Grey Eagle City – April 8, 2014
These are unapproved minutes.
The regular meeting of the Grey Eagle City Council was called to order by Mayor Jim Gohman at 7:00 p.m., on the 8th day of April, 2014 in council chambers. Council members present were Ralph Muellner, Thom Muellner, Dennis Barrett and Andrea Kraska. There were no council members absent. Also in attendance were Lori Hellmann, Andy Bartkowicz and guest Ken Messer.
A motion was made by Andrea Kraska to approve the amended agenda. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
A motion was made by Ralph Muellner to approve the minutes of the March 11, 2014 meeting with the following change: page 1474, paragraph 5, Lions Community Appreciation should be changed to May 16, 2014. A second was made by Thom Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
A motion was made by Thom Muellner to approve the minutes of the March 21, 2014 Special meeting as written. A second was made by Dennis Barrett and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The following water/wastewater/maintenance items were discussed: 1. Equipment maintenance records were reviewed. The Sonoma truck has been costing the city a lot of money over the past couple of years. The air conditioner isn’t working and may be too costly to repair. Money will be included in the budget for future replacement. The council requested that the maintenance records be kept more up – to – date and to include items where maintenance and/or repairs were made at a repair shop. The council stated that they do not wish to have to go through a stack of bills when looking over these records, rather a summary of the work completed and a dollar amount. Notebooks have been provided for each piece of equipment and entries should be made when the work is completed.
2. Andy discussed with the council about a couple of sewer main issues where the sewer mains have dead ends, that there were freeze ups in the main. The freeze ups were not enough to completely block the flow, but needed to be addressed. In one instance, Andy asked the resident to run some water and monitored the water usage when the water was started and when it was shut off. This helped to take care of the freeze up issue and there were no other issues once that was done. In situations where it would be necessary to have a resident run water when there is a potential sewer freeze up, Andy would like the authority to request a resident to run water and monitor what is used, and then issue a credit to that resident only for the water that was used for that purpose. This would ONLY be when Andy has approached a resident to run water for this purpose.
A motion was made by Andrea Kraska to authorize Andy to request a resident to run water in the event of a potential sewer main freeze up, with a credit made to that resident only for the amount of water that was used for a determined amount of time. A second was made by Dennis Barrett and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The clerk was instructed to send letters to two residents who, because of a recent home purchase, are required to hook up to city water. City ordinance requires homes that have not been hook up to city water be connected upon sale or transfer of property.
The council reviewed a quote for water tower cleaning. Andy will obtain a bid from Tri State Coatings and will submit at the May meeting.
Ken Messer had the following items to discuss with the council: 1. He received a clean- up letter from the city and expressed his displeasure at the content of the letter. He stated that some of the items that were addressed in the letter were frozen down when the snow arrived for the season. He also questioned the council regarding the unlicensed vehicle portion on the letter. The term “vehicle” by state statute includes anything that can be driven, or pulled by anything that can be driven, which would include trailers and gravity boxes. The unlicensed vehicle requirement needs to be taken care of or they need to be removed.
2. He discussed the placement of a culvert for the property on Woodman Street and Minnesota Street that he owns. He was instructed to mark where the culvert is to be placed and informed that the cost of the culvert would be at his expense.
3. There was discussion on the wood stove that is in his shed and heating his house.
A deputy from the Todd County Sheriff’s Department informed the Mayor that the wood stove that is located in Ken’s shed is not in violation of the City’s Outdoor Wood burning Ordinance and that there was no evidence that he was burning anything illegal.
A motion was made by Thom Muellner to approve the Internet Banking Agreement with Central Minnesota Credit Union so that the Clerk can submit the monthly ACH file through the Credit Union website. A second was made by Dennis Barrett and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The Mayor reminded the council that the Board of Equalization meeting will be held on Thursday, April 10,2014at1:00p.m.,incouncilchambers. Aquorumisneededforthismeeting.
