AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 10, 2007
7:00 PM CITY HALL
The Akeley City Council met in a regular meeting Wednesday
October 10, 2007 at 7:00 pm. Mayor Tom Moore called the
meeting to order. Council members present were: Tom Moore,
Cliff Johnson, Brian Hitchcock, Eric Sjolin and Frank Lamb.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the Council and attending
audience.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
approve the consent agenda.
Jeff Vorel was present to speak with the Council about complaints
which had been made to the Police Chief regarding the alley by his
home being plugged. He stated that the alley is not plugged
and that he does not release items which he has worked on until
payment for the repair has been made. He also stated he would
like the people who are complaining about the alley by his home to
come and talk to him rather than bother Eric about it.
Frank Lamb stated he has done a lot of business with Jeff as a
mechanic and has no complaints of his operation except that he would
like Jeff to remove the fake car from his front yard and to try and
keep the yard as neat as he can.
Margaret Bond-Vorel was present to speak to the Council about the
Dog Ordinance which is in place. All water & sewer customers
had received with their bills a reminder of the ordinance to have
dogs licensed, on a leash and that the keeping of 3 or more dogs on
the same premises is considered to be a nuisance and not allowed.
She stated they moved to town five years ago and had the six dogs
then of which all but one are kept in the house. At that time
the ordinance did not prohibit the keeping of 3 or more dogs and she
does not want to get rid of any of hers. Margaret said she is
more concerned with the unleashed dogs in town.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to allow Vorels to keep more than the limit of dogs as long
as they are all licensed and they don’t create a public nuisance by
barking or getting out and that allowing more dogs than allowed on
any premises is a decision to be made by the Council on a case by
case basis.
Kevin & Deb from Kevin’s Auto Body & Towing were not present
however Eric Klein explained the concern an anonymous citizen had
made to the newspapers regarding Kevin & Deb issuing $15.00 gift
certificates to three officers of the Police Department. Eric
said it was an act of kindness on Kevin & Deb’s part and an
oversight on his in accepting them but he has returned his gift
certificate and the other two officers have paid theirs back.
Robert Warnke asked the Council who he should talk to about the
house next to his. He was told by the Council that he would
have to wait to discuss this during New Business since he was not on
the agenda.
Water/Sewer/Maintenance Report - Frank Thelin
Motion by Eric Sjolin seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve the contract submitted from ND Sewage Pump Company Inc. for
a fee of $475.00 for maintenance on the sewer lift stations for one
year.
Frank Thelin stated that he has talked to other towns regarding
fees charged for use of water from a fire hydrant and he would like
to see the fee for the City of Akeley raised to be more comparable
to the other towns. He also said he would like to have a water
meter purchased for a more accurate count of gallons used from fire
hydrants.
Motion by Tom Moore seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to approve
to raise the permit fee on Ordinance 101-2005 from $2.50 to $25.00
for fire hydrant use and the rate per 1,000 gallons taken from a
fire hydrant from $5.00 to $7.50 with the exception of the Fire
Department who would not be charged anything.
Frank Thelin is looking into getting a 55 gallon drum of oil for
the equipment at the maintenance shop and has obtained two quotes,
one from Detroit Lakes for $429.00 not including tax and one from
Walker for $422.16 not including tax. Eric Sjolin stated he
would like to see the City go with the more local business.
Frank Thelin said he spoke with the DNR about the City Pier and
is trying to get organized for next spring to get floats and he will
be able to repair the facing on the dock. A green treated wood
walkway to the pier would be suitable to make it handicapped
accessible.
Margaret Bond stated that the alley near their house right above
the sewer line gets spongy in the spring and fall and wondered if it
was possible that the sewer line was leaking. Frank said he
could check on it but members of the Council stated the ground in
that area is very wet.
Cliff Johnson asked Frank Thelin if the new system (change from
using chlorine gas to liquid bleach at the filter plant) has been
put into place. Frank said the tank and pump have been
delivered and they are waiting on the containment tank so it should
be hooked up in about a week or so.
Cliff Johnson asked Frank Thelin if he had checked into getting a
small heater for the water tower and was told that it is already
done.
Police Report - Chief Eric Klein
· Eric said he has not
heard any more regarding the community sign on south highway 64.
· Eric is requesting
that something be done with the street light near T&M. Some
discussion took place and possibly the City’s insurance or the
insurance companies of the motorists on record who have hit the
light pole would cover the cost to replace it. A suggestion
was made to move the location of the street light at the time it is
replaced to prevent future damage.
· Mr. Jeff Vorel and
Margaret Bond-Vorel dog and clean up issues were addressed earlier.
· Gift certificates and
the Akeley Police Department were discussed earlier.
· Eric requested that
the Council allow him to continue working with Officer Williams
since there have been some issues which he believes are correctable
through additional training. Eric Sjolin recommended that
Police Reserves work only with experienced Police Officers.
Brian Hitchcock stated that since Officer Williams needs more
training and time with (personal relations), that Friday and
Saturday nights may not be the best time to do it and maybe more
hours during the week could be looked at.
