HERON LAKE CITY COUNCIL
APRIL 19, 2023
7:00 PM
LOCAL BOARD OF APPEAL AND EQUALIZATION
Meeting called to order by Mayor Rasche at 7:00 pm. The council in attendance were Council Member Kuhnau, Council Member Schumacher, Council Member Haberman, and Council Member Baumann. Others in attendance were Jim Eigenberg – Jackson County Commissioner, Carla Ambrose, Taylor Dunker & Whitney Bretzman – Jackson County Assessor’s Office. Paige DeWall, Joe Liepold, Chad Diemer, John Haberman, Police Chief Fauglid, and Marlys Olson.
Carla Ambrose from the Jackson County Assessors Office presented handouts for those in attendance. She went on to talk about the property value from 10/1/2021 to 9/30/2022. She explained that assessments go on the sales of property in the county which there were 35 qualified sales in 2022. Jackson County Median Sales Ratio of 59.13% is below the 90-105% to be compliant with Department of Revenue. To become compliant, the DOR implemented an increase of 32% for all agricultural land which is due to the increase of sales prices over the past 21 months statewide. No changes were made to commercial property. All Townships for the 2023 Assessment had a 36% increase on all Rural Residential which included the 17% implemented by the DOR. For the City of Heron Lake, we had 3 sales. City of Heron Lake residents will see a 17% increase which the amount was implemented by the DOR.
There were no questions from the residents of Heron Lake.
Motion made by Mayor Rasche to close the meeting. Seconded by Council Member Schumacher. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned @ 7:15 pm.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Meeting called to order by Mayor Rasche at 7:15 pm.
APPROVE AGENDA
Additional Claim added for Joseph Liepold of $587.73 for EMS Week Supplies.
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to approve agenda with the added claim for Joseph Liepold. Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
MINUTES
Motion made by Council Member Kuhnau to approve the minutes of the March 1, 2023, regular meeting. Seconded by Council Member Schumacher. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
OLD BUSINESS
Jackson County Check – 2006, 2011A & 2003 HLBE Bond Final = $881,903.31 – Put in a CD?
Discussion from Mayor Rasche on putting some of this money into CDs to accrue some interest. Currently, there are good CD rates at the Security Bank in Heron Lake. Discussion continued with amounts that will be needed for the expenses throughout this year.
Motion made by Mayor Rasche to purchase four $100,000 CDs for a one-year term. Seconded by Council Member Baumann. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Approve Liquor License for Yolanda Barahona – Nena’s
Discussion continued from last month’s meeting. Yolanda Barahona has returned all necessary paperwork and fees.
Motion made by Council Member Kuhnau to pass the liquor license for Nena’s. Seconded by Mayor Rasche. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
PeopleService Operations and Maintenance Agreement.
Discussion continued with this agreement with many questions not answered. Decided to set up a meeting with PeopleService to make clarifications regarding a hopeful decrease of charges. City Clerk will set up meeting.
Discussions were tabled till that meeting.
Southwest Regional Development Commission
Received word from Southwest Regional Development Commission that through a vote, Mark Haberman will be the new representative for Jackson County.
NEW BUSINESS
Certification for the Local Board of Appeals and Equalization
After this LBA & E, Council Member Kuhnau will need to renew his certification for the LBA & E since his certification will expire July 2023. Discussion on this topic and recommendation from Mayor Rasche for all council members to do the certification to learn more about the LBA & E. City Clerk will send links to all council members to be certified.
Court Data Services Subscriber Agreement to CJDN Subscriber Agreement.
This is for our new City Attorney to be able to have a State of Minnesota joint powers agreement with the Heron Lake Police Department, Department of Public Safety, and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension over the next five years.
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to approve Resolution 2023-08 Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Large Item Pick-Up Scheduled for May 17th
We have scheduled the Large Item Pick-up with Schaap’s Sanitation with the same charges for tags as last year. We did receive a call from Poly’s Scrap & Farm, LLC, that wanted to do our large item pick up. Their pricing would be cheaper than Schaap’s but unsure if they would pick up all the other items besides what was listed in the prices. Also, discussed on what our agreement is with Schaap’s. To review to see if they would allow another company to come in to do the large Item. Decided that since we have Schaap’s set up for May to table to find out more information and review our agreement with Schaap’s Sanitation.
Zoning Permit – New Vision – 1561 2nd Avenue
Reviewed zoning permit completed by New Vison for construction of a 1.5-million-gallon storage tank. The permit was reviewed and signed by City Zoning Administrator Hay.
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to approve the zoning permit for New Vision. Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Approve 3.2 Off Sale License and Cigarette License for PJ’s
Review of paperwork. Discussion was on the name on some paperwork contains Heron Lake Mini-Mart & Catering while some is the PJ’s Mini Mart. Discussion to table this until clarification with SWRD to make sure this does not trigger anything from the State of Minnesota.
