The Melrose City Council met in a Regular Meeting on Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Melrose City Center pursuant to due notice being given thereof. Present were Council Members Jenny Mayers, Dick Christenson, Tony Klasen, Josh Thieschafer, Mayor Joe Finken, City Administrator Michael Brethorst, and City Clerk Patti Haase. Mayor Finken presided thereat. Also in attendance were several American Government students from the Melrose Area Public High School.
The Council then recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
A motion was made by Ms. Mayers, seconded by Mr. Christenson and unanimously carried to approve the agenda as submitted.
Mayor Finken then opened the floor to public comment. There were no comments.
The following items were considered for approval under the Consent Agenda:
a. the minutes from the Council’s July 30, 2015 Special Joint Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2015 Regular Meeting and the December 10, 2015 Special Joint Meeting with the Commission
b. 1) Assistant Weed Inspector: Mayor to appoint for a one-year term. Streets/Parks Supervisor Gary Middendorf will serve in this position.
2) City Forester: Mayor to appoint for a one-year term. Streets/Parks Supervisor Gary Middendorf will serve in this position.
3) Animal Control Officer: Mayor to appoint for a one-year term the Melrose Police Department as the City Animal Control Officer.
c. 1) Animal Shelter: The Council to give consideration to designating the Minnesota Veterinary Associates, Inc. as the Animal Shelter. The Council to take action on this designation.
d. Resolution No 2016-1, Resolution Designating Official Depository and Supplemental Depositories for City Funds. This resolution designates the depositories of City funds for 2016. Central Minnesota Credit Union – Melrose, and Freeport State Bank – Melrose were designated for 2016 and the Finance Director was given the authority to name additional depositories for the deposit of funds.
The motion designating the depositories of City funds should include the following, “For the purpose of being certain that all funds in financial institutions will be insured, the Finance Director shall have the authority pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 118A.02, Subd. 1, to name depositories for the deposit of funds so as to make certain that all City funds are either insured or collateral has been pledged by the depository as security, as permitted by M.S., Chapter 118A.”
e. Resolution No. 2016-3 Resolution Approving Gambling License to the Church of St. Mary’s for an exemption from lawful gambling license to hold a raffle on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 402 2nd Street SE in Melrose.
A motion was made by Mr. Thieschafer, seconded by Mr. Klasen and unanimously carried to approve the Consent Agenda.
Consideration was then given to the following appointments:
a. 1) Mayor Finken noted that Mr. Thieschafer served as Acting Mayor in 2015. A motion was made by Mr. Christenson seconded by Mr. Klasen and unanimously carried to appoint Mr. Thieschafer as Acting Mayor for 2016.
2) In 2015, Dymoke Law Office PA was appointed to serve as the City Attorneys for general matters. Correspondence has been received from Dymoke Law Office seeking reappointment for 2016, 2017 and 2018. Dymoke Law Office is asking that the hourly rate for the year 2016 remain at $110.00 per hour and charges for attending meeting remain unchanged. For years 2017 and 2018 the rate request is for an hourly rate of $115 per hour, with charges for attending meetings remain based on that rate. Dymoke Law Office will also perform duties as City Prosecutor for Ordinance Violations.
Recommend the following items apply when making the appointments:
(a) Statements to be detailed and to include the time spent on each item;
(b) City Attorney to attend Council meetings with only the first hour of each meeting being charged at the flat rate of $110 meeting lasting one hour or more, all additional minutes, hours etc. to be non-chargeable. If the Council meeting runs less than an hour, each meeting would be charged at a flat rate of $55;
(c) City Attorney to attend Board/Commission or special meetings upon request with only the first hour of each meeting being charged at the $110 per hour flat rate and all additional minutes, hours, etc. to be non-chargeable. If the Board/Commission or special meeting runs less than an hour, each meeting would be charged at a flat rate of $55;
(d) The hourly rate to be $110 per hour for general matters;
(e) Legal costs for special items to be negotiated with an hourly rate and the total cost not to exceed a set amount. Statements for special items to be submitted monthly;
(f) Copies of statements to be submitted to the Council for their review
A motion was made by Ms. Mayers, seconded by Mr. Thieschafer and unanimously carried to appoint Dymoke Law Office PA to handle general matters for 2016-2018 as per the pay rate outlined above.