Frank Lamb questioned the reasoning for the Council’s desire to
rescind his motion to purchase a new squad truck for the police
department since it had been a unanimous decision. He had
missed the last budget workshop when the Council had discussed how
they thought they should be more conservative. Frank
understood the Council to say that nothing has structurally changed
since the last council meeting, only the Council members’ attitudes
and both Eric Klein and Frank Thelin have agreed that they could
wait another year to get new vehicles for their departments.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
approve to rescind the motion allowing the Police Department to
purchase a new squad truck paying $5,000.00 from the Community Fund,
$9,665.70 from the sewer account, $4,834.30 from the park account
and the remaining $7,000.00 plus decal and changeover charges from
the police administrative funds. Frank Lamb opposed since the
motion had passed once but agreed with being conservative.
Approving a Sewer Variance for Bruce Beckley was on the agenda
but Frank Thelin stated that he hadn’t been able to talk to Bruce
yet about writing a letter to the Council requesting a variance.
Frank said he would talk to Bruce and should have a letter
requesting a variance for the next council meeting.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to allow Frank Thelin to attend Water Training on
Winterizing on October 23rd in Grand Rapids at the cost of $75.00
for the class, reimbursement for mileage, and pay while attending
the training.
Frank Thelin presented a contract for clear well cleaning which
is recommended to be performed every 5 years and it has been 5
to 7 years since it was done last. He would like to have the
work complete before December and it has to be contracted out since
there are safety concerns. Frank will keep a maintenance
schedule so it will be known in the future when this type of work is
required again.
Motion by Eric Sjolin
seconded by Tom Moore and carried to approve to accept the contract
from Water Tower Paint & Repair for clear well cleaning at $1,500.00
with the funds coming from the Community Fund.
Denise Rittgers explained the Community Water Supply Service
Connection Fee which has been paid annually by the City of Akeley to
the Minnesota Department of Health for all service connections
served by our water supply. The Service Connection Fee is a
surcharge which is meant to be billed out to each of the users and
in the past with the City paying the fee, it has taken away money
from the Water Fund which is needed to pay for other water related
bills. By having each user pay $0.58 a month, it would cover
the cost for this service connection fee.
Motion by Eric Sjolin seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to add $0.58 to each water account billing starting with
next month’s water/sewer billing.
Old Business
Bruce Blaeser asked if he is required to get a building permit if
he builds on to his garage and was told by members of the Council
that he is. He stated that he has seen others building around
town but has not seen building permits posted. He was told by
members of the Council that they are required to be posted.
Bruce Blaeser also stated that people who have businesses in
their homes should be paying commercial rates rather than homestead
rates. Members of the Council responded that it would be up to
the assessor.
Robert Warnke was wondering about the old house next to his and
was informed that it is to be auctioned off in the near future and
that he should contact the Hubbard County Land Office for more
information.
Margaret Bond-Vorel asked if it was possible for the City to
raise the allotted number of gallons of water used but charge the
same rate for larger families who exceed the normal usage of water
each month. Eric Sjolin stated the expense is directly
proportional to the amount of water used and that the City is not
actually charging as much for the water as it should be. No
action was taken.
New Business
Bob Winner stated that there is a possibility of using material
from the large ramp (that goes up to the old city offices) to extend
the temporary smoking area on the back side of the liquor store. It
would be temporary and the cost to do was estimated to be around
$200.00 or so.
Frank Thelin informed the Council that there are bids in Tom
Moore’s mail box regarding correction of the water problems between
City Hall and the Blue Ox Market. Frank Lamb read the bids
from Ron Vredenburg and Action Contracting and stated that both bids
had a flaw in them and suggested that Frank Thelin inform them both
that the Council would like a grate rather than PVC pipe and then
have them resubmit bids.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Tom Moore and carried to approve
to have Frank Thelin contact both contractors, clarify what the City
wants, have them re-bid and have Frank Thelin choose the bid which
is of best interest of the City.
Margaret Bond-Vorel asked if there is an ordinance regarding
fences and if a building permit is required to put one up.
There is an ordinance but a building permit is not required to put
one up.
Bob Winner asked if he is required to get Council approval to
give out prizes at the liquor store for the Halloween party it has
each year. He was informed that he does not need Council
approval and that the general rule of thumb is that anything over
$500.00 needs Council approval.
Bob Winner stated that the Chili Cook-Off is looking good and
will be held on October 20th at the liquor store.
Bob Winner also said that $50.00 has been paid to the DJs at the
liquor store for quite a few years now and he would like to see them
receive a raise. Eric Sjolin stated he thought it was more
important to make the karaoke books look more attractive and Bob
stated that he has already purchased supplies to do that. No
action was taken.
Frank Lamb asked regarding the liquor store patio, if it would be
adaptable so it could be made permanent and that same area would be
used. Eric Sjolin stated he thought the way it would be put up
now would be temporary and that later the Council could revisit
whether the area needed to be larger or not but the same access
would be used.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
adjourn.
Denise Rittgers Clerk
Treasure
City of Akeley
Wendy Klein
Deputy Clerk
City of Akeley
