot is closed but for launching boats, the landing will be open.
· PFA is on fundable plan for 2017.
Motion by Snyder, seconded by Anderson, to approve Pay Request #4 from Riley Brothers in the amount of $337,792.60. All Ayes
Motion by Snyder, seconded by Emerson, to approve the engineering bill for July from Bolton & Menk in the amount of $38,989.50. All Ayes
Project #299: Bonds
Jason Murray was in attendance to explain bonding for the 2017 Project.
Council received a schedule for bonding for the temporary money along with Resolution 2017-25 until we receive PFA funds. By bonding for this temporary money, it will cost the city an additional $22,343 in interest. This is because we will not receive PFA funding until 2018.
If the council chooses, we could borrow money from our reserve and not borrow as much temporary money.
The city also has the bond for the 2017 Project that will be financed through the First National Bank.
Council received the schedule and Resolution 2017-26.
Council discussed the following:
· Using water/sewer revenues to pay for the bond.
· PFA is ok with temporary bonding if needed.
Clerk Jacobson explained that we have funds to cover the money if we do not want the temporary funds if we receive PFA funds in January and would recommend we do not approve temporary bonding at this time.
Council would like to borrow from the water/sewer reserves and no temporary bonding.
Resolution 2017-25 for temporary bond in the amount of $993,000 was not approved.
Resolution 2017-26 was presented by Anderson, seconded by Olson, to approve Bond 2017A for $360,000 through the First National Bank for the 2017 Project. When put to a vote the resolution passed. Abstain: Dahlheimer
Project #197: Water
Gary Justice was not in attendance. Justice had a dispute regarding his water bill. His bill is usually $91.00 per month, but was $182.61 for the month of August. He stated that his wife let the outside water hose run all night and his bill was much higher.
Justice is asking to reduce the sewer charge on his bill to $26.
Clerk Jacobson informed him that we have not made any adjustments to water bills and offered to put him on the summer sewer list but he does not want that because they do not water and it would cost him more.
Council feels Justice should pay the bill. They city does not give a break on water bills.
Project #444: Waste Water Project
Council received a bill from Hall and Associates for the amount of $880.74 and from Flaherty and Hood for the amount of $471.25.
Gottwald and Clerk Jacobson will continue working on the point trading details for our city permit.
Motion by Olson, seconded by Emerson, to approve the bills from Hall and Associates for the amount of $880.74 and from Flaherty and Hood for the amount of $471.25. All Ayes
Project #249: Planning & Zoning
Council received the August 24, 2017 Planning & Zoning minutes. The minutes included recommendations to approve and deny the following resolutions:
· Resolution 2017-21 – approve a text amendment to allow upper level living in the C-1 District. This was not defined in the Osakis Zoning Ordinance.
· Resolution 2017-22 – approve to rezone the property at 301 2nd Avenue East for Richard and Mary Daas. This is required to be rezoned to C-3 to allow for inside storage.
· Resolution 2017-23 – approve a conditional use permit to allow for inside storage at 301 2nd Avenue East.
· Resolution 2017-24 – deny an amendment to the Planned Residential Development Overly for Idlewilde Resort.
Dahlheimer explained the Planning & Zoning minutes and the resolutions to be approved.
Dahlheimer informed the council that Roach Development have presented plans for a 3 story apartment building. A public hearing has been set for September 21st, 2017.
Resolutions 2017-21, 2017-22, 2017-23 and 2017-24 were presented by Olson, seconded by Emerson, to approve the resolutions as presented above. When put to a vote, the resolutions passed unanimously.
Motion by Emerson, seconded by Anderson, to approve the Planning & Zoning minutes from August 24, 2017. All Ayes
Project #102: EDA
Council received the August 29, 2017 EDA minutes.
Member Kurt Haakinson resigned from his position as the Industrial Park Rep. Dave Zerr has also informed the board that he will be retiring at the end of the year and could not be the Chamber Rep. Ryan Peterson and Lil Ortendahl have shown interest in the EDA Board.
The EDA Board recommended to the council to approve Dave Zerr as the Industrial Park Rep and Ryan Peterson as the Chamber Rep for the EDA Board.
Dahlheimer brought up the Planning & Zonings discussion on the bare lots in town:
· Incentives for people to use those lots.
· Old town district to be less restrictive to help those that want to build.
Jason Murray spoke that the TIF for housing in Osakis Properties could offer some incentive to help those that want to do something on the bare lots as long as the TIF requirements are followed.
Motion by Anderson, seconded by Olson, to approve the meeting minutes from August 29, 2017 and to appoint Dave Zerr as the Industrial Park Rep and Ryan Peterson as the Chamber Rep. All Ayes
Project #154: Employee Hiring
The deadline for the Maintenance Worker Position closed on Tuesday, September 5th, 2017. Anderson, Gottwald and Clerk Jacobson will be going through and rating the candidates for the position to setup for interviews. Forty three applications have been received.
Council is ok with Anderson, Gottwald and Clerk Jacobson going through the applications and questions for the interviews.
Project #84/358: Budget/Tax Levy
The council met and went through the 2018 Budget. We will need to set a date to meet regarding the budget.
Clerk Jacobson will set up a date with the council.
Tax Levy needs to be sent to the county by September 29th, 2017.
Project #7: Community Center
Council was informed that our janitors Rich and Marilyn Olson have quit at the Community Center due to some conflicts with working with the seniors. Clerk Jacobson will be looking into hiring a replacement and will be working with Jim Snyder to do this.
Snyder will meet with the seniors to discuss their expectations.
Project #369: CenterPoint Energy
Council received a letter from CenterPoint Energy for rate changes.
Project #130: Docks on Public Property
In 2006, the council discussed the issue of private docks on public property.
Clerk Jacobson had a resident ask about putting a dock on the end of 4th Avenue East and 7th Avenue East.
Council received the attorney’s letter and ordinance that was adopted at that time.
The issue the city ran into with this issue was with ordinance fees and the insurance being updated annually.
Clerk Jacobson would like the council to revisit this issue and see how we would like to proceed. The council can discuss if we want to continue with the ordinance or not.
After discussion, the council was ok with not enforcing the dock ordinance and allow those that want to use them to do so and use their riparian rights.
Project #56/382: Insurance/Union
Clerk Jacobson attended a Health Insurance meeting. The insurance rates for health insurance for the City of Osakis employees will be increasing 22%. With this increase, it will exceed the 15% outlined in the union contract and will then open up the discussion about insurance. The union will be contacted to start this discussion.