June 15, 2011
The regular meeting of the Randall city council was called to order at 7:00 p.m., with all members present. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as presented.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to approve the bills as presented. Carried
Jerry Peterschick will check with the Sheriff’s Office on what they pay their officers for court appearances.
Yvonne Kempenich was present on behalf of the Boy Scouts to ask if the club could put their aluminum can collection trailer on city property at the South end of mainstreet.
Motion by Andres 2nd by Carter to allow the Boy Scout to place their aluminum can collection trailer on the city property requested. Carried
Dog Issues: Alice Plumski expressed her concerns about her neighbors’ dog barking all the time, directing her comment at Craig Kempenich, the dog owner. She also asked how many dogs are allowed and mentioned that Mr. Kempenich allows his dogs to use the school ball field as a bathroom and does not clean up after them. Mr. Kempenich informed her that he DOES clean up after them and that it is not only his dogs that have been on the ball field. He has obtained permission from Mike Olson with the school administration to train his dogs on school property. When the Mayor asked Kempenich how many dogs he has, he stated he owns 1 but has 2 and there is a 3rd dog in a kennel on his and his neighbors’ property line. The kennel can be moved onto his neighbors’ property if needed. The Mayor took Mrs. Plumski’s complaint into consideration as the city does not have a police/animal control officer at this time. Councilman Carter explained that everyone needs to do their part and try to make things work.
Veteran’s Memorial: Dan Noss asked the council if the Veteran’s Memorial could be moved to a location where it will be more visible. It is in very poor condition also and perhaps a new one needs to be designed. This is the V.F.W.’s responsibility but Dan thought it best to ask the city for permission to put it in a different location. The requested location would be on the city property at the South end of mainstreet. Jerry Carter mentioned that this would be a great item to bring forward at the community picnic on June 28th. The general feeling of the council is that the city is willing to work with the V.F.W. on design and placement of a Veteran’s Memorial. It was also mentioned of perhaps a Veterans Park in the city lot located in the Little Elk Addition that has been designated to become some kind of park area.
Dan also updated the council on the “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program and they he received the first call for assistance recently.
Minnesota Power Contract: The Market Base Electric Service Agreement was presented to the council by Jerry Peterschick.
Motion by Adnres 2nd by Adamski to sign the agreement with Minnesota Power. Carried
Motion by Adamski 2nd by Turner to approve a beer license for the Randall-Cushing Lions for the July 2nd Streetdance. Carried
Planning & Zoning Permits:
Lyle Nelson – Garden Shed
Bill Venske – Garden Shed
Jordan Nelson – deck
Travis Schnobrich – portable storage shed
Motion by Andres 2nd by Carter to approve the building permits. Carried
Delinquent utility accounts were reviewed, there were 4 disconnects this month.
Morrison County Public Works request: Morrison County Public Works is asking if the city would be willing to annex the land their shop is on. They would like to build another building and set-backs would be more beneficial to them on city property rather than Parker Townships property. There is no advantage or disadvantage for either Parker Township or the City of Randall. The council is concerned about losing the compost pile, as many residents utilize it and also, who is going to pay the legal fees? The general consensus of the council was to go back and ask Morrison County if they are going to be responsible for the legal fees and also, if the city finds a location, will the county continue to take care of a compost pile?
Land trading: Jerry Peterschick shared his idea of possibly asking the owners of Designer Cultured Stone if they would want to trade land with the city, putting up their new building on land over by the Hardware Store where the land is zoned Industrial? He has not mentioned this to the owners at all and doesn’t know if they would even be interested, but thought he better ask the council first. After many concerns were mentioned, such as, contaminants in the ground and the odor affecting even more people, it was decided that the city should not move forward with this issue.
Liquor Store Remodel: The final amount spent on the off-sale remodel was $10,272.72. This is $272.72 over the original budget only because the surveillance company expenses were not in the initial figure.
Street condition inventory: The council directed the city manager to have Wendell Schultz review every street in the city, listing them from worst to best. This will give the council somewhere to start when looking at which streets to repair each year.
Old building behind liquor store: There has been a complaint about when this building is going to get repainted? It was brought up last year and approved to get completed. The council set a deadline of August 1st, 2011 for this to be finished.
Tall Grass and culverts not draining: there have been complaints about some lawns that have not been mowed and what the ordinance is. Usually, the city contacts the property owner by phone and asks them to mow their lawn and that seems to have worked in the past. The city will contact the property owner in violation. There are also some culverts that are not draining and it was asked if the city will take a look at these areas. The city staff will check into these areas.
Park Building: There was a complaint that the stove in the park building was very dirty when someone had rented it recently. The city does have someone go in and check/clean the bathrooms and restock the paper products but does not normally check the appliances.
It was discussed that the rental fee hasn’t been increased for many years and perhaps this is something that needs to be done.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to increase the rental fee from $60 to $75 and have the kitchen appliances checked/cleaned monthly. The new rent increase will be effective July 1st for all NEW reservations and January 1st for everyone. Anyone who has the building rented already for this year will not have to pay the increased rate. Carried
Sign issue: The planning and zoning president was approached by an individual concerned about a sign that has been installed at the West side of the intersection of CR #14 and Hwy 10. If the sign is in the state right-of-way, there is nothing the city can do, but there is a sign ordinance for private property that states a property owner cannot have a permanent sign on their property unless they are advertising their own business. Jerry Adamski and Jerry Peterschick will look at the location of the sign and look into the ordinance further and bring the information back to the special meeting to be scheduled and the council can make a decision at that time.
Morrison County Sheriff’s Dept. will be providing coverage during the July 2nd and July 30th street dances in the city.
Police Department
The special meeting to discuss the future of the police department and also the sign issue will be held on July 7th, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. at the fire hall meeting room. Only these two issues can be discussed at this meeting.
The Mayor met with Sheriff Wetzel and Tom Ploof from the Sheriff’s office. At this time, it does not sound like the county would be interested in providing a lot of extra coverage to the city. The approximate cost of an officer per hour including a car would be $50.00. If we contract with the county, at least we would have someone here that could enforce our ordinances.
The council needs to decide at the special meeting which option to take: full or part time officer, no officer at all or contract with the county. It was mentioned that if a part time officer would be hired, the city may have to look at extending the radius of where the officer lives because the city could not expect someone to move for a part time position.
The Mayor then asked each council member to give a brief update of what they are hearing on the street when talking to residents about the police department. Most of the people they talked to want a police department with an officer dedicated to Randall. A part time officer would be sufficient for many of the people. Some expressed concerns about the cost of having a department and didn’t really know what the best decision should be. More will be discussed and a decision will be made at the July 7th special meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.