AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
NOVEMBER 12, 2008
7:00 PM CITY HALL
NOVEMBER AGENDA
1. Call the Meeting to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approve Consent Agenda of…
a)
Minutes
b)
Treasurers Report
c)
Bills for Payment
4. Approve Resolution # 6-2008 “Canvassing Election
Results”
5. Katie Magozzi – Summer Scene Ad for Liquor Store &
Campground/Scenic Byway Letter
6. John Kramer – Culvert in his Alley
7. Bob Winner – Liquor Store Report
8. Levi Holsapple – Road Conditions & Options Available
9. Frank Thelin – Water/Sewer/Maintenance Report
10. Eric Klein – Police Report
11. Approve New Auditor
12. Approve Adoption of “Identity Theft Prevention
Program”
13. Approve Liquor License for Bunyan’s
14. Financial Information on City Website
15. Park Bathrooms - Cliff Johnson
16. Old Business
17. New Business
18. Adjourn
MINUTES
The Akeley City Council met in a regular meeting Wednesday
November 12, 2008 at 7:00 pm. Acting Mayor Brian Hitchcock
called the meeting to order. Council members present were:
Brian Hitchcock, Cliff Johnson and Frank Lamb. Eric Sjolin was
absent. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the Council and
attending audience.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried to
approve the consent agenda with the removal of #14 “Financial
Information on City Website”, the removal of #15 “Park
Bathrooms”, the removal of Bob Winner’s name on #7 and the
addition of Frank Lamb at # 8.5.
Brian Hitchcock read Resolution No. 6-2008, “Resolution
Canvassing Returns of Mayoral and City Council Election”. The
results of the election are as follows:
Mayor Precinct 0005
Total Votes
Scott Vettleson
108 108
Jon J. Johnson
65 65
Council Members Precinct 0005
Total Votes
Troy Hegg
117 117
Margaret Bond-Vorel
43 43
Question on Ballet for the City of Akeley:
Shall the city council be allowed to issue on-sale liquor
licenses to the Akeley Municipal Liquor Store for the sale of
intoxicating liquor at retail on Sundays?
Yes Vote: 100
No Votes: 101
Motion by Cliff Johnson seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve Resolution # 6-2008, “Resolution Canvassing Returns of
Mayoral and City Council Election”.
Katie Magozzi was present to state that the Scenic Byway is
applying for National Designation and with that comes State and
Federal support to elevate it as one of six National Byways in
the State of Minnesota. She needs letters of support from the
local municipalities along the Scenic Byway and asked the City
to submit a letter of support. If designation is received, they
will be eligible for annual seed grants of $25,000 to help
market the Scenic Byway. Katie also discussed the Visitor
Guides in which 80,000 copies are distributed each year and the
Akeley Liquor Store and Campground have both been advertised as
well as other Akeley businesses. She respectfully asked the
Council to support the community businesses by making a $500.00
contribution for the Akeley page of ads which includes the
municipal liquor store and campground and is the amount that
Akeley paid last year for the same advertising.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried to
approve to pay $500.00 to the Park Rapids Chamber for the
municipal liquor store and campground ads which will be in the
Visitor Guides.
John Kramer was on the agenda regarding the culvert in his alley
but was not present. Frank Thelin stated that he had spoken
with John and due to the condition the culvert is in, he would
like to have it pulled out. Brian Hitchcock and Frank Thelin
will inspect the culvert and determine if it can be pulled out
or if it should be replaced.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried to
allow Brian Hitchcock the authority to make the decision to pull
out or replace the culvert upon inspection.
Liquor
Store Report – Cliff Johnson
-
The October
profit/loss shows a profit of $6,113.22 and a year to date
profit of $22,299.29.
-
No events are
planned at this time but the Chili Cook Off went well. Over
$200.00 had been raised during the cook off for Melissa
Niblick Benefit.
Levi Holsapple was present at Frank Thelin’s request to discuss
the condition of the City streets since Levi works on the roads
in the townships. He stated that with the streets can’t be
bladed in the current condition since there is nothing to work
with. Levi suggested that the City set up a 5-Year Road Plan
which would consist of inspecting each street, determining which
streets would require work, then if the City has 25 streets,
they take 5 streets each year and do whatever updates would be
required. Levi also shared information regarding class 1 and
class 5 and stated that he has gravel charts and class 1 and
class 5 specs which he will drop off at City Hall.
Frank Lamb stated that as a Council member he has always tried
to be fair with everybody. He said that all City employees are
supervised by the City Council members who are their boss,
however, the City taxpayers of Akeley are the Councils’ boss
which means they are also the City employees’ bosses. Frank
stated that some things had been said to him after the last
council meeting and he would like everyone to be civil with each
other and not let personal things enter in.
