Meeting Minutes of the
Wednesday December 7, 2011
Regular City Council Meeting
Item #1: Call to Order
Mayor Hemmesch called the meeting
to order at 6:30 p.m. at the
Members noted as being present: Jim Hemmesch, Mike Mathiasen, Tim Paczkowski, Jeff Mackedanz and Scott Kron.
Also present were: Martin M. Bode, City Administrator; Chuck Merten, Fire Chief; Phil Jones, Richmond/Cold Spring Police Chief; Gordon Dingmann, Public Works Director, Randy Jenniges, City Engineer; Robert Schaefer; Tammy Paczkowski, Cold Spring Record; Sheldon Lang, Richmond EDA; Kevin Mooney, Parks Arena Director; Greg Stang, PeopleService; Troy Niewind and Ryan Meyer, Local TV Channel 10 camera operator.
Item #2: Approval of Agenda
Mayor Hemmesch asked if there were any additions or corrections to the agenda.
A Motion was Made to Approve Agenda by Kron, Second by Paczkowski. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Item #3: Approval of City Minutes of November 17, 2011 (Regular and Closed).
A Motion was Made to Approve the City Council Minutes of November 17, 2011 (Regular and Closed) by Paczkowski, Second by Mathiasen. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Item #4: Consent Agenda.
Mayor Hemmesch read aloud the list of the following consent agenda items:
a. Approval
of Just and Correct Claims
b. Resolution
194-11 Approval of November 2011 Journal Entries
A Motion was Made to Approve the Consent Agenda as presented by Kron, Second by Mathiasen. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Item #5: Presentation of Action Items
a.
Mr. Schaefer expressed concern over why there was going to be a lien
placed against his property in the amount of $3,300.00? City Council along with staff, again
explained to Mr. Schaefer that this 10 year lien for the differed loan is a
requirement of the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) in order for the
City to qualify for grant funds for this project.
Jenniges again noted to Mr.
Schaefer that property owners involved in this project regarding Deferred Loans i.e. the agreement states the deferred loans
shall be forgiven over a ten year period (10% forgiven each year). When a
property ceases to be the applicant's property, the City has the option to
collect the remaining loan principal or waive the repayment. Attorney Ripple again noted that it would be at
the discretion of the City Council that is in place at the time the request is
made to determine if the loan portion would be waived; the current Council can
not bind future Councils to this policy.
Mayor Hemmesch again reminded Mr. Schafer that it is the consensus of this Council, that the requirement for repayment of the SCDP Repayment Agreement (Deferred Loan) be waived in the event the business owner should decide to sell, transfer or otherwise convey his / her business with in ten years as of the date of the contract being signed. Hemmesch again reiterating Attorney Ripple statement, that this current Council may not bind future Councils to this policy.
a.(2) Certification of Unpaid Utility Charges –
Robert Schaefer of
Mr. Schaefer asked why his unpaid utility bill was being placed against
his property and is once again questioning why he has to pay a City
water and sewer utility bill when the property behind him, at
b. Other Concerns From the Public
None Presented
c. Public Hearing – Truth-In-Taxation
Mayor Hemmesch asked those in attendance if they had any questions or concerns regarding the City’s proposed 2012 Annual
Budget. None presented. Administrator Bode stated that the proposed
Budget is the same as it has been for the previous two years.
Item #6: Consideration of
Resolution 195-11 A Resolution Approving the Adoption of the 2012 Annual
Budget.
A Motion was Made
to Approve Resolution 195-11 by Kron, second by Mackedanz. Motion passed unanimously.
Item #7: Consideration of
Resolution 196-11 A Resolution Approving Certification of Utility Charges Against Property.
A Motion was Made
to Approve Resolution 196-11 by Mathiasen, second by Paczkowski. Motion passed unanimously.
Item #8: EDA – EDA President
Sheldon Lang
Mr. Lang informed the Council that it was the EDA’s recommendation that the Mayor appoint Cynthia Steckman as the new commissioner replacing outgoing Commissioner Don Calhoun. Lang further noted that Steckman would also act as the EDA’s finance director. Lang stated that Steckman is willing to take on this responsibility at no additional pay. Mayor Hemmesch noted he will take this recommendation under advisement and further discuss it at the next Council meeting.
Lang also requested the Council approve of changing the current ordinance that sets the commission level, currently set at 5 to changing it at 7. Lang feels this change will allow more people to share in the responsibilities, provide more input and increase the number of meeting with a quorum of commissioners in attendance.
Council discussed the possibility of appointing Administrator Bode as a voting member to the EDA or as its executive director. Attorney Ripple noted that as far as appointing Bode as a voting member, that might be a conflict of interest with Bode’s position of City Administrator. Ripple stated he would need to look into that further. As far as appointing Bode as the EDA’s executive director, Ripple stated that that appointment is at the discretion of the EDA and not the City Council.
