AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
JULY 14TH, 2010
6:00 PM CITY HALL
JULY AGENDA
1. Call the Meeting to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approve Consent Agenda of…
a)
Minutes from June 9th, 2010 Regular Meeting, Minutes from
June 15th, 2010 Special Meeting,
b)
June 2010 Treasurer’s Report
c)
June 2010 Bills for Payment from Check # 7005 to Check #
7134 including Automatic Bank Payments for a Monthly Total of $
84,778.47.
4. Concerned Citizens regarding Emergency Disaster
Whistle for City of Akeley.
5. Don Sabinske – Regarding Crow Wing Lake Drive Road.
Conditions and Complaints.
6. Larry Holm / Akeley Regional Community Center –
Regarding the desperate need for volunteers.
7. Vern Peterson – Propane Contract – Does the City want
to be a part of the Propane Contract Group? (EHCFD, St. Johns
Church & 4 Individual members) So far.
8.
Approve hiring Part Time Chief of Police Position and
Wages.
9. Approve to Waive or Not Waive the Statutory Tort
Liability limits to the extent of the coverage purchased.
10. Lacey Hitchcock-Liquor Store Report
11. Frank Thelin-Water/Sewer/Maint Report
12. Old Business –
13. New Business/Public Forum
14. Adjourn
AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
JULY 14, 2010
6:00 PM CITY HALL
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
The Akeley City Council met in a regular meeting Wednesday July
14th, 2010 at 6:00 pm. Mayor Jennifer Mitchell called the
meeting to order. Council members present were: Brian
Hitchcock, Cliff Johnson, Troy Hegg and Terry Chalich. The
Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the Council and attending
audience.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Jennifer Mitchell and
carried to approve the consent agenda with one exception, that
the 110 Police Fund needs a correction for 6,000.00.
Concerned Citizens regarding Emergency Disaster Whistle
for the City of Akeley.
There was no one at the meeting to represent this issue. Jen
stated that we have been in contact with a gal from Hubbard
County and they are working within the whole county to get the
Emergency Funding worked out. Cliff stated that the City’s
siren is in working order, the curfew timer does not work. He
stated that we do have access to the siren along with the first
responders. They also have access to the switch and it can be
turned on manually if needed in an emergency situation. Cliff
stated that Troy Hegg is going to bring it up before the
Fireboard to possibly have them take the siren over and move it
to the Fire Hall and possibly have the Fire Dept take the siren
over. Cliff said the fire hall already has the antenna in place
and it’s all ready to go, just waiting to hear what kind of
system the County is going to go with. Jen stated that Hubbard
County will be hooking up to an ALL County system. Jen also
stated that there is a specific FEMA grant that Hubbard County
is working on. The City is supposed to be getting packets from
Hubbard County with information in it discussing the issue.
Don Sabinske, a concerned citizen of Akeley spoke
regarding the Crow Wing Lake Drive Road.
Don stated that he would like to talk about Crow Wing Lake Drive
Road, but he said he sees there is some progress being made and
he doesn’t want to mess thingS up, he said he would like to drop
that subject till a later time. He asked the council how many
of them read his 5 page complaint. Jen stated they all had.
Don was concerned about the 4th of July weekend and
how much rain had fallen, he stated that 3 to 6” fell which
washed out the CWLD road. Jen stated from reading the
complaint, all of Don’s concerns are in a process of being dealt
with at this time. Jen stated for the sake of time, please ask
real direct questions to the council, so we can have direct
answers back. Don stated the road got washed out at 11:00 on
the 3rd of July, he felt it should have been blocked
off until it was graded. He stated the road grader did not get
there for 30 or 41 hours later. He stated there were crevices
in the road a foot deep, he told the council he is a concerned
citizen and said there will be lawsuits coming. He stated that
when ever there is an inch of rain on that road the grader needs
to go over it. Don stated he has a lot of stuff to go over but
felt the council doesn’t want to hear about it. Jen and Cliff
stated that the council does want to hear, just don’t play games
and tell us real precise questions so we can give answers and a
plan. Jen stated instead of saying everything is so bad; tell
us exactly what direction you want us to go. Jen said that is
the best way to get something accomplished.
