June 12th, 2017
7:00 pm
Call to order
A meeting of the Wykoff City Council was held at Wykoff City Hall on June 12th 2017. 7:00 pm. Attendees included Mayor Al Williams, Rocky Vreeman, Brody Mensink, Mary Sackett, Mary Tjepkes and Clerk/ Treasurer Becky Schmidt. Also in attendance was City Attorney, Dwight Luhmann
Approval of Agenda
Mary Sackett motioned to approve the Agenda, Mary T. made a second to the motion. Motion carried with no discussion.
Approval of Minutes
Rocky: Discussion on how the minutes were prepared. Stated he preferred them the way they were done before. Attorney Luhmann stated that a verbatim transcript is not required. Minutes are a summary of the actions taken by the council. A long discussion ensued on what minutes are. The approval was tabled until Becky could read over and make some additions to the minutes.
Approval of Bills
Rocky was questioning the bill from In Control. It was a bill to reprogram the WWTP emergency callout system. Peoples will be reprograming the system now so there will not be a bill in the future. Mary T. made a motion,Mary S. seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Approval of Treasurer's Report
Mary S. made a motion to approve. Rocky made a second to the motion. Motion carried. No discussion.
Visitors
Missy Musel addressed the crowd and gave a speech on the cost of PeopleService versus our past WWTP operator. No request was made of the council. No action taken.
Shari Gartner: Questioned past practices and procedures. Discussed what a citizen must pay for Data. Discussed connecting her hard drive to city computers. Becky attempted explain how the cost was arrived at. Dwight Luhmann explained how the city was able to charge and that it was an estimate. Since the city has no existing policy, the city follows state guidelines. Discussion continued and it was decided that Miss Gartner would leave a deposit of $375 which was the estimate provided to her, and when the data request is completed the correct amount will be billed. Shari continued with discussion on Mark Arndt’s termination until the city attorney stated we needed to move on.
Ernie Domasky:Ernie ask for a credit on his sewer bill because he was watering his garden and the water did not go down the sewer. Past practice has been if it was an accidental over usage then the council would pro rate the sewer bill. In this case, it was not accidental. No action taken.
Dan Grabau: Spoke on the street project on south main street, and on the flooding of Tim Grabau’s basement. Rick Whitney volunteered to flushed the main until the situation is fixed. Dan stated he just wanted the situation fixed. Council agreed that the situation is an emergency and needs to be fixed immediately. WHKS representative will address the long-term fix.
Jeremy Comstock: Discussed the city clerk’s wage, and stated that the city clerk should be fired. No action taken by the council.
Discussion on the city newsletter. Cheyenne stated the people in the trailer park do not receive a copy of the newsletter. They had no idea of the Zoning board opening and the closing date. Council extended the date to turn in a letter of interest until June 28th. Mary Tjepkes stated she would make a point of delivering newsletters to the trailer park and it was discussed that copies were available at the clerk’s office.
Committee Reports; Fire department
Fire Chief (Wade) spoke on a DNR 50/50 grant available. Stated the fire dept. could use new fire boots. I submitted and if approved we can decided if we need to get them. The grant has a max of $2500.
I will be going after candy as it was approved last month.
No action taken by the council.
Committee Reports; WWTP
Mary elected not to present her spreadsheet as it was the same information that Missy Mussel had presented. Numbers were a few thousand dollars different.
Rick Whitney introduced two new workers at the plant and gave an update on the plant. No action taken by the council.
Personnel Committee
Nothing discussed
Zoning
Discussion on how new member was to be appointed. It was decided that council would have the final decision on all the applicants. A letter of intent needs to be submitted and the applications will be taken until June 28th, 2017 and given to the zoning board.
Streets
WHKS- Darin presented the proposal for the street project on South main and resurfacing some other streets. There were two options. Options are available in the city clerk’s office. Point repair would be a good option to fix the small section. More discussion on emergency repair on the sewer pipe on South Main. Council decided to get estimates on emergency repair on the affected section.
Mayor's report
None
Unfinished business:
Becky presented the quotes from Father & Son Computers which was approx. $150 less. Council approved to purchase the new system locally. Motion made by Mary Tjepkes and seconded by Mary Sackett. No discussion. Motion carried.
New Business;Brody Mensink Resignation
Al: We will place ads in the Fillmore County Journal. Letters of interest should be turned in to the clerk’s office by July 5th at 3 PM. Also, place notices at the bank, Post Office and clerk’s office. Someone will be appointed at the next council meeting. Discussion of appointing a Mayor pro-tem. Council tabled until next meeting. Roll call vote for resolution accepting resignation and filling opening. All stated yes.
New Business;
Clean Up Day
Discussion on cleanup day. Further investigation on how it should run and how to pay for it. Would like to see it before Fall Fest. No action taken but will look further into it.
Utility Dep and Past due utility bills.
The large deposit is not conducive with Banyon software. No way to get it off the books if it is larger than the amount due. Council decided to leave it as is and to work with Banyon to change it. Two past due bills were approved to be sent to Fillmore County be assessed on taxes.
Bylaws
Mayor would like to adopt bylaws. Three proposed bylaws addressed were Retention Schedule, Data Practices- Meeting bylaws and Request to be put on Agenda. Council is to review the documents and will be addressed at the next council meeting.
Kingsland Education Painting Class
Hall rental for senior painting class. Kingsland Community Education would like the hall rent free. Discussion was if they were making money at it. Consensus of the council was that it would be good for the community.
New Ordinances and Zoning Proposal- MN Code Book
Mayor proposed adopting the MN Code Book for the city ordinances. It is being used statewide. Rocky has the book now and he will present it at the Zoning meeting on June 28th. Further action was tabled until next meeting.
Adjournment
Mary T made a motion to adjourn meeting. Brody made a 2nd to the motion. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 9:09 pm.
Secretary / Date of approval1