Present: Jenae Ulbricht, Irene Ehlert, Juli Scherping, Romie Gessell, and Brooke Thieschafer. Others present: See Sign In Sheet
Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance: Mayor Ulbricht called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM
Approval of Agenda City Council: Add Open Floor Guidelines to New Business and Renewal of Liquor License for Burtrum Cabooze. Romie Gessell made a motion. Irene Ehlert supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Approval of the Minutes from September 2023: Romie Gessell made motion to approve the minutes. Juli Scherping supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Approval of Bills City Council: Total bills for the month were $3,040.88. Total receipts for the month totalled $10,108.33. Irene Ehlert made a motion to approve the bills. Juli Scherping supported. All in favor, motion carried.
Old Business: Snow Plowing of the City – The City did receive one quote for $700 per snow plow and must be at least an inch of snow. The snow plow truck has been getting repairs done at Semi Pro Diesel out of Swanville. There have been no repairs made on the plow truck since 2020. General maintenance has been done. Some further repairs are needed for the plow truck. There is a 1-2 week lead time needed to make the repairs. Romie Gessell made a motion to put a cap of $1200 for all the remaining repairs to be fixed. Juli Scherping supported. All in favor: motion carried. The snow plow will go out once 3 inches of snow has accumulated. Romie Gessell made a motion. Irene Ehlert supported, all in favor: motion carried.
The City Council decided to move forward with an hourly wage for snow plowing of $25 per hour. Juli Scherping made a motion to approve, Irene Ehlert supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Contract Policing Rate Increase- Mayor and City Clerk has signed the Policing contract, increase will go into effect 1-1-24. No further action will be needed and will be removed from agenda.
City Locks /City Signs – The City is hoping to use Sourcewell Grant Funds to purchase new locks for the community center and new welcome signs on each end of town. More to come.
Office Update – No Update at this time. Additional funds needed hoping to come Sourcewell Grants.
Grants-Sourcewell: Mayor Ulbricht discussed AED. There is a larger cost up front and annual costs of $600. The Mayor went over everything that comes with the pricing. AED will go on an app and have a mapping site of the location of the AED, and we would register with the State and County level. Pads will need to be replaced every December. Gessell suggested a time frame to approve. Mayor discussed that we have one year from the date of the application. We have one year to complete tasks and improvements and use all the funds. A discussion was had on getting high audio and video recording devices to record the meetings. The City Clerk went over and passed out a pricing sheet of items/improvements to all city council members. Each item had about 3 quotes from different companies. The council reviewed the spreadsheet. Gessell made a motion to approve the match for match Sourcewell Grant. Scherping supported. All in favor: motion carried. The City Clerk will submit the application to Sourcewell in the next couple of days for approval.
Permits – No Permits
Bollig Engineering Update – No new update at this time.
City Website – No update at this time. Hold for now. More updates to come in January.
Road Signs – MnDot has the requests. Waiting on them for install at this time.
New Business: Sanitary Survey Report – Public Waters Report. No deficiencies were observed. A copy has been handed out to the city council members to review/read. Report will be saved in our records for 10 years, the year 2033.
Recording of the City Council Meetings – Due to recent events the city council would like to start recording the meetings. The purchase of the recording devices will be added to the Match to Match Sourcewell Grant.
Off-Site Liquor License – The owners of Burtrum Cabooze are requesting a one day liquor license. Location was not in the city limits and owners will have to get a permit from the county.
MN Retention Documents – Since the office has been cleaned out and organized. A lot of random documents were found. The city reached out to the city attorney for advice on the retention policy. We were given the State of MN policies to follow. A list was produced about documents to be destroyed. The city is asking the council for approval to adopt the Retention Policy for MN, and destroy the items on the list provided. Ehlert made a motion to approve a list of documents to be destroyed. Scherping supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Open Floor Guidelines: Mayor Ulbricht talked with the city’s attorney about the Centennial Books. The city can give the books away because they are a historical item. City Council can vote to sell them for x amount, if they choose too. Attorney stated don’t worry about what has been done in the past. Attorney raised concern that we can’t donate as a government entity to a non-profit. We can’t donate to use the facility. Mayor gave an example of charging the Bean Bake only $150 for all the days. Attorney explained we have to offer things at market value. Can’t focus on certain groups and nonprofits. We have to raise non-profits use of the building. Bean Bake is not historical or non-profit. In the past, checks were written from the city to the Bean Bake for any remaining funds. The city can no longer be able to do that per the City’s attorney. Rentals will have to be $75, meetings $40, and weddings $200, standard market value. Funerals for city residents will remain free. Letters will be sent out to the Heritage Club about the increase.
Mayor discussed what happened at last month’s meeting and shared how that was completely disrespectful to all in attendance and uncalled for. Everyone can have their own say and input, but should be presented respectfully and presented correctly. Moving forward, open floor conversations will be limited to 2-3 minutes of open floor time per individual. If any outburst or disrespect is occurred toward the mayor, city council members, city clerk, or those in attendance, individuals will be asked to leave the meeting immediately. Any issues or concerns residents may have are asked to put it on the agenda to allow the city council time to prepare for a response, and to ensure accuracy in their response. If 2-3 minutes is not enough time, please reach out to your city council members directly with further discussion or concern. 3 minutes seems fair and keeps meetings on track. If you have any concerns or items you would like added to the agenda. Please reach out to the City Clerk at cityofburtrum@gmail.com to get those items added. Please have all items/concerns to the City Clerk by 4:30 P.M. on the Friday prior to the City Council meeting. We want to hear your voice!
Renewal of Liquor License – Scherping made motion to approve renewal of Liquor License for the Burtrum Cabooze. Ehlert supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Open Floor – Inventory has not been completed yet on Centennial items. Mayor states they can be given away. City Council members have started taking inventory of the Community Center items. Suggestions of putting Centennial items in the library, assisted living, and nursing homes in the area. A motion needed to whatever has been donated in the past. Ehlert made that motion. Gessell supported. All in favor: motion carried.
Announcements – Fire Meeting is scheduled in Grey Eagle at the Fire Hall November 21st at 7 p.m. to discuss data and info. December 17th there will be Santa Day at the Community Center. Sponsored by local businesses. More to come on that. Truth and Taxation form.
Adjournment: Motion by Romie Gessell, seconded by Irene Ehlert to adjourn meeting at 7:46 P.M. Motion carried.
Next City Council Meeting is scheduled for November 7th at 7:00 p.m.
Brooke Thieschafer, City Clerk-Treasurer
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