Brian Hitchcock stated if there are enough people on that road
that feel it is that bad, we can get it paved and assess the
people involved. There was much more discussion on the CWLD
road by Don and Council.
Don also discussed the 4-wheeler issue traveling by his place.
Jen wanted Don to know that in one of his previous complaints he
told the council that Akeley needs a Police Dept. Jen told Don
that the City is currently in the process of hiring an officer.
Jen asked Don if there was anything else on the complaint that
he would like to address, so that he knows the Council has
addressed it in full. Don stated the only other thing he wanted
to address was the road being paved on CWLD and having the
residents on that road pay for it. He stated it is basically a
commercial road due to the Campground. He said if you can fix
the problems without paving it, that is what the residents
want. Don stated they do not want their tax values to go up and
have to pay more taxes. Don did not think it should be the
responsibility of the home owners when there is obviously
traffic from the campground; he stated it is not local traffic.
Brian Hitchcock told Don that he obviously did not understand
when he had said you can get the road paved, Brian stated “I
didn’t say you have to pay for it to do it, but if you want it
done on your own you can get it done”. Jen stated even when
putting chemicals down on the road, she has learned that in
other towns the home owner is assessed for half the cost because
it is something specific the home owner wants and that is why
other towns have done it that way.
Don stated that he felt that is not what the home owners want;
he would rather see the road cut off at the boat ramp, have the
campground traffic go the other way. Another citizen in the
audience spoke up opposing that idea. Brian Hitchcock stated it
is not fair to call one part of a city street somebody's road
and some part someone else’s. They are all City Streets. Brian
stated it has nothing to do with who lives on that street. Don
stated that roads are built for different things and weight
limits and all have different classifications. He told the
council they might want to read up on that. Brian stated that
every single tax payer in this town pays for CWLD road, just
like every other road in town. Don stated the people on CWLD
are paying for the work the city is doing on 34 and all the
other roads and that is part of the cities taxes and if CWLD
road is going to be forced into being paved then every tax payer
in this city is going to pay for it. Brian stated he did not
say forced, he said if you WANTED it done – you could get it
done. Don then stated he did not think they wanted it paved.
Cliff Johnson stated the City is trying to get CWLD road done at
this time.
Larry Holm / Akeley Regional Community Center – Regarding
the desperate need for Volunteers.
Larry Holm spoke to the Council about the desperate need for
volunteers at the ARCC.
Larry stated they need volunteers for Thursdays, Fridays and
Saturdays. They would like very responsible people. He said he
is using this time to get the word out. Larry said if they
don’t get some help they might have to close on those days. Jen
asked if they have advertised on the web site. Larry was unsure
if Karen Andress had done that or not. The contact people for
the ARCC is:
Karen Andress 652-3082 and Larry Holm 587-4473.
Vern Peterson – Propane Contract – Does the city want to
be a part of the Propane Contract Group?
Vern asked the Council if they would like to be a part of the
Propane Coop Contract. He said he will be looking into prices
in the near future. The Council would like to have Vern check
this out and then revisit at the August City Council meeting.
Approve hiring Part Time Chief of Police Position and
Wages.
A motion was made by Cliff Johnson and seconded by Terry
Chalich and carried to approve hiring James Hansen as our
Part Time Police Chief.
It had been previously approved to set wages at $15.00 per hour.
A work session was set for Monday, July 19th, 2010 at
9:00am to meet with James and go over job duties.
Approve to waive or not waive the Statutory Tort Liability
limits to the extent of the coverage purchased.
A motion was made by Jennifer Mitchell and seconded by Brian
Hitchcock and carried to “NOT WAIVE” the Tort Liability
Limits for the Municipality Insurance package.
