Hallock City Council – November 5, 2018

MINUTES OF THE
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
HALLOCK CITY COUNCIL
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Dave Treumer called the Regular Meeting of the Hallock City Council to order at 5:34 pm on November 5, 2018. Those Present: Mayor Dave Treumer, Jennifer Peterson, Kevin Waller and Mike Totleben. Naomi Larson
Also Present: Chief of Police Mike Docken, Utility Superintendent Dan Larson, Margie Holmgren of the Kittson County Enterprise, Jeff Langen of Houston Engineering, Kristin Eggerling, Cheri Reese, Troy Larson, and Pool Committee Members Jim Johnson, Kay Rosengren, and Molly Sobolik.
Absent:  City Administrator Angela Grafstrom
APPROVE AGENDA:
Councilor Totleben moved to approve the agenda as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Councilor Peterson moved to approve the minutes of the regular City Council Meeting of October 1, 2018 as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilor Totleben 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 $105911.82, General fund, checks #10453 to #10500 totaling $105,911.82; The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
Councilors Totleben and Treumer will review bills for the December 3, 2018 meeting.
Employee Dental Insurance:
Council reviewed options for dental coverage for employees. Discussion was confusing. Raises were mentioned but not voted on.
Councilor Larson Made a motion to offer dental insurance at 80% city and 20% employee cost. Mayor Treumer called a roll call vote. The vote was tied, Totleben and Treumer no, Larson and Waller yes, with Jen Peterson abstaining. Mayor stated on a tied vote, motion fails.
AIRPORT DEPARTMENT:
Treumer reported project looking good for new hangar. Larson has been out to look as well.
FIRE DEPARTMENT:
No report.
POLICE/PARKS DEPARTMENT:
Chief Docken reported 6 deer have been taken in the in town deer hunt. Should be more as there are a few more permits coming up next month. He reported there are a few left in the campground and he read meters for October.
UTILITY/PARKS DEPARTMENT:
Superintendent Larson reported they had the annual gas inspection – all went well. A few little things to correct. Had a few gas lines to install. Finally finished the pool and parks, all water lines were blown out and winterized. This is the latest he has ever seen the park stay open. Would like to get some alleys graveled before winter. They are getting the sewers flushed and the sewer guys have been here for annual. 1/5 of the town’s sewer filling. Docken to be gas certified. He needs to go tot the shop and do training. Snow pusher – awaiting budget approval. RDO told Larson 3 to 4 months to get it. He will follow up and see about getting it sooner.
OLD BUSINESS
Kristin Eggerling – Centennial Park
The council had asked Eggerling to attend the meeting and let them know her plans for Centennial Park. She provided the council with pictures of what she plans to do. Eggerling reported the kiosks they would be putting in are part of the Natural Resources Grant, she would like 2, 2-sided kiosks 48 x 36. She stated that Northwest Minnesota Sustainable Development Partnership assigned a student to Hallock to gather the information. Benches included in the grant, 2 with backs and 2 without.  The chime grant was not applied for as the council had some confusion as to the fact that it is for all ages and not a toy. They consider it to be more of a draw to the downtown. Eggerling and Reese explained the city has 52 feet from the edge of the mulch to the property line in Centennial park. Layout would be kiosk/bench/kiosk/bench along Main Street and the other 2 benches would be placed behind the Gazebo. Once all plans are set and ready, they will come back with a final plan and layout. The benches have been ordered.
Reese explained some proposed signage, shown in the handout, for other locations in the city including a Minnesota shaped sign for Dipple Park.  Waller commented that the city and main street need to work together to support each other. He thanked Reese and Eggerling and the other committees since it is a thankless job.
November 13 Hallock Mainstreet will have their first Mainstreet Social at the Caribou, 5:30 to 7:30 pm. They will rotate locations. Thursday they will have guest bartenders and the money goes to Mainstreet for Signs. March 1 the city can reapply for the grant for the chimes.
