January 20, 2010
The regular meeting of the Randall City Council was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with all members present. Angie Magee informed the council that she missed entering a motion in the minutes of last month. The motion was made by Adamski 2nd by Andres to approve the 2010 budget as presented by the budget committee. Carried. The motion was added to last month’s minutes and the minutes were approved as presented.
Motion by Andres 2nd by Carter to pay the bills for the month. Carried
Donna Lundgren and Mike and Diane Drew were present on behalf of the 4th of July Committee to discuss their meeting with councilmembers Andres and Turner regarding the carnival that will be in Randall over the 4th of July weekend. The carnival vendor stated that he has no issues with other organizations selling food as long as they charge the same price as the carnival food prices. There is no cost to the city or 4th of July committee to have the carnival in town and if advance ride tickets are sold, the committee would receive 10% of all advance sales. Lundgren stated that she spoke with John Wippler of Central MN Electric and he assured her there would be no problem accommodating the carnival with adequate power. The carnival would consist of 5-7 rides, 3-4 food vendors and some games. It would run from Friday July 2nd – Sunday July 4th. A street dance and Fireworks will be held on Saturday night and the parade will be at 12:00 (noon) on Sunday. The proposed location of the carnival would be on a portion of Superior Avenue approximately between the carwash and water tower. Lundgren stated that the railroad will also be notified of the events for that weekend.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Andres to authorize the 4th of July Committee to move forward with entering into a contract with All-American Amusement. Carried
Lundgren then asked if the city would be willing to donate toward the celebration as they have in the past. Motion by Carter 2nd by Turner to donate $3,000.00 to the 4th of July Committee for the advertising and promotion of the city during the 2010 4th of July celebration. Carried
John Kreuser, Randall Fire Chief, was in attendance to discuss the possibility of the fire department holding an open house, with the intentions of getting more community awareness and involvement. A possible time for this event would be Memorial Day weekend, during the city wide garage sales and Crazy Daze event.
Kreuser then expressed his concern about vehicles being parked very close to the garage doors of the fire hall when people are at the park building for an event. There should be no vehicles parked in front of any of the overhead doors on the South or East sides of the fire hall. Kreuser’s last item was to be added to the calling list when there is an emergency, situation such as the water main break last week, where the entire town was out of water. The city maintenance supervisor and wastewater superintendant both have his cell phone number now and he will be contacted in the future.
The Mayor presented his appointments for 2010. It was decided to remove Brad Olson from the Planning and Zoning as he passed away last year and he will not be replaced at this time. Fire Chief John Kreuser was added to the Civil Defense board in place of Bill Kuesel. Dr. Tom Stoy is on the medical board and it was discussed to keep him on at this time but look into other possibilities as Dr. Stoy already has many responsibilities.
Motion by Andres 2nd by Turner to approve the 2010 appointments as presented. Carried
Motion by Carter 2nd by Adamski to waive the Tort Liability for 2010, upon the recommendation of the city’s insurance agent. Carried
The Planning and Zoning had no permits this month and voted to re-elect the same officers for 2010.
The Utility committee reluctantly made their rate increase recommendations to the council.
Upon reviewing the information from Minnesota Power, the increase to the city, which began last year, is nearly 20%. The committee proposed to increase the base rate from $9.00 to $10.50 and to increase the rate per kilowatt also for a total increase of approximately 20%. This increase would not be more profitable for the city, it would only be “keeping up” with the increase from Minnesota Power.
Motion by Adamski 2nd by Turner to approve the recommendation by the utility committee to increase the electric rates, retroactive to January 1, 2010. Carried.
The committee also proposed an increase to the sewer, water and natural gas rates as follows:
Sewer and water rates would increase 5%. The base rate on the sewer would increase by $1.00 to $14.00. The sewer rates are calculated on each household’s average water usage from January, February and March of the previous year. The base water rate would remain at $11.00 but would be for the first 1000 gallons instead of 2000 gallons.
It was proposed to increase the natural gas rate by 1¢ to .25/ccf.
Motion by Andres 2nd by Riitters to increase the sewer, water and natural gas rates as proposed by the utility committee retroactive to January 1, 2010. Carried
Motion by Andres 2nd by Carter to renew Jerry Peterschick’s Notary Public stamp for another 5 years at the total cost of $140.00. carried
Dan Thilquist and Wendell Schultz have been getting prices to repair the old Derby lawnmower and the best price they found for a short block engine was $816.00, delivered. They would install the new motor themselves. The mower deck cannot be replaced and has been repaired numerous times but Dan and Wendell feel that if needed they will be able to keep repairing it. Motion by Turner 2nd by Andres to purchase the short block engine for the city’s old lawnmower. Carried 4-1, Jerry Carter was not in favor.
Motion by Carter 2nd by Adamski to renew the contract and allow the Morrison County Humane Society to contact Bill VandenAvond, Wendell Schultz or Jerry Peterschick for approval to accept a dog from the city. Carried
Morrison County Public Works now needs to have a list of employees who have charge authorization with the county. It was decided to allow, Jerry Peterschick, Wendell Schultz, Dan Thilquist, Bill Vanden Avond and Angie Magee to charge on the city account with Morrison County Public Works.
Tim Strack has been “Santa’s helper” for many years, handing out candy at the V.F.W. for a couple hours and has always been paid for his time by the Randall-Cushing Lions Club. This year, the Lions club decided not to pay the service due to lack of funding and Tim approached Jerry Peterschick about asking the council if the city would pay him $75.00 for his time helping Santa. Currently the city has no cost involvement in the event, the Randall-Cushing Lions and Randall V.F.W. split the cost of the goodie bags given out. After some discussion, the issue died for lack of a motion.
The delinquent utilities were reviewed and will continue to be reviewed monthly.
The Police Chief informed the council that he will be going down to the cities with a deputy to look at and possibly purchase some used office furniture at the state surplus warehouse. He would like to purchase a desk and office table with chairs for the Police Station.
Motion by Riitters 2nd by Adamski to authorize the police chief to purchase a table and desk through the Little Falls Police Department from the state surplus warehouse.
Jerry Adamski was present at the water main break last week and stated that City employees, Wendell Schultz and Dan Thilquist should be commended for their hard work in getting the problem repaired.
Charley Andres informed the council that he will not be in attendance at the March meeting. He also mentioned that he was approached by a gentleman inquiring about the # of dogs a household can have. Two dogs are allowed per household.