Liquor Store Report – Lacey Hitchcock
Lacey reported everything is going OK at the Liquor Store. She
felt Paul Bunyan Day’s went well, being her first try at it.
Lacey asked the council for permission to spend up to $800.00
for a band or bands for the Audrey’s Purple Dream Fund Run.
A motion was made by Jennifer Mitchell and seconded by Terry
Chalich and carried to approve spending up to $800.00 for a
band or bands for Audrey’s Purple Dream Fund Run on August 28th,
2010.
A motion was made by Jennifer Mitchell and seconded by Terry
Chalich and carried to approve the Akeley Liquor Store to be
open on Sunday, September 5th, 2010, which is Labor
Day Weekend.
A motion was made by Jennifer Mitchell and seconded by Terry
Chalich and carried to do a Street Dance on Saturday
September 4th, 2010. Between the Liquor Store and
the Folklore Theatre.
Denise will get a Temporary Liquor License for this event.
Water/Sewer/Maintenance Report - Frank Thelin
Frank reported that the curb and gutter by Trig Karl’s is done.
It needs some black dirt and to be seeded and a coal patch for
the road and then it will be finished.
Frank asked the council to let him know when digging occurs for
all the road projects going on. We need good communication with
the digging because things have to be marked prior to digging.
Frank reported that the irrigation pump needs to be fixed. He
has gotten 3 quotes and Hydro Engineering came in the cheapest.
Frank recommended the City go with them for $1,290.00.
A motion was made by Brian Hitchcock and seconded by Terry
Chalich and carried to approve $1,290.00 be spent on the
irrigation pump to be repaired by Hydro Engineering.
Frank stated that he also got quotes for the Inspection and
Cleaning of the water tower and his recommendation is to go with
MINCO for $2,199.00.
Frank reported that the Filter Media needs to be replaced. It
is a big sum of money to do fix it. The cost is going to be
$12,237.00 plus tax. Then it would cost an additional $500.00
to get Fergus Pump Truck to pump out the sand. Frank stated
that the tower needs to be high when we do the filter. An iron
test will tell us if the filter is performing correctly or not.
Frank stated that he has a lot on his plate right now and he is
only 1 person and can only do so much. Frank stated that he has
prioritized his work load right now to the following:
-
To get the
irrigation system running and get rid of the water in the
ponds. He stated he has 6’ of water to get rid of by the
end of September 2010. Frank said one problem is going to
be the hay that is sitting on the field. The council told
Frank to let Mr. Johnson know when You are ready to run the
irrigator. Johnson will have to work around the City; the
City can not work around his schedule.
-
Weeds in the pond
and around the pond need to be dealt with or we are going to
have problems with the pump again.
-
Road Projects –
If anything comes up – Frank wants to be involved so he
knows what is going on.
-
Many of the water
meters need fixing. Some are giving us problems and have
for quite some time now. Frank Stated he would like to have
Tim Scouton, the part time person with him when he does
start fixing the water meters because of the fact that Frank
does not feel comfortable at some of the places in town to
do it by himself.
-
Grade Crow Wing
Lake Drive every time it rains, per council’s request.
Frank also reported that he did upgrade all 4 cell phones.
Brian Hitchcock – Park/Campground/Professional Fees Issues
Brian reported that the grader needs to be run through the
park/campground at some point because it has washouts. Brian
also mentioned that at least 1 or 2 swim buoys need to be
replaced. Brian stated he got prices on them and they are
around $290.00 per buoy. Troy Hegg said he has a price list
that they could look at. Brian said he would get together with
Troy to look at prices. Frank thought it would be a good idea
to get some with handles on the top.
Brian talked about the Professional Fees and the money coming
out. He stated in Frank’s letter to the council that the water
& sewer accounts are not making it. Brian stated the
Professional Fees are taking money from the water & sewer.
Brian said he thinks that should be stopped immediately because
if those accounts are losing money why should we be spending it
out of those accounts. Denise Rittgers stated that we have
already budgeted for that income. Brian then stated we make a
cut in the general fund or the office or somewhere else. Brain
stated we should have some x-tra money in the Police Dept or
from when Wendy left because she hasn’t been here for several
months. Brian stated we may have budgeted it but it can be cut
somewhere else.