A motion was made by Andrea Kraska to approve Resolution No. 2014-04, A Resolution Accepting $100 Donation for Fire Department Equipment from Thomas and Darlene Chock. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
A motion was made by Andrea Kraska to approve the quote of $1,820 for street sweeping from Caldwell Asphalt. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The council discussed a quote for lawn spraying from Terrain Aesthetics. The clerk was asked to contact the company to find out if the application could be done without fertilizer.
The Clerk informed the council that representatives from Greater Minnesota Gas will be attending the May council meeting to discuss the possibility of bringing natural gas into the city. The Clerk was instructed to send out yard clean up letters.
There were no building permits for council consideration.
A motion was made by Thom Muellner to accept the letter of resignation to the Fire Department from Matt Zinniel. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The clerk contacted Eagle Fabricating to obtain a quote for a new flag pole. The flags on the current flag pole get caught and make it impossible to lower the flag when the flag needs to be replaced or to lower the flag during times when the city would be required to fly the flag at half- staff.
The clerk was instructed to proceed with delinquent utility bills as allowed by ordinance.
A motion was made by Ralph Muellner to approve the various fund transfers as follows: $768.36 from the Fire Fund to the Fire Hall Debt Service Fund, and $82.91 from the General Fund of which $24.91 goes to the Water Fund and $58 goes to the Sewer Fund for Fire Hall and Library utilities. A second was made by Andrea Kraska and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
A motion was made by Dennis Barrett to approve the payment of bills as listed and to include the payment of the additional items as follows: $2,695.80 to Minnesota Power and $5,000 to G-3 Power Systems. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The council would like to remind residents to be courteous to your neighbors and bring in your garbage containers the same day that the garbage has been collected.
A motion was made by Thom Muellner to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
The next regular meeting of the Grey Eagle City Council will be held on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 in council chambers. Lori Hellmann, Clerk
City of Grey Eagle Board of Equalization – April 10, 2014
These are unapproved minutes.
The Board of Equalization meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Gohman at 1:00 p.m., on the 10th day of April, 2014 in council chambers. Council members present were Ralph Muellner and Dennis Barrett. Council members Thom Muellner and Andrea Kraska were absent. Also in attendance were Lori Hellmann, Amy Ebnet and Laura Winter from the Todd County Assessor’s Office and guest Beth Gessell.
Amy recommended a change in valuation for parcel 34-0009100, owned by Larry and Pat Kerzman. Initially the valuation included a basement and since there isn’t a basement on that parcel, Amy is recommending a decrease in valuation in the amount of $9,400.
A motion was made by Dennis Barrett to accept the recommendation of a reduced valuation in the amount of $9,400 for parcel 34-0009100, owned by Larry and Pat Kerzman. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
Amy recommended a change in valuation for parcel 34-0009500, owned by Ken Messer. Initially the valuation included a basement and since there isn’t a basement on that parcel, Amy is recommending a decrease in valuation in the amount of $8,100.
A motion was made by Ralph Muellner to accept the recommendation of a reduced valuation in the amount of $8,100 for parcel 34-0009500, owned by Ken Messer. A second was made by Dennis Barrett and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
Beth Gessell was in attendance to discuss the valuation, classification and amount of taxes they pay on their property. The Gessell’s believe their property valuation should be primarily residential. Amy stated that the city council cannot make any changes to the classification as there was commercial use of the property on January 2, 2014. In order for the Gessell’s property to be changed to a residential classification, the cars must be gone before January 1, 2015, but they would see no change in classification until 2016 property taxes.
A motion was made by Dennis Barrett to accept the recommendation that the classification remain as is. This is classification in 2014 for property taxes payable in 2015. A second was made by Ralph Muellner and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried.
A motion was made by Ralph Muellner to adjourn at 2:22 p.m. A second was made by Dennis Barrett and upon vote, with all members voting in favor, motion carried. Lori Hellmann, Clerk
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