City of Dennison

Regular Council Meeting

November 6, 2014.

The October City Council meeting was held on Thursday October 2nd, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. at Dennison City Hall in Dennison, Minnesota 55018.

The Meeting was called to order byActing MayorJohn Jadwinski,. Present wereCouncilor Britt Olson, Councilor Nicole Schloessor,Councilor Heidi Cookeand Clerk Jessica Page. Mayor Dan Storlie was absent.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Councilor Jadwinski moved to approve the September 2014 meeting minutes, 2nd by CouncilorSchloessor and unanimously approved (4:0).

Administrative Issues:

  1. Laurie Balata, USDA Community Facilities Grant came to give information on the program and how it may assist the city in fixing up the city hall building. There is an extensive application process and she said that because of income levels in the city, Dennison would be at about a 15% funding level for grants. There has been enough money to cover loans for community projects that have been applied for over the last couple of years.
  2. Dean Erickson is brought in an application for a building permit to replace a porch on the back of his house. Council reviewed the application. Nicole move to approve Dean’s building permit. Heidi second, motion passed unanimously.
  3. Complaints:

Kadrlik and Clutchmen’s. Representatives from Clutchmen were present. They stated they had tried adding snow fencing to the current fence , but felt that didn’t work and are looking at other ides. They have a meeting on Oct 3 to discuss. Ann Laue brought up that there had been an issue in 98 or 9 and Clutchmen had cleaned up the area, put up fence and were ok at the time. The new ordinance was put in place in 2000. The club’s business has not changed since that time. The Clutchmen were looking to know what the council wants them to do. The said the next option they would be looking at would be adding material to the chain link fence to block more of the view. Ms. Kadrlik stated that would be reasonable. Clutchmen will come to the Nov. meeting.

Positioning of sign at Co. Rd 9 and Goodhue Ave. Councilor Jadwinski had made a diagram illustrating the intersection and the sight lines for the intersection. John said he would talk to the county regarding the issue since 9 is a county road. Does the sign need to be located x distance from the road. Is there the need for a permanent way to keep the sign from being n the way? Currently it is a temporary sign and needs to be moved every 30 days. Does it become a permanent sign if it is anchored to keep it from getting to close to the road?

  1. Czarnecki curb cut issue. Councilors Cooke and Jadwinski had met with John. John told them he had contracted with a surveyor to survey the property and that it would be done in 1-2 weeks. He would then present that survey to the City of Dennison and Rice County.
  2. Snow plowing bids were received from Southside as well as Anderson Enterprises. There was discussion on both businesses. There were no issues with last years contractor, which was Southside. Nicole move to have Southside do the snow plowing for the city for another year. Britt second. Motion passed unanimously.
  3. Liquor license applications and proof of insurance will be due on November 6th. Checks to pay for the licenses will be due by Dec. 26th, or submit a post dated check prior to that date.
  4. Fire Contract with Nerstrand. The cost for another year of fire coverage through Nerstrand would be $8500. There was some discussion from area business owners as some of their insurance companies were having issues with coverage from the fire dept. Both Northfield and Nerstrand Fire Departments have the same ratings. Nicole move to continue the fire coverage through the Nerstrand Fire Department. Heidi second. Britt abstained from voting due to conflict of interest. Vote was unanimous at 3:0.
  5. Investigation into distribution of resume of job applicant. Noted as not an issue at this time

Ann Laue noted that she had previously said that if there is a tie vote on as issue, the mayor gets the deciding vote/two votes on the issue. She said the looked it up later and that was not the case. So the issue of the lawyer for the city would need to be re-voted on. Decided to wait on a revote for that issue.

UTILITIES

Paul was able to be present at the meeting and gave an update on the sewer pond replacement progress. He said the PCA official told him to experiment with the pH and see what he could come up with. Paul had added some spoiled soybeans to the pond and the pH in the secondary pond was still under 9. The pre discharge sample is good for a two week period. We will have to wait and see how the pH progresses on the secondary pond.

Paul explained that the DO (dissolved oxygen) levels on the primary pond are around 14. He was taught in training that if your readings are under 2 it is an issue and that you want higher levels of DO. The PCA official told Paul that the DO levels can also get too high and be an issue also. The high DO levels can result in high pH levels. Paul explained that he has seen large schools of minnows in the pond because they like the high DO levels. The minnows are eating the bugs that eat the algae and that is a factor in the higher pH levels.

The brush needs to be cleaned away from the banks of the ponds also. Nothing has been done on this yet. Need to establish a definitive plan for this. Do we need to ask for bids for this as it could be a big project. Would the sentence the serve group be able to do this task? Fall would be a good time to get this completed. Possible to chip the brush on site instead of hauling away to keep costs down?

Also, results of copper testing received and all within limits. Paul and Jess to complete the paperwork on this.

A question was brought up regarding Wheeling Electric having a permit for the work done crossing the alley. Paul and Dan had been notified of the work and oked it prior. The city currently doesn’t give permits for that. It was suggested that the City needs to have an ordinance for dealing with electrical issues.

It was suggested that it be put on the agenda for the next meeting. It was thought that there was a resolution for the voice of the council, that either the mayor or clerk would call. It was thought that this had been previously passed sometime around 2000 or 2001. Expenses would have to be pre-approved.

It was suggested that if there is a complicated topic that was going to be brought up at a meeting, that information be provided the council ahead of time.

PAY BILLS

Heidi movedto pay the bills, 2nd by Nicole and unanimously approved (4:0).

ADJOURNMENT

Heidi movedto adjourn the meeting, 2nd by Nicole and unanimously approved (4:0). Meeting adjourned at 8:00.

Next Meeting November 6th 2014. 7 p.m. Dennison City Hall.