The Council stated they would take the request of changing the commission members from 5 to 7 under advisement and discuss it further at its January meeting.
Item #9: Parks, Recreation and Arena Director's Report – Kevin Mooney
Director Mooney reviewed with the Council his following written report.
Park and
Recreation Report – Director Kevin Mooney
December, 2011
Arena: The arena is very busy right now. We are
running a lot of youth games, high school games, and just completed a
successful girl’s hockey tournament. Our ice times are pretty much booked
solid. The building and mechanicals are working great, no issues at this
time, knock on wood. The ice is in very good shape, and our thickness is
almost perfect. We did $22,750.50 in ice sales and rentals for November.
Staff is doing a good job keeping the facility in order and serving the
public. The annual Skate with Santa event is this Saturday December 10th
from 1-3 pm. We have managed to save the Broomball League for at least 1
more season. The league will again be played on
Wednesday evenings, and has 5 teams this year. It appears that broomball
is struggling everywhere. There are no leagues in the
The arena is working with the
Richmond Civic and Commerce to do a marketing campaign, to promote
Parks Programs:
Outside Skating Rink: The weather has finally turned toward
winter. Temperatures are getting cold enough to start work on the ice
outside. We’ll begin watering the soil in the next couple days.
Even if the temperatures climb again, we’ll have the ground saturated.
We’ve completed the improvements to the facility. The warming house roof
and doors have been replaced, as well as the new lights. These were much
needed repairs to a facility that has been overlooked for sometime.
Rocori Trail:
Nothing really new about the Rocori Trail at
this time. We’ve finish the appraisal for the corridor and are gathering
interested parties for the excess lands that the trail will not need for
completion. It appears we should hit the April 15th timeline for the
construction phases to begin. The meeting on December 1st was
my last as Board Chairman. We will be appointing a representative from
Glacial Lake Trail: I’ve spoken to Trvge Hanson
of the DNR about the
Trail Pavilion: The Trailhead Pavilion construction is
underway. The building is hooked up to City water and sewer, floor and in
floor heating is down, side walls and structure is in place. The roof
will be going up the second week of December. The group is hoping that
the public will see construction underway, and that will help with fundraising
efforts. The group has raised about $49,000 to date, but still remains
about $20,000 short. Fundraising efforts continue, and we re-applied for
Legacy Grant funds, results of which should come later this month. Our
grant application asked for $30,000. If we get that amount, we could then
divert some of the C and C raised funds to other parks projects. Maybe, Music in the Park Gazebo for the bands to play under, new
scoreboard at
Safe Routes to School: Nothing new on the SRTS trail. We’re just
waiting until later in the winter to publish for construction bids.
Parks Commission: Now that the arena season is going. I’ll
begin putting together ideas for our parks advisory group. We should have
something in place by January or February.
Item #10: Police Department
Report – Police Chief Phil Jones
Chief Jones reviewed with the Council his following written report.
On November 10th, a Cold Spring-Richmond Officer was called to Plantenberg’s Food Pride Store in
Through
investigation Officers were able to come up with a suspect. On November
21st Cold Spring-Richmond Officers made contact with the
suspect and located not only the vehicle believed to have been seen leaving the
scene, but clothing/shoes matching the ones used during the robbery. The suspects names are not being released until formal charges
are filed. Through investigative cooperation Cold Spring Richmond Police
believe these individuals are also responsible for other crimes in
In addition to
the robbery two burglaries were reported the morning of November 17th 2011. Cold Spring-Richmond
Officer’s were called to Haffley’s Bar and Regional
Health Care in
Research on
MNcriminals.com and found that Billy Ashmore is no
stranger to the criminal justice system. MN Criminals.com a free public
website shows Billy Ashmore has been arrested at
least eight times prior to this incident. Some of these previous arrests
include a 2nd Degree burglary/possession of burglary tools,
receiving stolen property, a 5th Degree controlled substance, a 3rd
Degree controlled substance and a Felon in the possession of a firearm.
Both during the
investigation and after the arrests, several people have come forward with
reports of suspicious incidents involving the actual suspects. While the
Police Department would like to thank those concerned citizens, they can’t
emphasis enough the importance of reporting this behavior immediately upon witnessing
it. Citizens who reside in the Cities of Cold Spring,
Chief Jones
states that he is pleased with the efforts put forth by the Police Department
and says that there is still a lot of work to be done in finishing up both
these cases, as well as trying to link them to other crimes in the area.
Item #11: Public Works
Director's Report – Gordon Dingmann
Director Dingmann reported to the Council that during the City’s first snow event he did have one complaint of damage to a property owners lawn. Dingmann again ask for the public help by setting flags to mark their property line. Many of the City Streets do not have curb and gutter and have varying width which make it very difficult, in a snow event, to see where the street ends and where lawn begins.