Fire Department Donation Approval
Motion made by Council Member Kuhnau to approve Resolution 2023-07 of donations to the Heron Lake Fire Department from ISD #330 ($250.00) and Mick’s Repair ($200.00). Seconded by Council Member Baumann. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Century Business Products – Office Copier – Purchase Agreement
Proposal by Century Business Products presented for a new copier. The current copier was purchased in 2015 and is not working at the time of the meeting. The discussion was on Service Agreements, Purchase vs. Lease and being from Sioux Falls vs Worthington. Decided to table discussion until we get a second quote.
Minnesota Municipal Clerks Institute – May 8 to 12 – St Cloud – Year 1
Council review information of the Minnesota Municipal Clerks Institute. It is a one week a year course to become certified as a Municipal Clerk. Recommended by past City Clerk.
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to approve Marlys Olson to attend the Minnesota Municipal Clerks Institute. Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Bauman, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Blue Heron Days Committee
Presentation from Marlys Olson and Paige DeWall on what to expect this year for Blue Heron Days. Discussion on what is going to happen that day.
LIQUOR STORE – Bridgit Preston, Manager – Monthly Report
Bridgit was not able to attend. Did leave the City Clerk with some notes on what is happening. She has received three different quotes from Carpet Plus. One is to replace the floor behind the bar at $1,833.21. The second quote is replacing the floor in on-sale not including behind the bar at $7,844.15. The third quote was for doing the whole area together, which would be $ 9670.98. The manager will have a second quote later this week from Hammer’s.
The beer cooler and tapper has been installed while shut down for half a day. POS is set up in Off-Sale for the trial run. Still have training to complete before going through the POS totally.
The manager is going to Iowa this Friday to look at a sink that would be a replacement behind the bar.
Have been having vent pipe problems in the bathroom – Schwalbach’s have been working on this’
Public Works has been working on water leaks.
AMBULANCE – Monthly Report – Joe Liepold, Director – Monthly Report
The director discussed that is has been very quiet but, it starting to pick up again. Commented that the last week in May is EMS Week. He has purchased items for each elementary child to take home that week.
FIRE DEPARTMENT – Monthly Report – Chad Diemer, Fire Chief – Monthly Report
The fire chief stated that it has been relatively quiet. Did do training on Head’s Up/Nozzle’s Up. With this training they worked with a straight bore vs the adjustable nozzle. The fire chief ordered one to try.
The City of Okabena will be having a propane burn in June and has requested an extra pumper from Heron Lake.
The Physical & Fit test will be in June.
The fire department is looking to hook up sewer and floor drain in the new building. Joe Liepold will be getting bids by the next council meeting.
PEOPLES SERVICE – Monthly Report – Joe Liepold – Monthly Report
Reviewed March 2023 report
Leak after meter – has not surfaced yet water because water is going through tile.
Explained envelope that was in packet of what is needing to be sent out to residents. Lead & Copper that is still in homes is information needed to be completed for the Minnesota Department of Health. The council agreed to these letters sent out to each resident.
PUBLIC WORKS – John Haberman, Director – Monthly Report
Director presented the following bids for seal coating and street work:
Pearson Bros. – Seal Coat Quote of $58,604.00 for 29,900 square yards at $1.96/yard.
The Road Guy – Liquor Store Seal Coat Quote of $3.00 per square yard for approximately 30,000 to 32,000 square yards
Fuller Paving – Street Work – $381,328.84 for milling & paving
Duininck, Inc – Street Work – $429,679.38 for milling & paving
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to approve the quote received by Pearson Bros for the seal coating for the 29,900 square yards and the Liquor Store parking lot seal coating. Seconded by Council Member Haberman. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Motion made by Mayor Rasche to accept the bid from Duininck, Inc. for $429,679.38 for milling and paving. Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Community Center – Smoke Detectors, Fire Board, Alarm System – Loosbrock said that there was no word yet of arrival. Loosbrock will call to find out ETA of supplies.
Front Door – Community Center – When the door was ordered it was 16 weeks out until delivery.
Smith Avenue – Curb guy will be coming back next week. Discussed that if they are to do Smith Avenue questioned if we should do Second Avenue at the same time.
POLICE DEPARTMENT – Monthly Report – Tony Fauglid, Police Chief – Monthly Report
Monthly report for February and March 2023 attached.
The Police Chief stated that he has started his junk vehicle clean-up.
Discussed that HL-O Prom will be at the Community Center May 5, 2023. Will be closing off Third Avenue between 10th street and 11th street for valet parking.
Will be taking the squad in to the shop tomorrow at Billion Dodge with noise coming from the right front quarter.
Monthly Jackson County Report for February & March 2023 attached.
OTHER BUSINESS
Next meeting May 3, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
No other business
CLAIMS
Motion made by Council Member Schumacher to pay claims presented with the added claim of Joseph Liepold. Seconded by Council Member Kuhnau. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
ADJOURN
Motion made by Council Member Haberman to adjourn. Seconded by Mayor Rasche. Vote on the motion Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann, aye: No nays. Motion passed.
Submitted by: Marlys Olson, Clerk/Treasurer
Approved by Council Members: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Haberman, Baumann