Meeting Minutes of the
Wednesday February 2, 2011
Council Workshop
Item #1: Call to Order
Mayor Hemmesch called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. at
Council Members noted as being present: Mike Mathiasen, Jeff Mackedanz and Scot Kron.
Also present were: Adam Ripple, City Attorney; Martin Bode, Finance Director / Interim Administrator; Gordon Dingmann, Public Works Director; Randy Jenniges, SEH; Chuck Merten, Fire Chief; Michael Plantenberg; Greg Stang, PeopleService; Cynthia Smith-Strack, Municipal Development Group; Tom Schroeder; Maxine Weismann; Curt Owan, NAPA Auto Parts and Marilyn Zenner, Administrative Assistant.
Item #2: Approval of Agenda
Mayor Hemmesch asked if there were any additions or corrections to the presented agenda. Mayor Hemmesch requested to ad to the agenda “personnel issues” as item #5.
Motion to Approve Agenda with Additions. Motion by Mackedanz. Second by Kron. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Mayor Hemmesch recessed the regular meeting at 7:37 p.m. in order for the Council to discuss the following workshop discussion items:
A.
Engineer Jenniges informed the Council and Planning Commission that Curt Owan, owner of NAPA Auto Parts, which is located just South of the stop & go light at the intersection of State Highway 23 and CSAH 67 (Pine Ave NE), is inquiring into the possibilities of the City extending City water and sewer service to his location.
The following observations were noted:
-The City’s closest hook up point would be Tower Acres
-Approximate cost to extend the service would be $100,000 ($30,000 water / $70,000 sewer)
-Survey may have to be done in that area to see if others might be interested in City service to help spread out the cost.
-First step is for a formal request of annexation, the annexation process takes about 3 to 4 months.
The Council requested the Planning Commission to look into conducting a survey (with Ms. Strack’s help) of that area to see who might be interested in City services. After the survey is completed the Council would have a better idea of how the annexation process should be conducted.
The Council and Planning Commission thanked Mr. Owan for his interest in City services and assured Mr. Owan of the City’s desire to help with his request.
B. Rural Service District – (RSD)
Attorney Ripple reviewed with the Council and Planning Commission that the City is starting to receive inquiries from property owners outside the City limits, into the possibility of being annexed into the City; but not receive City services such as water and sewer and at the same time stay at or near their current rural property tax level. Attorney Ripple then gave a brief summery of how a RSD is made up and the process for putting it in place i.e. the RSD creates two types of service district, urban and rural. Urban district would include properties that are traditionally thought of as developed such as: commercial, industrial, government facilities and residential properties with ordinary sized lots. The rural district would include properties that are traditionally considered undeveloped and might include: vacant land, agricultural land and rural residential properties. The next step in this process is for the Council to approve of a RSD boundary map where the parcels have been designated as either being urban or rural.
Engineer Jenniges reviewed with the Council a draft map outlying proposed
boundaries for this RSD. The Council
requested the Planning Commission to take this map and to designate properties,
which in their opinion should be designated rural verses urban, and make a
recommendation for the Council to consider.
C.
Engineer Jenniges reviewed the history regarding the City of
D. Arena Director Kevin Mooney – Written Report
The Council reviewed Director Mooney’s written report. Director Mooney is looking to replace the safe that was stolen from the RLCA at a cost $266.25. Director Mooney has received a quote of approximately $2,028.00 to replace the current wood frame and door of his office with an all steel frame and door. Also, Director Mooney has received a quote from Safeguard Security for a motion sensor security system. Two door sensors for the office area, one motion sensor in arena lobby and one sensor in the arena itself at a cost of $528.00 plus $19.95 per month monitoring fee. Councilor Mathiasen asked if the security system was monitored with hard line phone or cell phone. It was the consensus of the Council to not replace the wood frame and door with steel and table the security system until more details are made available.
E. Other Matters of Concern and Related Items
Mayor Hemmesch reported that he had spoke with Kathleen Murphy of
Murphy Management and Consultants and that she reported 40 applications have
been received for the open position of City Administrator for the City of
(Reconvene Council Meeting)
Mayor Hemmesch reconvened the regular council meeting
Item #3. Additional
Purchase Request, Allocation & Transfers
None Presented
Item #4 Closed
Session: Personnel Review of Martin M. Bode
Mayor Hemmesch at 9:45 p.m. recessed the regular meeting in order for the Council to go into closed session, to conduct a personnel review of Martin Bode..
(Reopen Council Meeting)
At 10:15 p.m. Mayor Hemmesch reopened the regular council meeting.
The Council discussed the open City Administrator position and the possibility of combining the Finance Directors position with that of City Administrators position. Interim Administrator Bode stated that considering the great City and Professional staff that the City has in place he feels he’s up to the job. The Council feels that with Bode’s successful employee review and the uncertain economy, it would be in the best interest of the tax payers to combine the two positions.
A Motion was Made by Kron, Second by Mackedanz to Stop the Search Process for a City Administrator and Directed Attorney Ripple to Draw up a Contract Good until December 31, 2011, Naming Martin Bode as “Administrator / Clerk / Treasurer”. This contract would be reviewed during the first part of December 2011 for consideration of renewal. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Council also requested Attorney Ripple to contact Kathleen
Murphy and notify her of the Council decision to stop the search process and to
forward all applications that she has received to the City of
Item #5 Personnel
Issues
Fire Chief Chuck Merten reviewed with the Council the current status of Volunteer Firefighter Dale Mandelko. Council directed Interim Administrator Bode to contact Mandelko and request his presence at a closed Council meeting on either February 17, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. or March 2, 2011, at 6:00 p.m.
Item #6 Other
Matters of Concern and Related Items
Interim Administrator Bode informed
the Council that the City’s new furnace has been installed and working
great. However, it was not until after
the installation that he was made aware that the two zone feature of heating
the kitchen and the council chamber and offices had been removed. The cost to have the zone fixtures reinstalled
would be approximately $400.00 plus labor.
The consensus of the Council was to approve of the zones being
reinstalled.
Mayor Hemmesch asked if there were any additional items for the Council to consider that evening. Hearing no further comments, he asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Motion to Adjourn. Motion by Mathiasen. Second by Mackedanz. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Mayor Hemmesch declared the meeting adjourned at 11:14 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Martin M. Bode
Interim Administrator