HERON LAKE CITY COUNCIL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022, 7:00 PM
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

 

                The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Mayor Rasche, with the following Council Members present; Mitchell Ferguson, Glenn Kuhnau, Zach Schumacher, and Carol Wagner.      

                Others in attendance were Jerry Wagner, Lance Baumann, Shawn Hochstein, Fire Chief Chad Diemer, Joe Liepold, John Haberman, Tamara Shelton, and Stacy J. Anderson. 

 

Approval of Agenda

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve the agenda with the addition of a zoning permit at 201 16th Street.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

 

Approval of Minutes

Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the minutes of the Council Meeting of March 2, 2022.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Blue Heron Days Event Permit

                Blue Heron Days committee member Shawn Hochstein presented a tentative list of events and an event permit.  Requests included closure of streets around the city park, permission for use of shelter house, mosquito spraying in the park, parade, and painting grass for vendors and use of stakes for tents, canopies, etc.  Council agreed with all requests. 

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the event permit for Blue Heron Days to be held on June 25, 2022.  Vote on the motion Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Fee Schedule – Ordinance 2022 – 07

                Schaap Sanitation recently raised the rates for garbage cart rates due to an increase in the CPI.  Rates will now be as follows: Senior Rate 35 gallon – $7.20, 35 gallon – $10.79, 65 gallon – $15.08, and 95 gallon – $19.24.  These changes require changes to the fee schedule set at the city organizational meeting held in January.

                Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve Resolution 2022 – 07, with the following changes to garbage rates: Senior Rate 35 gallon – $7.20, 35 gallon – $10.79, 65 gallon – $15.08, and 95 gallon – $19.24.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Appoint Election Judges

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve Resolution 2202 – 08, appointing Catherine Bushard, Colleen Freking, Doris Grube, Sue Isder, Kathy Kruger, Delores Pelzel, Danni Swanson, and Shirley Wagner as election judges, the hourly rate of pay will be $12.00, and Stacy J. Anderson as head election judge for the May 24, 2022 Special Election, August 9, 2022 Primary Election, and the November 8, 2022 General Election.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Ferguson, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Accept Donations

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Mayor Rasche, to approve Resolution 2022 – 09, accepting the following donations: $700.00 from HL-O Community Foundation to Heron Lake Library to purchase new tables and $1,000.00 from Heron Lake BioEnergy to Heron Lake Fire Department.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Liquor Store Policy

                Council Member Ferguson moved, seconded by Council Member Schumacher, to approve the Municipal Liquor Store Policy.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Employee Assistance Program

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Schumacher, to approve the Employee Assistance Program Agreement with Southwestern Mental Health Center.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Zoning Permits

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the zoning permit of Chad Raverty, to build an addition to his existing unattached garage at 302 12th Street.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the zoning permit of Steve Bornhoft, to add a wood shop and storage to his existing garage at 201 16th Street.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

LMCIT – Municipal Tort Liability

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Wagner, to approve signing the form indicating that the City of Heron Lake does not waive monetary limits on municipal tort liability.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Street Sweeper Agreement – HLBE

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the Street Sweeper Agreement between the City of Heron Lake and Heron Lake BioEnergy, LLC.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Zoning Map

                Council Member Ferguson moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau to approve the estimate from Bolton & Menk for $1,500 to update the city’s zoning map.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Deputy Clerk – Accept Resignation

                Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the resignation of Deputy Clerk Tamara L. Shelton.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.   

 

Liquor License Renewals

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson to approve the 3.2 Liquor License for P & J’s Mini Mart.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

                Council Member Kuhnau moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the ONSS Liquor License for Yolanda Barahona DBA Nena’s Bar & Grill.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Ambulance

                Ambulance Director Joe Liepold reported the following: 1) RTK training will now be held on April 12, 2022; 2) Will be receiving a grant to purchase a rescue sled; 3) Mobile Jet Pack has been purchased for the ambulance rig allowing ambulance crew to transfer information as it is collected to the waiting emergency room and teleconferencing if needed for critical patients.

