Hallock City Council Minutes October 1, 2018

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE HALLOCK CITY COUNCIL
MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2018
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Dave Treumer called the Regular Meeting of the Hallock City Council to order at 5:30 pm on September 4, 2018. Those Present: Mayor Dave Treumer, Jennifer Peterson, Kevin Waller and Mike Totleben. Naomi Larson
Also Present: City Administrator Angela Grafstrom, Chief of Police Mike Docken, Airport Jeremy Seng, Utility Superintendent Dan Larson, Anna Jauhola of the Kittson County Enterprise, Ryan Evenson, Cheri Reese, Ben Urie, Harold Anderson, Ryan Evenson, Tammy Morrison, and Tammy DeVore.
APPROVE AGENDA: Councilor Totleben moved to approve the agenda with the correction of the Resolution number under 11b and addition of 11h Resolution 2018-15. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilor Totleben moved to approve the minutes of the regular City Council Meeting of September 4, 2018 as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously.
Councilor Larson moved to approve the minutes of the special City Council Meeting of September 19, 2018 as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
FISCAL/ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES:
Approval of October Bills
Councilor Totleben and Mayor Treumer reviewed bills. Motion by Councilor Totleben to authorize payment of City bills in the amount of $176,332.52, General fund, checks #10404 to #10452 totaling $176332.52; which includes a transfer of $34,108.66 to the payroll account to cover wages, taxes and benefits. The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously.
Councilor Totleben and Mayor Treumer will review bills for the November 5, 2018 meeting.
Employee Dental Insurance:
Grafstrom presented the council the cost to provide comprehensive dental coverage to employees. The cost to the city, if the city covered the entire premium, would be $4892 a year, total, for all the employees to receive coverage. Council felt the employees should contribute some portion of the cost. Grafstrom told them other area businesses and agencies provide dental insurance including the school, the county and the canola plant. Grafstrom added that a 50/50 split would be a burdensome cost to the employees, but that a smaller amount would be bearable. Council reviewed the information provided, but needs more time to decide what percentage they would cover. Grafstrom informed the council we need to enroll by November 16, 2018 for 2019.
Councilor Waller moved to table the decision about the percentage of dental insurance the city would pay until the November meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilor Totleben and carried unanimously, with Councilor Peterson abstaining.
AIRPORT DEPARTMENT:
Airport Manager Seng reported the maintenance hangar door is in place and the concrete was poured to level the floor.
Resolution 2018-14 Authorizing Execution of MNDot Grant Agreement
Motion by Councilor Totleben to pass Resolution 2018-14 to authorize execution of MNDot Grant Agreement #1032125, state project #A3501-37. The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously.
FIRE DEPARTMENT:
No report.
POLICE/PARKS DEPARTMENT:
Chief Docken reported he had attended the emergency managers meeting and it was good. He met Tom Green from Frontline Warning Systems who said he could compete with the pricing on sirens received from Federal Signal and he will get Docken a bid. Docken reported he had been contacted by Bartell and all the sirens are working again now.
Docken reported the deer hunt is underway with 13 hunters signed up and 3 deer already taken. Walled asked about the hunting spots and Docken reported all along the river and 175. He said the landowners volunteered to let people hunt. Docken still has one spot open for the first hunt and the last hunt. If a lot of the hunters are unsuccessful in the first three hunts, they will open up the last 6 weeks for more hunters.
Docken concluded his report addressing the fact that there are a lot of seasonal workers in the Gilbert Olson park right now. There was an issue of a pile of brush, but things have been cleaned up as Express told the workers they had to clean-up.
