HERON LAKE CITY COUNCIL
ALLEY VACATION HEARING
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020, 7:00 PM

                The hearing was opened by Mayor Rasche, with the following council members present; Glenn Kuhnau, Zach Schumacher, Danni Swanson, and Carol Wagner.

                Others in attendance were Cammy Winkler, Luke Ewald, John Cowan, Jim Eigenberg, John Hay, Joe Liepold, Tami Shelton, John Haberman, and Stacy J. Grube.

                Mayor Rasche stated that the ally vacation had been completed in earlier years, however a 10 X 12 section of alley was not completed.  Cammy Winkler was shown a diagram of the portion of alley that was petitioned to be vacated.

                With no further questions or comments, Mayor Rasche closed the hearing.

 

REGULAR MEETING

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by Mayor Rasche, with the following council members present; Glenn Kuhnau, Zach Schumacher, Danni Swanson, and Carol Wagner. 

Others in attendance were Luke Ewald, John Cowan, Jim Eigenberg, John Hay, Joe Liepold, Tami Shelton, John Haberman, and Stacy J. Grube. 

Approval of Agenda

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve the agenda with the addition of accepting a donation. Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Minutes

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Swanson, to approve the minutes of the Council Meeting of June 3, 2020 and the Council Meeting of June 22, 2020 as presented.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

 

Alley Vacation

                WHEREAS, a petition signed by the majority of property owners abutting a portion of alley around the property owned by Lawrence and Lori Stearns, 912 4th Avenue, in the City of Heron Lake was received on the 8th day of June, 2020; and

WHEREAS, the petition requested that the City Council pursuant to Minnesota Statute §412.851 vacate a portion of alley legally described as:

               

Commencing at a point on the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in Block 18 of the Original Townsite of the Village (now City) of Heron Lake in Jackson County, Minnesota which is located 5 feet Southwesterly from the most Northerly corner of said Lot 20; thence Northwesterly on the Southeasterly extension of the Southwesterly line of Lot 15 in said Block 18 a distance of 10 feet, more or less, to the most Southerly corner of Lot 15 in said Block 18; thence Southwesterly on the Southwesterly extension of the Southeasterly line of Lot 15 in said Block 18 a distance of 12 feet, more or less, to the most Easterly corner of Lot 16 in said Block 18; thence Southeasterly on the Southeasterly extension of the Northwesterly line of Lot 16 in said Block 18 a distance of 10 feet, more or less, to the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in said Block 18; thence Northeasterly on the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in said Block 18 a distance of 12 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning.

 

WHEREAS, the City Clerk reviewed and examined the signatures on said petition and determined that such signatures constituted a majority of landowners abutting upon the legal portion of the alley to be vacated; and

WHEREAS, a public hearing to consider the vacation of such alley was held on the 1st day of July, 2020, before the City Council in the City Hall located at 312 10th Street at 7:00 p.m. after due published and posted notice had been given, as well as personal mailed notice to all affected property owners by the City Clerk on the 15th day of June, 2020 and all interested and affected persons were given an opportunity to voice their concerns and be heard; and 

WHEREAS, any person, corporation or public body owning or controlling easements contained upon the property vacated, reserves the right to continue maintaining the same or to enter upon such way or portion thereof vacated to maintain, repair, replace or otherwise attend thereto; and

WHEREAS, the Council in its discretion has determined that the vacation will benefit the public interest because said alleys are the old “coal delivery” corridors that are outdated and unused, or in some instances have had buildings built over them and further, other said alleys have been maintained as lawns, etc. by abutting property owners,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HERON LAKE, MINNESOTA AS FOLLOWS:

That such petition for vacation is hereby granted and the portion of alley described as follows is hereby vacated:

Commencing at a point on the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in Block 18 of the Original Townsite of the Village (now City) of Heron Lake in Jackson County, Minnesota which is located 5 feet Southwesterly from the most Northerly corner of said Lot 20; thence Northwesterly on the Southeasterly extension of the Southwesterly line of Lot 15 in said Block 18 a distance of 10 feet, more or less, to the most Southerly corner of Lot 15 in said Block 18; thence Southwesterly on the Southwesterly extension of the Southeasterly line of Lot 15 in said Block 18 a distance of 12 feet, more or less, to the most Easterly corner of Lot 16 in said Block 18; thence Southeasterly on the Southeasterly extension of the Northwesterly line of Lot 16 in said Block 18 a distance of 10 feet, more or less, to the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in said Block 18; thence Northeasterly on the Northwesterly line of Lot 20 in said Block 18 a distance of 12 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning. 

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve Resolution 2020 – 10, vacating a portion of alley.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

 

Parking Request

                Dean Ehrenberg requested to park his State work vehicle on city property.  Council agreed that he could park his work vehicle by the water tower so that it would not interfere with community center event parking on weekends.  

Office Computer Backup System/Network-Server          

                John Cowan from Computer Lodge explained by using a network/server, CTAS (City accounting software) would not currently be supported as it is a stand-alone program.  John did state that having a network/server system would allow employees to work remotely if needed and that if purchased in the future, it will work well with the recommended backup system.  John also explained that the backup system has image recovery making it simpler to restore in the event of system failure. 

                Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Mayor Rasche, to approve purchasing a Synology 4 Bay Backup System for $1,125.59 for the office computers.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 Variance/Zoning Permit – 422 11th Street

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve Resolution 2020 – 11, approving the zoning permit and variance of Tom & Cheryl Brown to place a storage shed at 422 11th Street.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.   

Variance/Zoning Permit – 561 10th Street

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Schumacher, to approve Resolution 2020 – 12, approving the zoning permit and variance of Carl & Kathy Krueger to build a garage at 561 10th Street.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

Zoning Permit

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the zoning permit of Tom & Cheryl Brown to build a vehicle storage building at 422 11th Street, with no construction beginning until other old storage building is removed.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Election Judges

                Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to adopt Resolution 2020 – 13, approving Carol Baumbach, Catherine Bushard, Doris Grube, Delores Pelzel, Danni Swanson, Mavis Vanderheiden, and Shirley Wagner as election judges and Stacy J. Grube as head election judge.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Ambulance

                Ambulance Director John Hay presented his resignation as Ambulance Director as of July 1, 2020.  Council thanked John for his years of service to the City of Heron Lake and surrounding communities as the Ambulance Director.  John stated that he will remain a member of Heron Lake EMS.

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve the resignation of John hay as the Ambulance Director for Heron Lake EMS.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

                Discussion was held regarding the Ambulance Director position; John Hay stated that he recommends Joe Liepold for the position.

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve Joe Liepold as the Ambulance Director for Heron Lake EMS.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.       

 

PeopleService

                Joe Liepold reported the following; 1) No discharge was needed in June; 2) HLBE is again
drawing water at regular capacity; 3) Four valve tops will be corrected in road bed; 4) Sanitary manhole on Chapman will be corrected with road bed; 5) Service line water leak was located and repaired and water usage has returned to normal; 6) 3 fire hydrants are in need of repairs

 

Public Works

                John Haberman and Mayor Rasche briefly discussed preliminary cost estimate for work on 12th Street from 3rd Avenue to 6th Avenue from Bolton & Menk.  Due to cost, Council directed staff to check in to possible grants that may be available. 

John Haberman discussed purchasing pallet forks for the tractor and presented two bids, discussion resulted in:

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Schumacher, to approve purchasing pallet forks from Jaycox Implement for $695.00.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

Discussion regarding storm sewer repair 10th Street NW and Chapman included approximate pricing for work needed to be completed by Federated Rural Electric and Agrinatural Gas / Northwest Gas as well as a proposal from Nienkerk Companies for $10,500 for approximately 245 feet of storm tile replacement.  It was reported that Jackson County will share 40% of the project costs.          

Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the proposal from Nienkerk Companies for $10,500 to replace approximately 245 feet of storm sewer.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

Street milling & patching were discussed.  John stated that the quote from Bargen dated May 5, 2020 is still a solid quote, with Fuller Paving being $152/ton with base work being extra.  Discussion resulted in:

Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve street milling, patching, and heats in the amount of $12,500.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.          

 

Accept Donations

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve Resolution 2020 – 14,  accepting a $750 donation from the Heron Lake Young Mens Club to the Heron Lake Summer Recreation program.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

CARES Act Funding

                County Commissioner Jim Eigenberg notified Council that Jackson County will be receiving money from the CARES Act, as well as the City.  Funds received are to be used for expenses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Council directed staff to further research rules and regulations, and possible options for City funds. 

                                                                                               

Other Business – No action taken

Community Active Living Plan – Luke Ewald from Jackson County presented information regarding Jackson County community active living plans.  Luke stated that the 20-year plan is to improve and add trail systems in Jackson County, and that the SHIP Grant can help pay for trails and other active living programs.  Council took the information under advisement.  

                LMCIT – Reviewed recommendations with Council including accident/incident reporting process in fleet management, pulling motor vehicle records for employees annually, vehicle and building maintenance inspections to be completed yearly.  A brief discussion was held regarding placing a counter/window at the City Office was also held.  Council directed staff to investigate model policies. 

                Ambulance – Joe Liepold provided quotes for Toughbook computers for the ambulance department.  As both quotes were from the same company, additional quotes will be provided at August meeting   Police Department – Monthly report presented to Council.

               

Claims

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Swanson, to approve payment of claims as presented, totaling $178,068.03.  Vote on the motion: Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays, Rasche, abstained.  Motion carried.                                       

 

Adjourn              

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to adjourn at 9:30 PM. Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson, and Wagner, aye; no nays. Motion carried.

Submitted by:  Stacy J. Grube, Clerk/Treasurer

Approved: 8/5/2020    

Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Swanson