 

Tools

                Council Member Wagner moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve the purchase of tools for the Fire Department and the Street Department, from DeWalt through Runnings for $4099.90.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

 

Fire Department

Fire Chief Chad Diemer reported the following: 1) Received grants from Heron Lake BioEnergy and Federated Rural Electric; 2) RTK training will be held on April 12, 2022 at 7:00 PM; 3) Recently completed SCBA Maze Trailer through Minnesota West; 4) Schooling is now complete for new fire fighters, with some retesting to be completed; 5) Repairs were done to the generator; 6) March Pancake Breakfast went very well, an additional Pancake Breakfast will be held on June 26, 2022 for their open house.

 

PeopleService

                Operator Joe Liepold reported a leak was found in the valve pit at industrial well site, the line leading to HLBE water plant had a pencil size hole in the side of the pipe.  The system was repaired, and wells were shut down for an hour with no disruption to HLBE or MnSP. 

                Bids from Steffl Drilling & Pump inc. and Thein Well were reviewed to replace a well draw pipe at the industrial well site, discussion resulted in:

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson to approve the low bid from Thein Well, for $16,684.00, to replace the well draw pipe at the industrial well site.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

                KLM Engineering, Inc. provided a proposal for an extension of the 10-year service agreement signed in 2018.  Services to remain the same and include an evaluation report after each dry tank cleanout and exterior and interior inspections.  Pricing to remain the same at $3,000 per dry tank cleanout inspection through 2035.   

                Council Member Schumacher moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve the extension of the 10-year service agreement through 2035.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

                Concerns about holes in the water plant trim was discussed as there are now animals entering into small holes.  Permission was given to obtain bids to repair damaged areas. 

 

Public Works

                Public Works Director John Haberman reviewed bids to replace the current grader.  Bids were provided by RDO and Zeigler.  Discussion resulted in:

Council Member Ferguson moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau to approve the bid from Zeigler, to purchase a 2018 John Deere 772GP Grader with trade for $144,750.00.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau to purchase a used falls 411H One Way Plow with Snow wheels for $4,197.50.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried. 

Discussion was then held on street work, including bids for seal coating and paving.  Paving would include areas of the following streets: 12th Street, Jackson Avenue, Smith Avenue, and 5th Street.  Due to storm sewer failures on Jackson Avenue, 5th Avenue and 11th Street, Council directed staff to have areas of concern camerad and tabled paving or seal coating until further information is available.  Further discussion regarding repairs to Jackson Avenue and 5th Avenue and 11th Street storm sewer work resulted in:

Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Ferguson, to approve purchasing sewer pipe from Ferguson Waterworks for $1066.24.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.

Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Schumacher, to approve Mike Stenzel repairing the storm failures at Jackson Avenue and 5th Avenue & 11th Street for $4,600.00.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye, no nays. 

Discussion was also held regarding underdrainage that would be a benefit in certain areas, and well as sunken curb and gutter on Smith Avenue, which would be the homeowner’s responsibility.  Council directed staff to get bids for the curb and gutter.

 

Other Business – No action taken

                Video Surveillance Bid – Bid was received from Heartland Security for $8,640.  Council declined to take action on video surveillance equipment at this time.     

                Housing and Confinement of Animals –   City Clerk received a request from Cheryl Bird for Council to reconsider Ordinance 219, which addresses animals that are not allowed within city limits, except areas that are zoned agriculture.  Request included speaking with Council at this meeting, and for Council to consider allowing chickens in city limits.  Ms. Bird was not present for the meeting.  City Clerk explained Ms. Bird request to council, council declined to act.

                Police Department and Sheriff’s Department reports were given to council. 

 

Claims

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to approve payment of claims with the exception of a purchase from Galls, LLC, for which the purchase will be returned or reimbursed to the city, totaling $149,965.92.  Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried.                                     

 

Adjourn              

                Mayor Rasche moved, seconded by Council Member Kuhnau, to adjourn at 9:01 PM. Vote on the motion: Rasche, Kuhnau, Schumacher, and Wagner, aye; no nays.  Motion carried

 

Submitted by: Stacy J. Anderson, Clerk/Treasurer

Approved: April 20, 2022     

Rasche, Ferguson, Kuhnau, Schumacher, Wagner