UTILITY/PARKS DEPARTMENT:
Superintendent Larson reported the grass had been seeded in the new part of Gilbert Olson park. His staff has been working on the usual fall stuff: winterizing the parks, planted 80 pounds of grass seed last week with the good moisture, getting the sweeper out now that most of the leaves have fallen, trimmed most of the trees and flushing hydrants. The staff attended a sewer class in Stephen. They had a few Gopher One calls, including for the new airport hangars. The city will have to move the existing gas line as the new hangars will be going in right over top of where it runs now. They have worked on the American Federal projects with the tree moving and the utilities. In addition, they are performing their day-to-day tasks like maintaining the bathrooms. They are waiting on Olson Underground to bore 2 gas lines and a sewer line. The sewer line is to get sewer to the Carr Landscaping property. All the maps showed it existed, but when they got over there, it does not. The only have to run from near the fire hall. No quotes yet. On the sewer line to Carr’s property, the city sold the lots with sewer. They have been doing a lot of locating as people want to complete projects before winter, but they still plan to work on the playground equipment.
OLD BUSINESS
Ben Urie Zoning Permit 2018-08
Urie disagreed with the terms of the permit approval and asked the council to reconsider. He worked with Superintendent Larson. Larson and Urie agreed that Urie would put the fence 7 feet off the alley and 5 feet off the street. Larson stated this is in line with other existing fences. Council was okay with the new measurements if it did not interfere with snow plowing.
Motion by Councilor Peterson to approve permit 2018-08 for Ben Urie to install a fence with a setback of 7 feet off the alley and 5 feet off the street. The motion was seconded by Councilor Totleben and carried unanimously.
Ryan Evenson Subordinations
USDA Subordination
Evenson is getting a bank loan on the property at 117 2nd St SE and needs the city to subordinate the USDA loan. City Attorney George Hanson addressed this at the last council meeting and said that was no problem.
Motion by Councilor Larson to approve the city’s subordination of Revelation Ale’s USDA loan. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
DEED (Small Cities) Subordination
As per City Attorney George Hanson, the city can approve this contingent on Evenson’s payment of the escrow balance in the amount of $454.18.
Motion by Councilor Peterson to approve the subordination of Revelation Ale’s Small Cities loan contingent on the payment of the outstanding escrow amount of $454.18. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
EFT Policy
Council had reviewed the EFT Policy and Resolution as presented by City Attorney Hanson at the last meeting.
Motion by Councilor Totleben to adopt Resolution 2018-16 establishing a Policy on Wire/Automated Bank Payments/Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT). The motion was seconded by Councilor Larson and carried unanimously.
Federal Procurement Policy
This was presented by Attorney Hanson for council review at a previous meeting. Grafstrom noted we have one in place for airport projects, but the need arose for the city to have a policy because there was not one in place when the fire department received the SAFER grant.
Motion by Councilor Peterson to adopt the Federal Procurement Policy as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
Review Food Cart Ordinance and Application
Waller said he thought this had been visited before and that the city had an ordinance. Grafstrom explained the city did not pass a new ordinance, but was operating food wagons under a Peddler’s Permit ordinance. She felt the city should have a separate food wagon ordinance which would require and application and a copy of the vendor’s license and insurance be kept at the city. She explained this is not about keeping food wagons out of the city but about regulating them and protecting the city. Members of the public were present to discuss their concerns about the food wagons in town. Community members present expressed concerns about the long-term viability of brick and mortar, tax-paying food businesses in town when there are so many food wagons coming in. They were also concerned about the parking, safety of children and garbage disposal. Chief Docken had already spoken to the county about potentially installing 15-minute parking signs, at least in front of the pharmacy, so elderly people would still be able to get in and get their prescriptions. Evenson stated he was not aware the vendors were using the dumpsters at other businesses. After a thorough discussion the council decided to table the ordinance until the next meeting so they could review more examples of food wagon ordinances and applications. Grafstrom will get more samples for them to review.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Cheri Reese: Approve the Branding
Reese requested City Council approve the Branding. She reviewed the branding booklet with the council and discussed how important it is to for the city to be part of the branding efforts. She knows this cannot happen right away, but she would like to see the city start replacing their existing print items as they reorder. She stated the Kittson County Enterprise has the fonts and can help with updating. Grafstrom confirmed the Enterprise does the printing for the city.
Motion by Councilor Peterson to approve the branding for use by the City of Hallock. The motion was seconded by Councilor Larson and carried unanimously.