Item #12: City Engineer's Report
– Randy Jenniges
Engineer Jenniges informed the
Council that the City needed to deobligate grant
funds relating to the 2010 Central /
Consideration of
Resolution 197-11 A Resolution Deobligating Rural
Development Grant Funds.
A Motion was Made
to Approve Resolution 197-11 by Mathiasen, second by Paczkowski. Motion passed unanimously.
Jenniges also reviewed with the Council
Electrical Pay Application No. 1 regarding the
Consideration of
Resolution 199-11 A Resolution Approving City Engineers Action Request.
A Motion was Made
to Approve Resolution 199-11 by Kron, second by Mathiasen. Motion passed unanimously.
Jenniges reported that this past
Saturday, December 3, 2011, the business owners on the North side of
Jenniges reminded the Council that
the
Item #13: Water/Waste Water
Operator Report –
Greg Stang
Stang reviewed with the Council his written report, noting that both the water and waste water plants are running well further noting that the waste water plant is again chemical free. The reeds in the reed beds have been cut and just waiting for the right wind direction to burn them.
Item #14: Fire Department Report
– Fire Chief Chuck Merten
Chief Merten reviewed, with the Council, his submitted written report. Noting that for the month of November there was a total of 6 calls. All 6 were medical calls.
Merten reported to the Council that the three perspective new firefighters have had their background checks and physicals completed. Chief Merten recommends the Council’s approval of appointing and hiring these three applicants as probationary firefighters
Mayor Hemmesch, do to conflict of interest, turned the meeting over to Acting Mayor Mike Mathiasen.
Consideration of
Resolution 198-11 Appointment of Josh Worm, Randy Schackmann and Jim Hemmesch
as Probationary Firefighters.
A Motion was Made
to Approve Resolution 198-11 by Paczkowski, second by Mackedanz. Voting in favor: Mathiasen,
Paczkowski and Kron. Abstaining: Hemmesch.
Motion passed.
Acting Mayor Mathiasen turned the meeting back over to Mayor Hemmesch.
Merten also reported that Richmond Fire Department participated in a
house burn with the City of Cold Spring and Richmond Department is working with
the Richmond Lions to put on a CPR class.
Merten informed the Council that he has spoken to Dan Holthaus the
President of the Chain of Lakes Fire Department (CLFD) regarding the fire /
rescue coverage on the Highway 23 corridor between the bridge West of Casey’s and
than East to the stop and go light at the intersection of CSAH 71 (Pine Ave). Merten stated that Mr. Holthaus after meeting
with the CLFD Board stated that Highway 23 corridor would stay in the City of
Item #15: City Attorney Report –
Adam Ripple
Attorney Ripple reviewed with the Council a memo that he had sent to Administrator Bode regarding the following items that are still open or pending
-EDA:
Resolution for increasing the EDA to 7 members
-DNR Deed
Swap
-Anything
Outdoors: Development agreement
-Franchise
Fees
-Blighted
Buildings
-HR/
Employee Handbook
Item #16: City Administrators
Report – Martin M. Bode
Nothing additional
Item #17: Council Reports -
a. EDA, nothing additional
b. Planning Commission, next meeting to be held on 01/04/12, 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, joint meeting with City Council for the purpose of conducting two public hearings, one public hearing for floodplain ordinance revision and the second public hearing for rezoning of Tower Acres. This meeting was originally planned to take place at tonight’s meeting however do to a miscommunication between the City and the local paper the public notice did not get posted.
It was also noted that the Planning Commission has a commission position open effective January 1, 2012.
c.
ROCORI Trail, next meeting to be held on 01/05/12, 9:00
a.m. at City Hall in
Item #18: Additional Purchase Requisitions
Council approved of adding two items to the Purchase Requisition. Item 1 is 2012 membership dues to the Greater MN Regional Parks & Trails Coalition, and Item 2 is approval of a Certification Module for the City’s Utility Billing software.
Motion to approve of additional Purchase
Requisition by Mathiasen, second by Kron. Motion passed unanimously.
Item #19: Other Matters and Related Issues.
Administrator Bode informed the
Council that during a resent area city administrator luncheon that an idea was
brought up to form a Regional EDA organization, i.e. the City of
Councilmember Mackedanz wanted to
make note for the record that he abstained from discussion or decision
regarding blighted building inside the City of
Adjournment.
Mayor Hemmesch asked if there were any additional items for the Council to consider. Hearing no further comments, he asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting.
A Motion was Made to Adjourn by Paczkowski, Second by Mathiasen. Motion Passed Unanimously.
Mayor Hemmesch declared the meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Martin M. Bode
Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer