GROVECITY REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MAY 13, 2014 @ 7PM ALL MEMBERS PRESENT

PUBLIC NOTICE – PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT

Bollig engineering brought a power point presentation and information regarding the proposed plan for sewer ponds which also included repairing some streets and the water and sewer pipes underneath. The streets in need of major repair along with some water and sewer pipes below were identified by the televising that was done a couple of years ago. The proposed project cost will be $14M. If no grants are obtained, the cost to the residents will amount to $715,000 per year plus operation and maintenance costs totaling $940,000 per year; which amounts to monthly payments of $78,360 or $198.88 per month per EDU. If grants are obtained, the calculation includes the median household income, which for Grove City determined by the last census is $43,021. This amount times 1.5% amounts to $53.78 per month per utility per EDU. This amount is needed to cover the loan debt, some reserve and operation and maintenance costs. Without grants, the City can’t afford the project.

Bollig presented a scenario breaking down each utility as far as what we are collecting now and what we will need to collect to cover the entire project. Overall, rates could go up $35.38 per month. The primary funding will come from Rural Development. The loan will be spread out over 39 years. Bollig pointed out that there are three ways to generate revenue for the project: assessments, increasing the levy or increasing rates. A question was asked about doing an income survey. Answer: income surveys are not always an option depending on who you finance with and if the income survey were to come back showing the median income was higher, then the resident’s affordability would go up as well.

THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING WAS OPENED AT 7:35PM.

CONSENT TO AGENDA: A motion was made by Councilmember Cram to approve the consent to agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Nelson. Motion carried.

VISITORS: Roger Rusch addressed the council. “Attending Council meetings I have been disappointed how certain Councilmembers talk to the City Employees. Is there not a Code of Conduct as to how City Councilmembers and City Employees are to conduct themselves? I realize the City Councilmembers and City Employees take a lot of crap from the public but this goes with the position. Grove City is basically a business. The utilities you run are a business. Some of what is said is not professional or acceptable in business. There should be respect shown both ways. Thank you.”

OLD BUSINESS

E Demand Rates: The Clerk informed the Council that she was setting up a meeting with Steve Moses from Heartland and would like two members of the Council to attend to discuss some more about setting up some of the businesses on Demand Rates instead of the regular energy rates. Councilmember Miller said he could attend on Monday.

NEW BUSINESS

Sheldon Evenson: Sheldon approach the Council stating that he had purchased the lot across from the City Shed and is planning on building a shed for personal use. He would build the shed so it did not come out any farther than the houses to the east as not to disrupt the appearance to the community. The entrance to the shed will be from the alley. He requested approval for a variance to the north into the boulevard of about 5-7 feet. The Clerk

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informed everyone that a Public Hearing has to be held with the date published in the paper and letters need to go out to all residents within 350 feet. Sheldon indicated that he had talked to a couple of the neighbors and they did not have any issues with his plans. Councilmember Peterka made a motion to approve the variance on condition that nobody objects at the public hearing. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Miller. Motion carried.

Steven Delling – Sunday Liquor License: Steven Delling, the owner of the Road house Bar and Grill came to request to have a full liquor license. This will have to be added to the voting ballot in November. A motion was made by Councilmember Peterka to have the Sunday Liquor License added to the ballot in November. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Nelson. Motion carried.

Street Repairs and Bids: There was some discussion on repairing roads. The Council told Dave Martin to get prices on installing water and sewer into the building behind Schmidty’s before any repair was done to that road. He is also going to find some asphalt that could be used to repair some of the roads. Nothing else was specifically decided.

Augustfest – Street Dance: IDK will be sponsoring the street dance and handling the alcohol. Roger reported that he had tried to work with the bars in town and both turned the offer down. The dance will not be in the park instead it will be held on First Street by Precision Fiberglass.

Residents Maintaining Lawns and Cleaning Up their Outside Properties: The Clerk told the Council that there would be notices going out in the minutes regarding these issues but that the Council should be going around town inspecting properties. She also told the Council that our officer is more than willing to deliver notices stating that ordinances are being violated when people aren’t keeping their lawns mowed or the outsides of the properties are not being maintained.

