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Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Waubun City Council Meeting Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Waubun Community Center 6:00 PM The regular June meeting of the Waubun City Council was held on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 at the Waubun Community Center beginning at 6 PM. Mayor Bill Eck called the meeting to order. Roll was called: Present; William Eck, Eugene Moore, Jean Horack, Tom Bement and Milo Winter. Absent: None Staff present: Germaine Riegert, City Clerk, Paul Brehm, Police and Fire Chief and Paul Ahles as temporary water and sewer/public works person. Others: Ben Stalberger of WAMO, Marilyn Kemper, Phyllis Tilton, Darb Miller, Ron Hendrickson The agenda was reviewed. The following items were added: 1. Use of Park 2. Goble property cleanup 3. garage door on south of Bement building 4. Request to purchase lots south of the community center 5. Tree grant 6. Report on grant letter to Mahnomen County 7. Resolution for combined polling place with Popple Grove Township Motion was made by Horack to accept the agenda. Moore seconded it and it carried unanimously. Mayor Eck asked for a motion to accept the minutes as mailed with the notation that the Waubun Community Center Board will consist of at least five and no more than ten members. Winter made a motion to approve the minutes. Moore seconded it and it carried unanimously. The following monthly bills were reviewed. GENERAL FUND: Midwest Bank 798.83 PERA 547.20 Mahnomen Co. Chamber/Commerce 535.00 Eck Construction 435.00 Mahnomen County Highway Dept. 2,697.00 Grand Forks Herald 367.25 Pitney Bowes 31.15 Pitney Bowes 250.00 D&G Hometown Market 21.95 NCPERS 16.00 ACS 181.33 Triangle Ag LLC 191.66 PERA 10.00 Gopher State One Call 1.45 MN Assn. of Small Cities 257.90 KRJM 600.00 Ottertail 1,697.67 The Forum 205.74 Wambach & Hanson 460.10 League of Mn Cities 689.00 Mahnomen Pioneer 67.09 Reliable Office 202.03 Ulteig Engineers 12,875.38 Net Payroll 3,569.50 Eck Construction 4,492.50 WATER AND SEWER FUND: Lunde Blade & Gravel 1,111.73 MN Dept. of Health 235.00 Hawkins Water Treatment 245.84 Bement made a motion to pay the bills as presented. Horack seconded it and it passed unanimously. The Clerk reported that the statements sent in June were the Water and Sewer billings. The Clerk reported that she had not prepared the letter telling customers that anyone in arrears is subject to shut off but will do so in July. Receipts since the last meeting were $1,511.00 received from Waubun Centennial/All School Reunion project. The clerk reported that she will have to redeem at least two more CD’s in order to pay the bills. After some discussion she was directed to ask the bank for short term financing using the CD’s as collateral as the monies for our share of taxes will come in about the end of the month. Winter made a motion to pass resolution 2006-05-06 authorizing the Clerk to negotiate a short term note for $30,000 at Midwest Bank. Bement seconded it and the motion carried unanimously. DELEGATIONS: Mayor Eck recognized Marilyn Kemper who reported that the Community Center Board had been revived. The following community residents volunteered to serve at the present time: Darb Miller, Ron Hendrickson, Don Melina, Ardette Bisson, Leonard Steichen, Marilyn Kemper, Bruce Mortenson representing WAMO and Tom Bement as Council liaison. Marilyn reported that they had received a negative report on the condition of the building from the State Health Inspector which said that if there was another such report the Center would be shut down. She has made plans to give it a good cleaning and to segregate cleaning materials and put all boxes off the floor, etc. It was noted that the Center roof had leaked. Paul Ahles was directed to correct the problem immediately. The comment was made that the Senior Citizens have an obligation to clean up after themselves also. The Clerk will talk to City Attorney Hanson about revising the Use Contract and establishing a deposit system to insure that the Center remains in useable order. Horack made a motion to approve the new Advisory Board with the stipulation that a monthly financial report is made available to the City Council. Moore seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Phyllis Tilton, representing Senior Meals, stated that she is asking community agencies to help with funding because the Project is running a deficit. She also discussed the latest inspection report and said she will work with the Community Center Board to eliminate further faulty findings. She wanted the Council to discuss promotion of the Senior Meals Project, etc. The Council agreed to do this at a future meeting and thanked her for her time and concern. Ben Stalberger, representing WAMO, requested that the Council award the organization a one day 3.2 Off Sale Beer Permit and that the City allow the use of the City insurance for liability. The Council approved his request by consensus and directed the Clerk to contact our insurance agent to set up the insurance rider as requested. OLD BUSINESS The Fire Contracts were reviewed again. It was noted that a typo was made—page two should read Fire Chief and not Police Chief. The townships reported that they are willing to continue the contracts if the City continues to support the Special Fire Equipment Fund. Horack made a motion to cooperate with the Special Fire Equipment Savings account. Bement seconded it and it carried unanimously. The Mahnomen County Chamber if Commerce request for monies to assist with funding the Tourist Information booth located near EZ One Stop was reviewed. Winter made a motion to donate $500 to the operation and to pay the annual dues of $35. Bement seconded it and it carried unanimously. Ray Thorkildson had repaired the Gazebo in the City Park in the past. He agreed to repair the damage at the time and materials rate. It was the consensus of the Council to ask him to get at it as soon as possible to eliminate additional damage. The Clerk reported that she had spoken to the City Attorney about development of a contract for Paul Ahles’ services for the Water and Sewer. Mr. Hanson advised that Paul is in fact a City employee and must be paid as such. Mayor Eck said