The City Commission Meeting began on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 at 5:00 PM CT, at City Commission Chambers, 254 2nd Avenue NE, Valley City, ND. Members of the public were not permitted in the Commission Chambers due to COVID-19 and as allowed in ND Executive Order 2020-16.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Gulmon, and Commissioner Erickson.
Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, City Auditor Richter, Deputy Auditor Klein, PW Accountant/Manager Jacobson, City Assessor Hansen, Fire Chief Magnuson, Police Chief Hatcher, Chad Petersen from KLJ
Oath of Office for Officer Zachary Gruba
President Carlsrud administered the Oath of Office for Officer Gruba.
Approval of Agenda
No Changes
Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve the July 28, 29 and 30th Budget Meetings and the August 4th, 2020 Commission Meeting minutes, seconded by Commissioner Erickson. Motion carried.
Approval of Consent Agenda
- Approve Plumber and Mechanical Contractor License for BDT Mechanical, LLC.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion Carried.
Public Comments
There were no public comments.
Ordinance
Approve second and final reading of Ordinance 1063, an Ordinance to amend Title 9 (Fire Protection) fire extinguisher inspections.
City Attorney Martineck reported the only change since the last reading is the addition of the administrative fee that can be assessed by the Fire Chief for violations of that particular section.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve Ordinance 1063, seconded by Commissioner Erickson. Motion passed.
Approve first reading of Ordinance No. 1064, an ordinance to adopt and enact Seciton1-01-16 of the Valley City Municipal Code related to cooperative purchasing.
City Attorney Martineck reported the fire department is looking at expanding the current fire hall and this ordinance is allowing to look at other competitive contract without the statutory bidding process.
Mayor Carlsrud asked why this process is necessary.
City Attorney Martineck responded that under state law we are required to competitively bid out any project that is over $200,000. We can adopt an ordinance to allow us to bid differently and we have been told by another contractor that they would be able to do the project for a lot cheaper saving the taxpayers money if we used GSA contracting.
Commissioner Erickson moved to approve Ordinance 1064, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion passed.
Resolutions
Approve Resolution No. 2259, a resolution amending Master Fee Schedule – temporary use permit and fire extinguisher inspections.
City Attorney Martineck stated these fees were discussed at the last meeting. The only thing that was added was the administrative penalty of $25 for the first violation and $50 for the second.
Mayor Carlsrud requested an example of a violation.
Fire Chief Magnuson responded if someone didn’t have their fire extinguishers up to code or inspected.
Commissioner Gulmon requested an example of where the temporary use permit would be utilized.
City Attorney Martineck stated an example would be food truck that wants to set up in a parking lot or on the side of the road will have to get a permit. A vendor that had a rug sales business out of the back of their truck would have to come in and get a permit. They can do it for 10 days for $50 or for the whole year for $500.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve Resolution 2259, seconded by Commissioner Erickson. Motion Carried.
New Business
Approve construction engineering agreement with KLJ for Permanent Flood Protection Erosion Mitigation Phase 1.
This is an amendment to the original agreement. The original agreement was for the $45,500, the amended amount is for $55,925 totaling $101,425.00.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop.
Roll call: Bishop – aye; Magnuson – aye; Erickson – nay; Gulmon – aye; Carlsrud – aye.
Motion carried.
Approve Special Alcohol Beverage Permit for the Labor Club Back to School Outdoor Parking Lot Dance held in the Labor Club Parking Lot on August 29th from 9om-1am.
Commissioner Erickson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried contingent that the Labor Club provides a plan on social distancing.
City Administrator’s Report
Marshall had brought up that the flags that were going on the new poles were getting caught up in some of the banners. He received some quotes for fixing that problem. City Administrator Crawford stated she applied for gaming funds through the Eagles and was awarded the full amount of $3,030. Thank you to the Eagles!
City Updates & Commission Reports
Finance Auditor Richter reported that our 2019 audit reports are finalized and will be sent out to the commissioners and department heads soon.
Luke Everson with Eide Bailly will be presenting by Zoom at the September 1st Finance meeting.
The certification for the Cares Act funding has been sent in for the 5 months of the Police Departments’ salary and benefits which totals $435,000. Not sure how much of that we will be reimbursed.
Fire Chief Magnuson reported the census is still happening and workers are going door to door.
Chad Peterson from KLJ reported updates on 5th Ave NW are starting to pave from main to just south of 7th St. Next week they should be moving onto Phase II.
Commissioner Gulmon stated he and Avis met last week reviewed some items in the budget and talked about the monthly financial income expense report to date and a little about the allocation of the Cares funds.
Commissioner Bishop welcomed Officer Gruba and thanked Police Chief Hatcher for all his hard work.
Mayor Carlsrud stated he and Suzy walked up 5th Ave and we noticed what a good job KPH did cleaning up when they left for the weekend. Also, thanks to Reiner for doing such a nice job on our flood wall. Down at the Master Lift and the other pump station by where the old Bettins and it looks so nice. Valley City can be proud of the work those people have did for us.
Welcome to Zach Gruba.
Thank you to the Eagles for the contribution.
Thank you to all of our city employees. With all that is going on it makes more work to all of you and we appreciate you. Thank you to the Commission for serving.