Summer Recreation: The Clerk reminded the Council that the City approves paying $2,000 towards summer rec every year. A motion was made by Mayor Drange to approve spending the $2,000 on summer rec. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Peterka. Motion carried.

South Grove: Councilmember Peterka told the Council that they did not have a meeting this past month. There were three empty apartments and maybe they should start looking at offering an incentive to get them filled. There were two bids for carpets and two bids for refrigerators. A motion was made to go with the bid from Halvorson’s by Councilmember Miller. Motion seconded by Councilmember Cram. Motion carried. A motion was made by Councilmember Peterka to go with the bid for carpeting from Tom’s Carpet in EdenValley. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Nelson. Motion carried. The Clerk spoke to the Council about the purchasing and planting of flowers around South Grove. She told them that they had been fortunate to have tenants who were willing to spend the money and do all of the planting. Some of the organizations from town along with individuals have donated money towards the purchase of flowers. She felt the City should start contributing towards the expense and start realizing that the City Employees might have to start helping with the planting and maintenance if there aren’t tenants willing to or unable to keep this going. A motion was made by Councilmember Miller to donate $100 towards the purchase of flowers along with donations by Councilmember Peterka. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Cram. Motion carried.

FIRE: Chief Jans reported that the new tanker had arrived and they went ahead and purchased stickers to put on the side. They also had to purchase some fittings for the one pump. The department will be participating in a house burn on Saturday. They had training on hoses and nozzles. They will also be receiving some training on a live burn in a trailer at Ridgewater. The cost of the training should be refunded to the City. The department is going to be working with Kandiyohi on a grant for some new equipment.

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RESCUE: There were nine calls during the month; 8 medicals and one fire assist. There are four fire fighters who regularly come on calls. All of the members went to a workshop in RedwoodFalls. The Rescue Department will be helping the Fire Department with training on the house burn. The Department is going to have a Breakfast Fundraiser on May 18th from 9-1pm. Donations to the Department can be sent to the Clerk’s office. They requested permission from the Council to go to other towns to participate in their parades. A grant was obtained from Centerpoint Energy for $2500. This grant is for pagers and is to be split with the Fire Department. A representative from Centerpoint Energy will be at next month’s Council meeting. On June 10th the Rescue Department will be participating in a life link training at the LitchfieldAirport. Of the four Fire Personnel going out on calls with the Rescue, two already have first responder training and they would like to get the other two the training as well. There was an issue with the Rescue’s mail getting put into the Fire Department’s mail box and the mail was opened. The Rescue Department feels that there are hard feelings between the City Council and the Department. The members don’t feel very supported and would like to have a meeting with the Personnel Committee and all of the members of the Department. They want to have a chance to discuss the issues and find a way to work together.

SHERIFF: There were 35 calls for the month. Officer Schutz stated that he had been monitoring the 4-wheelers around the gun club and people walking around town late at night.

CLERK: The Clerk told the Council that she was still working with the Auditors to get the audit finished. They goal is to finish so the audit can be presented at next month’s meeting. She told to Council to come with questions for the Auditor. Power Systems sent a draft letter regarding the agreement with Meeker Co. Co-op to help the City of Grove City with its power should another storm occur and the City is without power for any amount of time. The letter needs to get forwarded onto the Attorneys and then Doug from Power Systems would work with Meeker Co. Co-op in getting the letter signed. The Clerk said she applied for a grant which will cover some training in St. Cloud in June. The training will last about three days. A meeting was held with Jim from Omni-Pro, Brad, the electrician and the Clerk regarding the control monitor boxes that the City purchased. These boxes are to be installed into homes and businesses with electric water heaters and central air so the City can start to control the high peaks in electrical usage around the town. The computer which will control the boxes was installed into the Clerk’s office. Brad needs to install all of the antennas and the boxes need to be installed. The Clerk reported that she has about 25 on the list so far.