3) Public Utilities Commission: The Mayor to appoint one member for a three-year term. Incumbent Lyle Olmscheid is not seeking reappointment. Jeremy Kramer has submitted an application for the Public Utilities Commission.
A motion was made by Ms. Mayers seconded by Mr. Christenson and unanimously carried appointing Jeremy Kraemer to the Public Utilities Commission for a three year term.
A motion was made by Mr. Thieschafer, seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried to reappoint Mr. Christenson as the Council’s representative on the Public Utilities Commission for a one-year term.
4) Planning and Zoning Commission: The Council to appoint two members each serves a four-year term. Incumbent Jason Seanger and Kevin Thomes are seeking reappointment to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Dave Berscheit has also submitted an application to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The Mayor to appoint a Council Representative for a one-year term to the Planning and Zoning Commission. For 2015, Tony Klasen served as the Council Representative.
A motion was made by Mr. Klasen, seconded by Mr. Christenson and unanimously carried to reappoint Mr. Seanger and Mr. Thomes to the Planning and Zoning Commission each for a four-year term.
A motion was then made by Mr. Christenson, seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried to reappoint Mr. Klasen as the Council’s representative on the Planning and Zoning Commission for a one-year term.
5)Melrose Area Development Authority (MADA): Mayor to appoint and Council to concur appointing one member for a six-year term. Bob Mayers is seeking reappointment. An application has also been received from Corey Sand to serve on MADA.
The Mayor to appoint a Council Representative for a one-year term to the Melrose Area Development Authority. For 2015, Jenny Mayers served as the Council Representative.
A motion was made by Mr. Thieschafer, seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried to reappoint Bob Mayers to MADA for a six-year term.
A motion was then made by Mr. Christenson, seconded by Mr. Klasen and unanimously carried to reappoint Ms. Mayers as the Council representative on MADA for a one-year term.
6) Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA)
Mayor to appoint and Council to concur appointing one member for a five-year term. Nancy Roering is seeking reappointment.
A motion was made by Ms. Mayers, seconded by Mr. Thieschafer and unanimously carried to reappoint Ms. Roering to the Melrose Housing and Redevelopment Authority for a five-year term.
Mayor to appoint and Council to concur a Council Representative to serve a one year term. The Council to adopt Resolution No. 2016-2, Resolution of Appointment. The resolution appoints Mayor Finken to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority as the Council Representative for a one-year term.
Mr. Thieschafer introduced Resolution No. 2016-2, Resolution of Appointment to the Melrose Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The motion was seconded by Ms. Mayers with a roll call vote recorded as follows: For: Council Members Thieschafer, Mayers, Christenson, Klasen, and Mayor Finken; Against: None.
7) Parks and Recreation Board: A motion was made by Ms. Mayers, seconded by Mr. Klasen and unanimously carried to reappoint Mr. Thieschafer as the Council representative on the Parks and Recreation Board for a one-year term.
b. 1) The Council gave consideration to designating the Grievance Representative for 2016. The Utilities Commission will also designate their Grievance Representative for 2016 at its January 11, 2016 meeting. For 2015, Joe Finken was the Council representative and Lyle Olmscheid was the Utilities Commission representative.
A motion was made by Mr. Christenson seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried designating Mr. Finken as the Grievance Representative for 2016.
2) The Council next gave consideration to appointing a member to the Ad Hoc Labor & Personnel Committee for future labor discussions. In 2015, Council Member Jenny Mayers served as Council Representative and Eric Seanger served as the Utilities Commission representative for this Committee. The Utilities Commission will be appointing a representative at its January 11, 2016 meeting.