Jeff Langen – Dam Project
Jeff Langen of Houston Engineering gave an update on the status of the dam project. He brought a project summary identifying the schedule, the budget, the work in progress and next steps. Task 1 is about 5% complete. They have completed the field survey work and data collected. Mayor Treumer has requested a copy and would like to see the levels, next steps. The next steps will be the geotechnical site foundation borings, analysis and report. Borings will identify how deep to go for the piles for the bridge. Environmental review hasn’t been started. They are a little behind, but will get back on track December, January and February.
Food Cart Ordinance
Council received several samples of food cart ordinances for review.   Peterson stated that she does not feel the council should be regulating the number of times a truck can be at an establishment, but she agrees that there need to be rules regarding insurance, location, parameters, fees, etc. Council seemed to agree they need a separate ordinance for food trucks. At December meeting a plan will be set for a new food truck ordinance if anyone want to attend. Peddlers fee is currently $15/day and $125/year. They feel we should have something different for food trucks. Docken collects fees and licenses and we should have them ahead of time. Waller suggested all councilors get an idea of an ordinance to Angela to compile and come up with an ordinance. All parties interested may come to give input.
C and M Ford Reimbursement
Councilor Waller gave a brief history. The total amount of the completed project was $4300.00. Piping and pea rock about $1000.00 leaves a balance of $3300. He suggested they split the cost so the city would pay $1650.
Councilor Peterson made a motion to pay C and M Ford $1650 to cover the city’s share of the project. Motion seconded by Councilor Larson and carried unanimously.
Pool Committee Regarding Pool Plans
Questions were raised about the dollars. What would the city like the Hallock Community Fund to do. Larson mentioned that $108000 was brought up at the Park and Recreation meeting to get a Hallock Plan. The committee thought a plan could be more like the New Rockford Pool Plan and the engineer stated it would be $108000 just to get the plan and drawing. Todd Johnson thought at the committee meeting that maybe cost sharing to get a plan. Jim Johnson would like to get some numbers as far as the dollars the city has spend on the pool for the past several years.   What can the city do?  How much can the city afford? Will need to know that before grants can be written. Kay Rosengren is concerned that they are all on the same page. We need one core unit to have all the dollars in the same place. Finally, we need to have all the dollars in one spot. Larson stated Todd Johnson asked would the city still continue to run the pool?  Hallock Community Pool fund dollars, many people and businesses have donated. Rosengren asked if we can bypass and use a different engineer and Waller wondered if we can say no like we did with the Fire Hall?  Molly Sobolik reminded them we probably need a plan to go forward with grants. Larson asked do you, or the pool committee think 1.4 million dollars can be raised?  Peterson suggested checking with Moore Engineering to see what they can do. Waller said this is a big item do we put dollars into our old pool or start new? Cost goes up about 10% every year we wait.  Treumer asked if we need a public meeting to get opinions. Sobolik said to schedule a meeting and let’s not wait. Larson will contact Todd and Kathy Johnson for a public meeting. No action was taken.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Transfer of Investments
City Administrator Grafstrom received a letter from Morgan Stanley stating they will no longer handle investments for government entities. The city has to move their investments, without penalty, before March of 2019. Grafstrom suggested moving the investments to United Valley to make up for the funds lost from the city when they went to a fund accounting system. Most of the city’s dollars are now in American Federal. Grafstrom got interest rates from Roger Quanbeck at United Valley and would suggest the city stagger the maturity dates like we had them with Morgan Stanley. The rates received from United Valley are a special rate for the city, and better than the usual current rates. The total dollars invested with Morgan Stanley as of 9/30/18 is $375,442.60.
Motion by Councilor Totleben to approve the transfer of all City investments with Morgan Stanley to United Valley as soon as possible. The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE
Councilor Treumer had a few questions about the dental insurance. Waller agreed that dental insurance is a great benefit and would like to see it as a benefit. There are too many variables:  3% or 2% and an 80/20 dental. Employees should be consulted. Dan stated if it comes down to it, he would be smarter to take the 3% rather than 50/50 dental and a 2% raise.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, Councilor Waller moved to adjourn the Regular Meeting of the Hallock City Council of December 5, 2018.  The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:33  p.m.
Dave Treumer, Mayor
Angela M. Grafstrom,
City Clerk/Administrator
(December 12, 2018)
––––––––––