Called To Order
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.
Roll Call
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commission Erickson via Zoom and Commissioner Gulmon
Others Present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson
Department Reports
Sanitation Department
Sanitation Supervisor Swart stated everyone now has their CDL permits. We are out of wood chips until spring.
Water Department
Water Superintendent Hesch reported water use has gone up a little bit likely due to people cleaning things up getting ready to store them. October the plant was ran 241 hours which was 33 hours less than in September. September daily average usage was almost 880,000.
Electric Department
Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 7 outages for October, 1 bird, 4 squirrels, 1 track hoe and some bad underground. The electrical has been blinking the last couple days but that is Otter Tail that lost a line between here and Jamestown. Christmas decorations are starting to go up. Previously we would pay customers to put their service in underground at $3/foot, we would like to raise that to $4/foot.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Magnuson stated they completed 23 tours around the station for Fire Prevention month. The open house and dedication took place. Tonight, the new truck will go into service and there will be a traditional truck pushing ceremony.
Police Department
Police Chief Hatcher stated they hired a new officer that will start on Thursday.
Street Department
Operations Superintendent Klemisch reminded everyone to have their garbage out by 7 AM. The end of the year hydrant and flushing program is completed. Working on tearing down some houses. Brockopp’s had a sewer disconnect from the main and has caused a sinkhole in the alley. The lagoon discharge will happen this month to create some storage for winter.
Administration
City Administrator Crawford stated every 5 years we switch to a different insurance company, usually they were just drawn out of a hat. There is one company left in line to do that so we will fulfill that but going forward we will put it out for bids. We received notification that we were awarded the Urban Grant Program that we applied for the 2nd St. N project.
Review monthly bills/reports
Finance Director Richter reported $2,421,095.56 of expenditures for October.
Discuss Contractors License
City Administrator Crawford requested the $4,000 requirement to get a license be lowered. Consensus was to lower it to $1,000.
Update of Viking Court
City Administrator Crawford stated they are hoping the concrete products will be available in time so they don’t need to use the steel at temporary fixes.
Consensus was to allow one more month and an update will be provided on November 15th.
Update on the Elks Building
Chad Petersen updated that at this point the gates and some other materials are ordered and the shop drawings were received back from the supplier and set up to be delivered to PW. We are set up to start receiving bids the 1st week of December.
Discuss Viking Drive Bridge Reconstruction
The county was awarded money for the reconstruction of Viking Drive Bridge. There would be no rise. There is a water main underneath along with sewer that may be affected by the pilings. The watermain is scheduled to be moved in Phase 5. The county asked if we would look at moving the water line when the project is done so there aren’t issues with the pilings. The State Water Commission will allow us to pull that out of Phase 5 and do it early.
Discuss Possibility to Purchase Property or have Garden on City Property in Crestwood
We were offered $2,000 for a section of property. The property is not buildable but Tina has it assessed at $10,500. Consensus was made to do more research and look into putting it up for bids.
Discuss Purchase of Properties that are Subject to Tax Deed Proceedings.
There were three properties that were coming up for taxes due. When this comes up and there are assessments on the property, we are given the first option to purchase. We would like to make so we do not have to get a motion each time a property comes up for sale.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 PM.