PUBLIC WORKS: Dave Martin came with a list of items to discuss. #1 was bids on crack filling, there were three. A motion was made by Councilmember Peterka to go with the lowest bid from Glieden Enterprises from Belgrade for $4110. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Miller. Motion carried. #2. Eight intersection signs and five stop signs need to be replaced along with posts, etc. There were two bids obtained. A motion was made by Councilmember Peterka to go with the bid from EFA for $1,514.02. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Cram. Motion carried. #3. Two bids were received for street painting Highway 12, by the bank and Hogn-the Road, handicap areas, curbs and gutters on Highway 12. A motion was made by Councilmember Peterka to go with Kohls for $940. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Miller. Motion carried. #4. Yellow Ribbon Signs. Martin looked into attaching the Yellow Ribbon Signs onto our City Signs (three of them). Because we already have two additional signs, FFA and Crime Watch, attached; in order to have a third sign attached the current signs need to be raised and parts ordered to have the Yellow Ribbon Sign attached. The cost would be $200 per sign totaling $600 more. A motion was made by Councilmember Miller to spend the money to have the signs added and the current signs raised to accommodate the third sign. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Peterka. Motion carried.

#5. Dustin Gaarder, our new employee would like to take ½ day off before his wedding in June and one day sometime after that. He does not have vacation time accrued but could work extra hours during the week or on the weekend to make up the time. The Council had no problem with this. #6. Chappel Central sent a proposal for a yearly maintenance agreement to service the cooling and heating system in the Community Center. The

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proposal was for 2014, 2015 and 2016 and the cost would be around $1,000 to $1,100 per year. The Council decided to have Martin check with someone else. #7. The City has two sirens. The one by the water tower does not work and the one by David Lindstrom’s needs to be fixed. The cost to fix the one will be around $1,000. A new one could cost $10,000. Councilmember Miller told Dave to use his best judgment regarding fixing the sirens. #8. Martin reminded the Council that at last month’s meeting he presented a form that needed to be signed regarding his retirement; whether or not he will be totally retired of kept on as a phase out retirement. Martin told the Council that he felt he needed to only work an hour or so per day and he would oversee South Grove for a few months until Dustin gets a “better hands” on feel for everything. The Council felt the Personnel Committee should decide what to pay Martin after June 30th. A motion was made by Councilmember Miller to sign the phased out retirement form for Dave Martin. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Cram. Motion carried. #9. Street Sweeping. Martin reported that they went with a different company this time and they seemed to do a better job. The cost was $2200.

Martin said the water line thawed to the sewer plant on Friday. Maxwell’s water lines thawed as well. There were three others; the old car wash, the old bus barn and at the school a line to the softball field. Martin told the Council that the City Truck was in bad shape and they could use a new truck and would like to get bids. Chief Jans told Martin that there had been some water coming in around the chimney in the fire hall.

MAYOR: The Mayor asked the Clerk to sign Dustin up for any training opportunities that come up. The Augustfest Committee will meet on the last Wednesday of the month.

CRAM: Cram wanted to let everyone know that she hadn’t received the credit on her water bill yet.

PETERKA: Peterka asked the officer to monitor the four wheelers on the trail around the park. He doesn’t want to illuminate them but make sure they are not tearing up the trail.

ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Peterka to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Cram. Motion carried.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS:

May 26th The Grove City Historical Society will be hosting their annual Memorial Day Program at TrinityLutheranChurch. Lunch will be available. Tim Mergen will be the speaker. The program will start at 10am and the museum will be open from 12:30 until 4pm.

JUNE 4TH ICE CREAM SOCIAL at TrinityLutheranChurch from 4:30pm till 7pm.

JUNE 13th The Kraemer Family will be performing at the FirstBaptistChurch. Program at 5:30pm. Lunch will be available plus some Gaga Ball. For more information contact

June 13-14 Relay for Life of Meeker County. Friday 11am till midnight and Saturday 11am till 10pm at the MeekerCounty Fairgrounds. H ELP US FINISH THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER! For more details contact Julie Barron at 320-221-3365 or .

JUNE 16th Bonfire Potluck will be held at South Grove in the parking lot. Everyone welcome.

JUNE 22nd The CARE Annual Auction will be held at TrinityLutheranChurch. Lunch will be available along with rootbeer floats. Auction starts at NOON. There are several casino packages along with new items and gift certificates donated by various businesses. Homemade baked goods are hot items. Please donate treasurers you no longer want and come and bid on some great stuff!!! For more information contact Rosie at 857-2274.