July 20, 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 June 15th and July 7th meetings were approved as presented.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Adamski to pay the bills for the month. Carried
Land Annexation: Morrison County Engineer, Steve Backowski, was present to ask the city if they would annex the land the county owns, as the city’s setbacks would be more suitable for an additional 60x100 steel shed on the property and the city already supplies most of the utilities to the property. The county would be responsible for any costs that are incurred during this process. Parker Township voted at their last meeting to support this process.
Motion by Adamski 2nd by Carter to proceed with the process of annexation of the land owned by Morrison County. Carried
Beer License/Street closure: Motion by Adamski 2nd by Andres to approve a beer license for the Randall Cushing Lions for August 14th at St. James Parish Augustfest. Carried 4-1, Carter abstained
Motion by turner 2nd by Carter to approve a beer license for the Randall Fire Department for July 30th at their streetdance fundraiser at Bingo Park. Carried
Motion by Andres 2nd by Carter to allow the Randall Fire Department to close off a portion of the alley during the streetdance on July 30th. Carried
Culvert/Ditch Update: Wendell and Jerry looked at a couple of the worst cases and Jerry stated the ditch with the biggest problem at this time is between the St. James Church parking lot and Knight Street. Drainage has been an issue and the city will contact the church about the possibility of eliminating one of the approaches coming from their parking lot onto Knight Street, which, along with some excavation work in the ditch, would help with the drainage. At the same time as the ditch repair, Jerry stated that the other half of Knight Street needs to be tarred also. A portion of it was done a few years ago and now the rest of it is in very poor condition.
There has been water standing in the ditch along the front of the mobile home park and Dan Thilquist will test this water to see if it is city water, which would mean there is a leak somewhere.
The other streets that need repair are a portion by the park building on River Road, a part of West 3rd Street and a portion of Hill Drive that may need an overlay done. It was decided that the top priority would be Knight Street and getting the ditch so it has proper drainage. Jerry Peterschick will contact St. James Church about the approach issue.
Planning & Zoning Permits:
Marge Peterson – 5x7 storage shed
Don Johnson – 8x10 storage shed
Brian Abrahamson – 10x16 storage shed
Richard Lausen – add a deck and handicap ramp
Todd Koning – 10x12 deck
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to approve all permits. Carried
Randall Area Business Group: Angie Magee asked the council for permission to use city property IF, the business group would decide to invite crafters into the city for their fall event to be held mid-October, and also, if the city approved the usage of the land, could the business group charge a fee to each vendor.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Turner to allow the business group to utilize city property and charge a fee to vendors for a craft fair, if that is what they decide to do. Carried
Delinquent utilities were reviewed and there was one shut-off this month.
The Sentenced To Serve were in town last week, painting the lines on main street and also painting the white building behind the liquor store. Wendell painted the siren and while doing so, noticed that the dome over the siren is rusting through and it will only be a matter of time before water starts to get into the siren. The council will again look into different options and prices for a siren system in the city.
It was decided to have city staff look into some prices on a new tractor towards the end of the year. Perhaps looking at new 2011 models instead of 2012.
Local board of appeal and equalization training will be held on September 22nd at the Morrison County Courthouse.
Jerry Carter presented a letter from Dan Noss, a resident of Randall heading up the Veterans Memorial and also the area contact for the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program at Camp Ripley. Dan’s letter was asking for either approval, designation or a resolution, stating a portion of the area across from the fire hall to be used for a Veteran’s Park. This area would have a monument and perhaps some picnic tables.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to designate this are as a Veteran’s Park and the VFW will need to prepare a plan and present it to the council for approval. Carried
The second part of Dan’s letter was asking for support from the city of the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program.
Motion by Riitters 2nd by Adamski to approve a proclamation supporting the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon network of Morrison County. Carried
Mayor Riitters stated that the Horizon Health land and the undeveloped land in the Aspen Ridge Development will need to be discussed at a future meeting.
The council received a letter from a citizen concerning recent incidences within the last couple months. One concern is the cars traveling at high speeds up and down Hill Drive and that the 15MPH speed limit sign was never re-installed after construction on CR#104. The council instructed the city manager to have Wendell put the sign back up on Hill Drive.
Police Department: The personnel committee/Police Commission met with the city manager and prepared a job description for a part-time police officer. There was discussion amongst the council on what, when hired, the title of the position will be, Chief or officer. At this time, it was decided to focus on the application process and the particulars can be worked out before someone is actually hired.
The city will advertise in the Morrison County Record and the deadline for application will be 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2011 at the Randall City Hall.
In the meantime, Jerry Carter and Bob Riitters will set up a meeting with Sheriff Wetzel to get some of their questions answered.
This meeting will be continued on Thursday, August 11th at 9:00 a.m. at the Fire Hall meeting room, at which time the council will review any/all applications received for the part-time police officer position.
Meeting recessed at 8:25 p.m. and will re-convene at 9:00 a.m. on August 11th.