HL City Council Mtg – 01-03-18

HERON LAKE CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING                      
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2018, 7:00 PM

            The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Jason Freking, with the following council members present, Carol Wagner, Roger FitzHenry, Andrew Rasche and Glenn Kuhnau. Also present were Jerry Christopherson, Joe Liepold, Tony Fauglid, Tamara Shelton and Brenda Martin-Granstra.   

Agenda

Mayor Freking moved, seconded by Council Member Rasche, to approve the agenda as presented. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Minutes

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Rasche, to approve the minutes of the December 5th, 6th, and 13th, 2017 council meetings as presented. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Annual Organizational Items

            Council reviewed the proposed schedule for meetings and accepted the dates as attached.

Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the 2018 Appointments, Resolution 2018-1 as attached. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Council Member Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve the 2018 Fee Schedule, Resolution 2018-2, as attached. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Donations

Mayor Freking moved, seconded by Council Member FitzHenry, to approve Resolution 2018-3, Accepting Donations, $50 from American Legion Auxiliary and $50 from TOPS MN #1184, both to the Heron Lake Library. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

PeopleService

            Joe Liepold reported that one household had their water lines blocked with manganese since the conversion to rural water and discussed with council if he should be exercising private individuals’ curb stops – with or without a signed waiver. Joe also reported that Steffls informed him that they do not have a weeper large enough for our city well, but that they would pull it up and drill a hole, which would do the same thing, and also give Joe an opportunity to inspect its condition for the same price.

            Joe also gave council his printed report and discussed industrial well users allocation of water pumped. On the municipal side, several on the council were dismayed about his figures on unaccounted for water, since now the city will be paying for the “ghost” gallons. 

Police Department

            Chief Fauglid went over his year-end report, stating that there were 982 calls or events, which were mostly public assists and shows a downward trend in numbers. Of these, there were 116 traffic incidents resulting from 300 hours of stationary radar and patrol. Tony also spoke about his participation or oversight of school patrol, library programs, and the county records management system.

MN Department of Transportation

            Scott Thompson, MNDOT traffic engineer had sent an email asking for city input on pedestrian crossings of Highway 60 at the 10th Street intersection. There was debate on whether ADA ramps are necessary and council wants to express their desire to have safe crossings for citizens that walk. There is also the possibility of having additional sidewalk installed, of which the council is in favor of.

Election Polling Place

            Council reviewed correspondence from the Jackson County Auditor/Treasurer concerning MN Statute 204B.45 that provides for towns or cities that have fewer than 400 registered voters to conduct balloting by mail. Council expressed its desire to keep voting at the city polling place for the community.

Southwest Minnesota Broadband Service

            Council held discussion on changes to SMBS services and operations. Several on the board were not in favor of SMBS closed meetings and the information from them not getting to the joint powers cities. Besides major changes to the delivery of video services, there are questions about what happens to profit sharing with member cities if SMBS is no longer going to distribute franchise fees.

Personnel Policy

            Council reviewed employee vacation policy that states that vacation is not to be carried over without council approval. The council members wanted more time to study the policy and consider office employee requests for carry over from 2017.

Resignation

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to accept the resignation of clerk/treasurer Brenda Martin-Granstra. Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Claims

Council Member Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member FitzHenry to approve claims as presented totaling $2,234,295.48 (large amount includes loan payments, end of year transfers, a revolving loan fund loan and the 1.5 million rural water connection.) Vote on the motion: Freking, Kuhnau, Wagner, FitzHenry and Rasche, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Adjourn                         

            Council Member Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member FitzHenry, to adjourn. Vote on the motion: Freking, Wagner, FitzHenry, Rasche and Kuhnau, aye; no nays. Motion carried.                                   

Submitted by: __________________________

                                                                                                Clerk/Treasurer

Approved: 

FitzHenry, Freking, Kuhnau, Rasche, Wagner