that he had spoken to Mrs. Gloria Goble about the unsightly materials on her property. She agreed to let all of it, except the trailer house and the tanks, be removed provided it is done at no cost to her. Tom Bement agreed to contact the White Earth Waste Disposal department and RTC Councilman Kenneth Bevins to see if it is possible to get the clean up fees waived. Mayor Eck, Councilperson Moore and City Attorney Hanson met to physically check on the Ethel Avenue vacation dispute. It was their conclusion that no one had lost access to the property by the City’s action. Mr. Ken Johnson, apartment house owner, was notified that if there is any further dispute over the property line, it would be the responsibility of the landowners to pay for the survey as the City of Waubun is not at fault. Councilperson Moore reported that he had visited with the people at RDO in Moorhead about getting out of the lease purchase agreement on the John Deere loader/back hoe. They had no definite ideas as the tractor was purchased from Nortrax in Grand Rapids. After some discussion Moore made a motion to table this matter for further study. Winter seconded it and it carried unanimously. The Clerk reported that she had written a letter to our County Commission representative, Karen Ahmann, about a grant for a roof in the shelter at the City Park. She received a reply stating that these grants are only available in April and October and cannot exceed $1,000. It was the consensus to table the matter until the September meeting for more discussion. The Tree Grant could not be extended but the project manager at the Department of Natural Resources said to change the dates and resubmit the paper work and it will likely be approved the new biennium. The Council approved this action on a unanimous voice vote. Last fall the City Council agreed to share voting machines and polling places with Popple Grove Township. This HAVA agreement now needs to be formalized. A memorandum of agreement was presented to this affect and the proposed cost sharing for the elections of 2006 would be 70% for the City and 30% for the township. This ratio is based on the number of votes cast in the 2004 elections. The ratio will probably differ from year to year based on this formula. After some discussion, Bement made a motion to agree with the memorandum of agreement for this upcoming election period. Moore seconded it and it passed unanimously. NEW BUSINESS: The Council reviewed the applications that were received for the Public Works/Maintenance person. There were four and it was decided that all should be interviewed. The Clerk was directed to notify the applicants that the position is still available and that interviews will be scheduled in July. A buyer has expressed interest in the purchase of D&G Hometown Market. The building is financed by bonds and is part of a tax increment financing district created for the purpose of economic development for the City of Waubun. After lengthy discussion it was determined that no decision could be made at this time and that City Attorney Hanson be contacted to determine what the legal ramifications would be if the City decided to sell the store property rather than continue leasing it. The Clerk was directed to contact him for more information. Mayor Eck presented a letter from Alan Horack requesting permission to purchase the two lots south of the Community Center for a potential business enterprise. These lots were tax forfeit and awarded to the City of Waubun for public use as a parking lot. The Council tabled the request pending a consultation with the City Attorney of what can legally be done with the tax forfeited lots and whether or not another liquor license can be issued by the City. Bids for the Highway 113 Project will be opened June 23. The doors on the south side of the City Garage (Bement Bldg.) need to be closed permanently and a new door installed on the north side so that construction can be done. The only quote we received either of the two times we advertised was from Eck Construction. Mayor Eck, owner of Eck Construction, turned the meeting over to Vice Mayor, Tom Bement and stepped out while the remainder of the Council considered whether to ask for quotes again or award the job to Eck Construction in the amount of $8,995.00. After some discussion it was decided that since we had not received other quotes before, it would be advisable, with the expected time constraints to award the job to Eck Construction. Winter made a motion to grant the remodeling to Eck Construction and to allow that 50% of the monies be advanced to allow for purchase of special order materials. Moore seconded the motion and it passed as follows: Moore-yes; Horack-yes; Bement-yes; and Winter-yes. Mayor Eck did not take any part in the discussion or negotiations and did not vote. STAFF REPORTS: Paul Ahles, acting PW manager reported that the plow truck needs to have the clutch repaired and some work done on the frame. It also needs to be certified by the MN Department of Transportation. He had a quote from Stangle Repair for the certification of $60. He was directed to contact them about the other repairs, also. Further action was tabled until the July meeting. Paul Brehm, Fire and Police Chief, presented his written reports on fire and police calls. There were no billable incidents. A question was asked about use of the City Park after 11 PM some evenings. He said that the City of Waubun has a 10 PM Curfew but it is ignored because the siren doesn’t work. He will be more diligent in policing the Park area and will give warnings regarding the curfew. Notice will be sent with the water and sewer bills reminding residents of the curfew policy. Germaine Riegert, City Clerk, had no further comments. No further business was discussed. The next meeting will be held on July 11, 2006 at 6 PM. All staff is requested to come at 6 PM to do a pre-meeting review. The Council will not be in formal session but it is still considered to be an open meeting and all interested parties are invited to attend. Bement made a motion to adjourn at 8:00 PM. Moore seconded it and the motion carried unanimously. ____________________________________ ______________________________ Mayor Clerk |
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