October 19, 2016
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with all members present except council member Turner.
The minutes of the council meeting on September 21, 2016 were approved as presented.
Motioned by Andres and seconded by Adamski to approve the payment of the bills as presented. Carried
Guests: Kim Schultz, with the Randall Area Business Group
Public Comment & Concern: None at this time.
Donations: None at this time.
Old Business: Matt took the Chicken Ordinance from the September meeting to city attorney, Peter Vogel, and included with additional corrections. Matt has the final draft at city hall. Council will review and vote on ordinance at November meeting with a full council present.
At the September meeting council was given the first draft of the Maintenance Supervisor help wanted ad. The ad will run in the October 23rd through November 13th issues under the full-time employment. After discussion, council decided to move forward with the following advertisement for the Maintenance Supervisor position:
The city of Randall is seeking a street/utility maintenance worker. Duties will include, but not limited to: operation of our natural gas, electric and water/wastewater systems. General street maintenance, snow removal, lawn mowing, tree trimming/storm damage cleanup and a variety of other tasks as assigned. Individual must be willing to obtain up to a class B water/ wastewater operator license, along with gas and electric certification. Individual must be willing to respond to after hour emergency’s as needed, and attend to snow removal and other tasks evenings, nights and or weekends. Position is full time with benefits with a start date of January 1, 2017. Candidate must pass a pre-employment physical and drug screening. Please direct questions and inquires to Matt Pantzke@ Randall City Hall 525 Pacific Ave, Randall MN. 56475. 320-749-2159 Resumes must be submitted by November 15, 2016.
New Business: Kim Schultz, with the Randall Area Business Group was present to ask the city council for approval to be covered under the liability of the city for the events coming up in 2017. The events are the city wide garage sale, Treasure day, 4th of July celebration activities and the Randall Holly Day event. Motioned by Noss and seconded by Adamski to provide liability coverage for the Randall Area Business Group for 2017 as listed above. Carried
Matt received information on future natural gas pricing from U.S. Energy. The 2017-2018 prices are being calculated at $3.65 for 33% of expected use. There was a short discussion of what the cost of natural gas could go to or what it has been in the past. Matt was instructed to move forward and lock in for the 2017-2018 at the given price.
Utility deposits for the City of Randall have not changed in a long time. The council was asked to consider increasing the deposit or including a deposit for the natural gas.
Motioned by Andres and seconded by Noss to increase the Utility Deposit $100 per Utility; $100 Natural Gas, $100 Electric and $100 Water/Sewer; up to $300 maximum effective November 1, 2016. Carried
On-line billing and credit card payment option for utility billing is still an option the city should consider. Matt had talked to the City of Pierz, whom just recently sent up on-line payment option for the utilities. Jody sent a half a day looking at surrounding cities’ websites and found about 1/3 of all websites offered an on-line payment option. It’s becoming the norm to pay online. Council agreed to have Matt look at the cost of having a credit card machine at city hall and review the on-line payment system.
Council member Andres wanted to bring up the rate for renting Bingo Park Building. The current rate is $75.00. He has looked into other rental building and the going rate seems to be higher than what the City of Randall is charging, anywhere from $125 to $250.
Motioned by Andres and seconded by Noss to increase the rate from $75.00 to $100.00 for rental of Bingo Park Building on new rentals only effective October 20, 2016.
Planning & Zoning permits: Motioned by Noss and seconded by Adamski to approve the following building permits as approved by the Planning & Zoning committee:
Marlene Minion: Replace shingled roof with new steel over the top of existing roof.
Pamela Little: Install 4’ tall black chain link fence in back yard, 22’x22’ square. Carried
Committee Reports:
City Manager/Liquor Store – Matt is probably going to be hiring a part-time bartender. A potential buyer came to see Matt asking about what he had to do if he wanted to get a 3.2 beer license. Matt informed him that he would have to ask the city council for approval and then he would have to complete state requirements. The council would be okay with this license.
Water and Sewer – Mike: nothing to report.
Maintenance Supervisor Report – Wendell: The existing bucket truck needs a new bucket for safety requirement. Wendell and Matt found that it is actually cheaper to get a new bucket for the truck than to repair it. Council approved going forward with replacing with new. Last fall Matt had built a pallet fork for city use. A pallet fork new is $600.00. The council approved paying Matt $300.00 for the one the city is currently using. The city owns a crack filling machine that has not been used in about five to six years ago. Matt is going to post the crack filling machine for sale on city website for sealed bid.
There has been prior discussion on purchasing a new mower. The older of two mowers is 2009. Evan’s Implement has quoted a new for $6,000 with the trade of the 2009 mower.
Motioned by Noss and seconded by Andres to trade in the 2009 Simplicity lawn tractor and purchase new one from Evan’s Implement for delivery in April 2017 for $6,000 using the equipment fund. Carried
Police Department Report – Chief Strack: Mayor Riitters wanted to revisit the hiring of a part-time officer. The Personnel committee met after September meeting and if Chief Strack took less hours and the part-time officer gained the hours, then there was not much difference in wages. The next step is offer the position and work out the schedule and pay.
Council Member’s concerns:
Rick – Not present Dan – None at this time Jerry – None at this time
Charley – Talked to Randall Roofing about getting an estimate for the Bingo Park Building roof. Charley will have something for the November meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m. Next regularly scheduled city council meeting will be Wednesday November 16, 2016 7pm at the Randall Fire Hall Meeting room.