A motion was made by Brian Hitchcock and seconded by Troy Hegg
and carried to approve stopping the Professional Fees coming
from the Water & Sewer Accounts. $200.00 from water and $400.00
from sewer for the remainder of the year and that money to be
transferred from the Police Dept to the General Fund.
Old Business
Jen Mitchell asked where we were at with the Hwy 34
Project. Cliff reported that the State Hwy Dept has agreed
to work with us until we can come up with the funding to change
out our water lines. There is a section from the bank to
Pleasant Ave that needs some infrastructure work. They are
going to come through town and they are just going to mill the
center 2 lanes and that will be their cost at a 100%. We will
put off re-doing the whole thing until we decide what to do with
the old water lines and how to come up with the funding for
doing so. Jen asked when they are looking at doing the center,
Frank Thelin replied, the year 2011, but MN DOT is holding an
informational Meeting that will be open to the public on July 27th,
2010 at the Nevis Senior Citizens Building.
Cliff said basically what they want to do is put a turn lane in
by the BP Station; they would also like to possibly turn the
parking right in front of the bank to a “No Parking” zone if
they do not get a lot of opposition. That way it becomes the
States responsibility to replace the tar. Kathy Duclos, an
audience member asked if business owners can be a part of these
meetings, Cliff Johnson stated anybody can sit in on them and he
would try to notify her when they are being held.
Cliff Johnson also brought up Computer usage by city employee’s
and what our policies are because it came up during the
interviewing for the new police chief. Cliff stated it probably
should be just City use and no personal usage. Jen asked if it
states anything in the hand book. After the meeting, Denise
Rittgers, Clerk-Treasurer looked it up and there is a policy in
place regarding this matter. (Denise put a copy of Policy in
all Council mail boxes.)
New Business
Jen reported that Janice Bayman submitted a bill to the City of
Akeley in regards to her complaint on February 3rd,
2010 of damage to her rock garden area because of the snow
plow. Jen stated that the council had discussed previously
about the road right of way. Jen asked Frank Thelin to discuss
this. Frank Thelin stated he had made several attempts to call
Miss Bayman and had left messages, but she had never called him
back. Jen asked what the road right of way is. Frank replied,
66’. Cliff stated the area she is disputing is in the right of
way. Jen stated in that case the City of Akeley will NOT be
paying the bill submitted by Miss Bayman. Jen asked if a letter
could be sent out explaining the right of way to her. Denise
said she would do that.
Jen reported that the City of Akeley received a letter from Pam
Hereen/Hubbard County Auditor Treasurer, explaining that she
had received a call from a Donald Herdina explaining that he was
doubled assessed for his place. He owns parcel #29.37.06000,
physical address of 12 First St SE, Akeley, MN 56433. This
property had previously been split. The other parcel # involved
is 29.37.06010, physical address of, 10 First St SE, Akeley, MN
56433 owned by Clarence Olafson. Denise will write up a letter
to the Hubbard County and Jen will sign.
A motion was made by Jennifer Mitchell and seconded by Troy Hegg
and carried to split the assessment (#029020/Hwy 64 Project)
between the 2 parcels of 29.37.06000 and 29.37.06010.
Frank Thelin reported that he had some conversations with Mr.
McCormick from Hubbard County and according to what the County
says, the storm sewer system that runs down Graceson Ave is the
Cities responsibility all the way down to the other side of 49.
That whole storm sewer system is the city’s responsibility.
Cliff stated that it is still considered a County Road.
A
citizen from the audience asked how many gallons of propane does
the city use. Denise Rittgers stated last season the city used
5,400.00 gallons.
Motion by Jennifer Mitchell seconded by Troy Hegg and carried to
adjourn.
Denise Rittgers
Clerk/Treasurer
City of Akeley
