April 20, 2011
The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with all members present.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved as presented.
Upon reviewing the bills to pay, Carter questioned a bill from the St. Cloud Driving School for a Night Pit class for the police dept. He was informed that this class has already been taken and was approved by the city manager in December 2010.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to pay the bills as presented. Carried
Dog concerns: Tom Jacobson explained his concerns with his neighbor’s dogs. He stated that he has witnessed Craig Kempenich’s dogs using the neighboring yards for a bathroom and the neighbors are constantly having to pick up after these dogs. He also read a letter from another neighbor that could not be present stating his concern that he has to go check the yard and pick up after the dogs before he can let his children out to play. Jacobson then informed the council that he has seen 3 dogs at the residence also and one of the dogs is barking for long periods of time every day. The council directed the police chief to serve Kempenich with a citation for the appropriate violation. All residents with dogs must keep them under control at all times, either by leash, kennel or fencing of some kind. There is also an ordinance against barking for long periods of time.
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon: Dan Noss, a resident of Randall, attended a meeting out at Camp Ripley recently about the “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program. This program provides different areas of assistance to families of deployed soldiers and Noss asked if the city has ever been involved. As of this time, Randall has not been a part of the program but this is something to look into for the future.
Excess Property in yards: John McDougle expressed his concern about some of the yards in the area and what can be done about them. There are a handful of yards that need to be cleaned up, they have extra trash laying around, too many vehicles, extra tires, etc. The city will contact these homeowners and ask them to clean up the items in question and also remind them to take advantage of clean-up day.
Off-Sale Expansion: The total cost to expand the off-sale into the old city hall office would run between $7,000 - $10,000. The lower number would be with mostly carpet and a small amount of tile and the larger amount would be with installing tile throughout the entire off-sale area. Labor would cost $2400.00(included in the above numbers) and be done by Bollig Brothers Const.
Motion by Turner 2nd by Andres to expand the off-sale and go with the installation of tile throughout the entire area. Project to be completed within 60 days. Carried
City clean-up day – April 30th from 8am – 10am at the old creamery building.
Day of Caring – May 11th : There are 7 or 8 homes that applied from Randall and the city also applied to have the city cemetery and Bingo park cleaned up.
The Camp Ripley update will be held at the Randall V.F.W. at 7:00 p.m. on April 21st.
Planning & Zoning: Mark and Carla Kuchinski submitted a permit asking if they could run their fence they want to install all the way up to the fire hall building and then on the other side up to the city hall building. The committee approved their request for a fence but they must keep it on their own property. Councilman Carter expressed his concern about the type of fence that will be installed and that it will be in good taste as it is along the city’s main street.
Tom Jacobson – install vinyl siding
John Kreuser – install a privacy fence on the North side of the house
Robert Lee – install fence
Ken Salber asked the planning and zoning committee if there are any permits needed if an individual would want to have a farmer’s market at the hardware store and because it is on the hardware store property, there is no permit needed.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to approve the permits as recommended by planning & Zoning. Carried
Delinquent notices have been sent out for the month.
The council did not show any interest in expanding the city’s CIP Program for the Energy Star rebates.
Closing TIF District #1: The council will need to pass a resolution in order to close TIF District #1. The district has approx.. $12,000.00 in it which would be turned over to the county and then split between the county, school district and city. Jerry Peterschick will have David Drown send the city a resolution to be passed at the May 18th meeting.
SEH Engineering firm: Engineering firm, SEH, has a program/service they provide that includes a team of 6 people that go out and find money to fund projects that a city may want to do. If the city would have a project it would like to do, this team would be able to tell fairly quick whether or not there is funding out there for that particular project, if there is, the team would find the funding and there would be no charge to the city for their services, all that is asked is that when the project is approved to move forward, SEH, is the engineering firm.
Park Building : Angie Magee asked the council if more tables could be purchased for the park building, as many of the ones there are getting older and looking worn. There are tables available through Sam’s Club for a price of $423.00 for a bundle of 4 – 8ft. tables. Angie asked if she could purchase 2 bundles (8 tables).
Motion by Carter 2nd by Adamski to purchase 2 bundles of 4 tables for the park building. Carried
It was stated that something needs to be done with the wood ceiling in the back open area of the main park building and also it was asked that city staff pressure wash the concrete floor in that same area.
Sewer & Water: It has been 5 weeks since Dan had surgery and things are healing well. Wendell helps with any duties that Dan can’t complete right now because of his shoulder.
Maintenance: Wendell was going to try and do some landscaping in an area that he is not able to mow with the rider, tapering back the steep hill but since finding out there is fiber optic cable running under that same area, he will check to see how deep it is first.
Police Dept.: The police chief moved 33 miles North of Randall, the middle of April. Since finding out he was moving at the last meeting, the police commission met and came back to this meeting with concerns. The main concern…What’s best for the City of Randall! Other concerns: Response time to bank/business alarms, response time for call-outs. Carter stated that traffic control is usually scheduled so that would not be an issue. The city still needs coverage on the weekends, the chief working all but one each month and making sure there is coverage from the county on the off weekend. He will still have to work a minimum of 48 hours, with emphasis on the weekends and be sure to stay highly visible. Carter stated that he spoke with over 20 people from within the city and the majority, want an officer in town.
Charley, stating his personal opinion, said 33 miles away is too far and he would want an officer much closer to town. Vanden Avond has applied for positions at other departments as the wages are higher and they carry a better benefit package. No action was taken on this issue tonight.
A special meeting will be held on May 12, 2011 at 12:00 (noon) to discuss the Police Department issues.
Trail System: Rick Turner gave a brief explanation of the Camp Ripley/Veterans State Trail system. This trail would be for everyone from walking and biking to skiing, rollerblading, horseback riding and atv riding, etc. There is going to be a feasibility study done and the cost for this study is approx. $43,000.00. The Randall Area Business Group donated $500.00 towards this study and is asking the city to match that amount.
Motion by Riitters 2nd by Adamski to donate $500.00 towards the feasibility study for the trail system. Carried
Horizon Health Land: If the city purchases this land back from Horizon Health, the city would have control over who buys it and what they build on it. This would be in the best interest of the city, was the overall opinion of council members. Jerry Peterschick will find out exactly what the purchase price was and have that information for the May 18th meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:37 p.m.