May 16, 2012
The regular meeting of the Randall City Council was called to order at 7:00p.m. with all members present.
The minutes of the April 18th and May 3rd meetings were approved as presented.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Adamski to pay the bills for the month. Carried
Camp Ripley 2012 Community Brief: Derek Lindberg, representing Camp Ripley, shared a slide show of the upcoming summer events that will be going on out at Camp and also what projects are currently active on the base. A few big ones are the Emergency Vehicle Operations Course where the state patrol, firefighters etc. will be able to train with their vehicles on various road conditions and speeds. The cost of this project is $5 million; The Unmanned Ariel Systems Facility is a $3.89 million project; new tank range, $18 million; Qualification Training Range $9 million and Machine Gun/Heavy Sniper Qualification Range $8 million. A couple new events added this past year were the Muzzleloader Hunt and Trolling for the Troops where pro anglers take soldiers fishing. The summer will bring many units in for training which will bring a lot of noise at times. The environmental program continues to thrive, researching certain species and practicing the protection of the wildlife and their habitats.
Andrew Borasch a boy scout with Troop 51 was present to observe the meeting, a merit badge requirement.
Dedication Ceremony/Veteran’s Memorial: Work on the memorial has begun and should be near completion by Memorial Day Weekend. The Dedication Ceremony will be held on June 16th at 11 a.m. with refreshments to follow at the Randall V.F.W. Everyone is welcome to attend. Dan Noss stated they received a $500 donation from Stearns Electric and Knife River donated 100% of the cement for the foundation and employee time for delivery.
Police Dept. POST Board Audit: The POST Board conducted an audit of the police department last week. The Department passed but was given some recommendations for updates to the policy manual. Chief Strack made all the recommended changes and presented a copy of those changes to the council for approval.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Turner to approve the police policy as amended by Chief Strack. Carried
Trail System Grant Program: There was discussion of entering into a Joint Powers Agreement with some other cities to apply for grant money to be used towards the connection to the Camp Ripley Veteran’s Trail system and Mississippi River Trail and existing Soo Line Trail.
Nothing further was discussed regarding the 3 additional mandatory holidays that the city is currently not recognizing. The Mayor will contact the league regarding this matter.
Initiative Foundation: The city received a plaque and letter from the Initiative Foundation honoring the partnership they have with the city.
Building Permits: Jackie Magee – New siding & windows
Bill Kuesel – replace windows, remove concrete
Rick Anderson – 12x19 deck
Mark Medley – 6’ wood fence
William Nutz – chain link dog fence, 6’ privacy fence, wheelchair ramp
Wayne Thomsen – 12x16 shed and 6x6 dog kennel
Motion by Adamski 2nd by Andres to approve all permits. Carried
Delinquent Utilities: Upon reviewing the list of delinquent utility accounts, it was mentioned that a few customers should have been disconnected already. The cold weather rule is done for now and most energy assistance is done also. If people do not pay their bill by the date the late notice says, they will be disconnected without any further notification. If the customer cannot pay the entire amount due, they MUST set up an appointment with the utility board to make payment arrangements. City staff cannot make any payment arrangements with customers, it must go through the utility board.
Tarring at Victory Station: Dean Mielke contacted city hall and asked if the city would pay for half of the tarring he is having done up at the gas station. Because the area being tarred is primarily used for customer parking for the gas station and is not an asset to the city, the general consensus of the council was to not pay for half the cost.
Misc. Items: A new ice machine had to be purchased for the liquor store last week. The old machine was 12 years old and was beyond repair. The new unit was $2,140.00
The new locator is here and Wendell and Dan have been using it. The total cost was $3,895.59.
Clean-up day went well, there was less bulk garbage, tire and appliances this year than in the past.
Knight Street/Oak Street Project Assessment: After reviewing the current assessment policy from 2006, it was decided that the city needs to update its policy, perhaps even looking into doing individual policies for each project in the future as project costs may vary.
A continuation meeting was set for June 4, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. at the fire hall meeting room. The purpose is to update the assessment policy for tarring and road improvements.
Meeting recessed at 8:54pm