Water/Sewer/Maintenance Report - Frank Thelin
-
Frank presented
the Council a letter from Darren Laesch of Widseth, Smith
and Nolting regarding a Capital Improvement Plan for the
City of Akeley. Frank said that in February at no cost to
the City, Darren would sit down with the Council and Frank
to develop a five year plan. Frank also said he had 24
loads of class 5 put down on the city streets in the past 2
weeks and with the Capital Improvement plan, he hopes the
streets will get back to the way they should be.
-
Frank received a
bid from North Star Pump Service for the high service pumps
and backwash pump bearings to be repacked. He believes that
this should be done as soon as possible since he has not
been able to locate the records stating when this would have
been done last. Brian Hitchcock suggested waiting until
Eric Sjolin is back before action is taken.
-
An upgrade for
the water meter software to perform water billing each
month. Payment could be set up to pay $750.00 each year for
three years.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried
to approve to pay to Northern Water Works $750.00 each year for
3 years for water billing software updates.
-
Frank and Denise
Rittgers will be getting together to fill out paperwork from
USDA Rural Water Association which will help determine if
the water and sewer rates need to be adjusted.
-
Frank stated that
he and others have checked the curb stop by Wayne Tennis’
home and they all are confident that it is not leaking so he
believes the problem has been taken care of.
-
Frank wants to
talk to Bill Kramer about the culvert that he wants put in
since Bill isn’t sure where he would like it placed.
-
Frank said that
he and Denise Rittgers had sat down with a USDA Rural
Development representative who was performing an audit and
one of the items she recommended was having an Emergency
Management Plan for the City. Frank would like to sit down
with the mayor, Fire Chief Lee Johnson, and Police Chief
Eric Klein to discuss this and come up with a rough outline.
-
The museum, patio
and campground were winterized and the Sentenced To Serve
crew helped with the raking and cleanup of the campground
which he appreciated.
-
In the next week
or so Frank will be pulling the dock out at the boat landing
to winterize.
Police Report - Chief Eric Klein was not present but
Reserve Officer Travis Carlson read the report that had been
provided in the packet.
·
Dog issues from last month were reviewed. The
owner is responsible for all costs when their dog is taken to
the pound. If it is a stray dog, Headwaters Animal Shelter
adopts the dog after 7 days however the City is charged
approximately $11.00 (per day) per animal.
·
Some squad truck issues need to be discussed when
Eric Klein is available.
·
The police department gave out approximately 60
bags to children in the community.
·
The police department along with the fire
department and VFW have been planning a teen dance which will be
held on Friday, November 21st at the ARCC from 7:00
PM to Midnight.
·
The police department and fire department each
received a donation of $2,500 from the Hendry Family
Foundation. Eric sent them a thank you from the police
department but also wanted to publicly thank them for their
generosity and kindness.
A new auditor will have to be hired for the City audit and
Denise Rittgers stated that she has one quote from Mathias C.
Justin, LTD. for $9,700. She has made 23 calls so far and none
of them conduct city audits except for the one she has received
the quote from.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
allow Denise Rittgers to call and accept the bid from Mathias C.
Justin, LTD. as City Auditor if she cannot find any other
competitive bids before December 1st.
Denise Rittgers explained the “Identity Theft Prevention
Program” developed pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission’s
“Red Flags Rule” and that the City needs to adopt it since the
City is a municipality who bills for water and sewer. Denise
said that in the future when new customers apply for water and
sewer service the City will need a driver’s license number or a
social security number.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried
to adopt the “Identity Theft Prevention Program” effective
beginning November 12, 2008.
Motion by Cliff Johnson seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve the liquor license for Bunyan’s Station.
Old Business
In the past Frank Lamb said
he had brought up that new bathrooms were needed by the Paul
Bunyan Park but the idea had been shot down. He felt with the
increase of use and having them open all summer all day to the
public that they are not standing up to it. Frank stated the
Historical Society would be willing to donate money to help to
upgrade them or if new bathrooms were to be built, he thought
groups like the Historical Society, the VFW, Lions, Fire
Department and possibly the Community Fund could all pitch in on
the cost. Frank asked the Council to think about it since he
will not be a voting member in January.
Cliff Johnson asked Travis if he knew whether Eric Klein had
talked to Greg Everett to see if Greg had made a decision
regarding his employment with the City. Cliff stated that the
meeting between Frank Thelin, Greg Everett, Eric Klein and
himself had gone really well but Greg stated he wanted some more
time before making a decision.
New Business
Frank Lamb said that at the last budget work session, park
expenses had been reviewed and currently the park has a regular
phone and a cell phone. The Council members thought that the
park would save a substantial amount of money if they would get
rid of the land line and just use the cell phone.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to remove the land line from the park.
Frank Thelin asked how it should be handled when maintenance
takes care of repairs at the campground. He wondered if that
should be paid for by the park since it is a separate entity
rather than coming of out of his budget. Council members
thought the City Auditor should answer this question.
Council members requested that the issue of Park Bathrooms be
placed on the agenda for next month.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried to
adjourn.
Denise Rittgers
Clerk Treasurer
City of Akeley
Wendy Klein
Deputy Clerk
City of Akeley