A motion was made by Mr. Thieschafer, seconded by Mr. Klasen and unanimously carried designating Ms. Mayers as representative to the Ad Hoc Labor & Personnel Committee for 2016.
c. Mayor Finken stated that the Melrose Public Utilities Commission at is December 14 meeting adopted Resolution No. 2015-4 of the Melrose Public Utilities Commission Approving Amendments Relating to the Missouri Basin Municipal Power Agency d/b/a Missouri River Energy Services Power Sale Agreement (S-1) and Associated Transmission Agreements.. The primary changes include:
1. Changing S-1 contract language to reflect financial markets and to separate power supply from transmission service;
2. Extending the S-1 term from December 31, 2045 to January 1, 2057;
3. Changes to address a decrease in WAPA allocation;
4. Expressly allowing members to own or acquire renewable energy resources under certain circumstances;
5. Establishing procedures to protect customer data;
6. Amending the two separate transmission agreements to effectively terminate them in connection with the S-1 Amendment, as transmission services are addressed in the amended S-1 Agreement.
Mr. Christenson introduced Resolution No. 2016-4, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Melrose, Minnesota Concurring in Resolution No. 2015-4 of the Melrose Public Utilities Commission Approving Amendments Relating to the Missouri Basin Municipal Power Agency d/b/a Missouri River Energy Services Power Sale Agreement (S-1) and Associated Transmission Agreements. The motion was seconded by Mr. Thieschafer with a roll call vote recorded as follows: For: Council Members Christenson, Thieschafer, Klasen, Mayers and Mayor Finken; Against: None.
a. Police Chief Maus has obtained two quotes for a 2016 Ford Explorer Interceptor to replace the 2010 Crown Victoria. The bid from Tenvoorde was in the amount of $27,071 and from John Weis Ford in the amount of $27,681. Neither quote includes tax or licensing fees.
Council Member Thieschafer stated that although the quote from John Weis Ford was a bit higher he would prefer to award the purchase from John Weis since they participate in fund raising efforts in the community. The Council concurred.
A motion was made by Mr. Thieschafer seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried approving the purchase of the 2016 Ford Explorer Interceptor from John Weis Ford in the amount of $27,681 plus tax and license fees.
b. Mayor Finken noted that Chief Maus had done further research and obtained additional quotes on the squad car camera equipment. The bids were all relatively close in price. Watchguard was a little higher at $20,080. However Chief Maus recommended Watchguard due to the fact that in the near future the police department will be purchasing body cameras and theirs is the only product in which the body cameras could be integrated with. Councilor Tony Klasen thanked Chief Maus for further researching and obtaining additional quotes.
After further discussion a motion was made by Mr. Klasen seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried to approve the purchase of four squad car cameras from Watchguard.
c. Chief Maus has obtained quotes for upgrading the video camera system for the Administration/Police Department Building. Quotes were received from Arvig, Heartland and Marco. The quote from Arvig and Heartland were comparable, however Arvig did not quote a firm price for installation. Therefore due to the time estimated for installation it was determined that Heartland may be the lower of the two bids.
A motion was made by Mr. Klasen seconded by Ms. Mayers and unanimously carried approving the purchase and installation of equipment to upgrade the video camera system for the Administration/Police Department Building.
a. The students from Germany will be arriving in Melrose on Thursday, February 4 and departing on Tuesday, February 16. Last year the Council held an Open House for the students and teachers. German teacher Stefan Rinke has contacted City Administrator Brethorst to schedule the event for Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. at the Melrose City Center.
The following informational item was discussed:
a. League of Minnesota Cities- Experienced Officials 2016 Leadership Conference.
A motion was made by Mr. Christenson seconded by Mr. Thieschafer and unanimously carried that the meeting be adjourned at 6:29 p.m.
Patricia Haase, City Clerk