Resolution 2018-13 Certifying Delinquent Accounts to Taxes
Motion by Councilor Totleben to pass Resolution 2018-13 certifying unpaid utility charges to property taxes. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
Approve Zoning Permits:
Keith Klegstad Permit #18-11
Motion by Councilor Waller to approve Keith Klegstad Zoning Permit 2018-11. The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously
Approve Sale of 3 City lots in SE Addition to Becky Lyberg:
Motion by Councilor Waller to approve sale of 3 city lots, Parcel # 320189200, 320189400 and 320189600, to Becky Lyberg for $7500 with the $7500 to be refunded when she breaks ground. The motion was seconded by Councilor Totleben and carried unanimously.
C and M Ford Share Project Costs:
Councilor Waller reminded the council in April the city had agreed to share costs of diverting the water with C and M Ford. The project did not go as discussed in the April meeting, the contractor mentioned was not hired, and the city did not do any of the work. The council discussed whether they should still consider paying part of the project for Blomquist. The council asked what Blomquist was looking for in terms of dollars. Waller was not sure, but would meet with Paul and work it out. The decision was tabled until Waller can get more details from Blomquist on the cost and his expectations.
Create a TIF Housing District
Grafstrom shared information she got from the David Drown Associates on creating a TIF housing district. She stated this is mostly for the council’s review and suggested they invite Jason Murray from David Drown to explain it further. Council directed Grafstrom to invite Murray to a meeting.
Art Council Grant
Grafstrom noted this was discussed at the last meeting and the council said only if it was no cost to the city. Kristin Eggerling asked the council to revisit this grant. Last meeting, Council agreed this did not need a motion to approve as the city would not be contributing any funds. Eggerling asked this to be revisited as the matching request is only 10% and city labor. Eggerling also believed they could raise the matching funds. Council was concerned about the size of the chimes Eggerling wanted and the amount of stuff going into Centennial Park. Grafstrom said it was from the beautification grant they had approved and Eggerling had already ordered 4 benches and kiosks for the park. The council said they would not approve applying for the grant and directed Grafstrom to invite Eggerling to the next meeting to show them her vision of the park and to show them what she is putting in there. Council said this is public land and even if they have a grant it should be reviewed by council before getting ordered and placed. Grafstrom said if they miss this round of applications on the arts grant, they could apply later after Eggerling’s visit to council. No action was taken.
Resolution 2018-15
Philanthropist and former council member Shirley Rydberg offered to purchase new windows, blinds and art work for the city council chambers.
Motion by Councilor Totleben to approve Resolution 2018-15 accepting a donation for window, blinds and artwork from Shirley Rydberg. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
As a result of this generous donation, council noted how bad the carpet was looking in the chambers. Council directed Grafstrom to get a bid from Grindeland’s for new commercial carpet in the council chambers. Council agreed they would not ask Rydberg and the city would pay for the carpet.
COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE
Councilor Waller mentioned the Housing Committee met with Rodney Bakken on Thursday September 27 to discuss Bakken’s plans to develop the site of the old school into an association type housing district aimed at empty nesters who may be downsizing and want one level homes with an attached garage. Waller mentioned the committee is planning a public presentation to identify interest and answer questions. The meeting will be held the week of October 22 at the Fire Hall.

Councilor Waller also asked if anything is going to be done about the damaged building in Horseshoe Park. Superintendent Larson stated they are aware of it and will get to it as soon as possible. Waller said he was concerned because he was afraid the way the wind was blowing it was going to tear it further.

Council discussed the issues Grafstrom was having with Wiktel. She said they have been resolved and they have given credit back. She ran the first payroll ever without issue. She noted that she is switching the copier service to Marco. She priced Marco and Advanced Business Systems and Marco offered a better deal. Council trusts her judgement on this.
Totleben asked Superintendent Dan Larson if we should consider buying the equipment we hire Olson Underground for because we get them a lot. Larson did not feel it was cost effective.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, Councilor Larson moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Hallock City Council of October 1, 2018.  The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Dave Treumer, Mayor
Angela M. Grafstrom,
City Clerk/Administrator
(November 14, 2018)
––––––––––