AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MAY 14, 2008
7:00 PM CITY HALL
AGENDA
1. Call the Meeting to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Approve Consent Agenda of…
a)
Minutes
b)
Treasurers Report
c)
Bills for Payment
4. Roger Curtis – Permit for a Temporary On-Sale Liquor
License.
5. Peg Davies – Akeley Community Library Board
6. Bob Winner – Liquor Store Report
7. Frank Thelin – Water/Sewer/Maintenance Report
8. Eric Klein – Police Report
9. HRA Resignation Letter
10. Great River Energy – Electric Power Line (Going Around
Pond & Irrigation Field)
11. Journey’s Summer Special – Campground Ad
12. Update Definition of Full Time Employee in the
Employee Handbook
13. Address Travel Time on Policy # 9
14. Old Business
15. New Business
16. Adjourn
AKELEY CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
MAY 14, 2008
7:00 PM CITY HALL
The Akeley City Council met in a regular meeting Wednesday May
14, 2008 at 7:00 pm. Mayor Tom Moore called the meeting to
order. Council members present were: Tom Moore, Cliff Johnson,
Frank Lamb, Eric Sjolin and Brian Hitchcock. The Pledge of
Allegiance was recited by the Council and attending audience.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve the consent agenda with the change of item number 5
going before item number 4.
Peg Davies, Peg Lindstrom & Mary Paskvan from the Akeley
Community Library Board were present to provide information
about the library which has been in the old school for 4-5
years. The library board is looking for opportunities to
promote the library and asked if information that they have
prepared could be placed into the water/sewer billings to notify
the community of what the library has to offer. Peg will
provide the information to the city Clerk before the next
water/sewer billing.
Roger Curtis was present to ask the City Council for approval of
a temporary 3-day permit so he could sell tap beer at his food
stand during Paul Bunyan Days. Cliff Johnson stated that the
Stompin’ Grounds was denied the same request last year and he
wants to protect the profits of the liquor store. Frank Lamb
asked what the firemen and liquor store thought of this. Bob
Winner said he is for free enterprise, but the liquor store has
taken in half of what it was at last year.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Cliff Johnson and carried to
deny the permit to Roger Curtis.
Liquor Store Report – Bob Winner
Eric Sjolin asked if anything is being done about the NSF
checks. Bob Winner replied that Wendy Klein works with a
company that helps with collection of the NSF Checks.
Water/Sewer/Maintenance
Report - Frank Thelin
-
Frank stated he
will be flushing fire hydrants between 6:00 PM & 8:00 PM
from May 19th to May 23rd and from May
27th to May 30th. He will be assisted
by the fire department and will post this information at the
post office and bank and said people could expect discolored
water at this time.
-
Frank asked the
Council if he could go ahead with getting the material
needed for the fishing pier. He had obtained 4 bids and the
lowest bid was for $1,700.00 which would also include some
lumber for picnic tables at the campground. Frank said the
gangway and floats could possibly be received by the DNR in
July.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve to allow the purchase of lumber and supplies needed for
the fishing pier up to $1,700.00 from the Community Fund.
Tom Moore asked Frank Thelin if he would like to use the
Sentenced to Serve people again this year and if so they need to
be notified. Frank Thelin said he does have work for them to do
so will contact them.
Frank Lamb said he noticed that 3 or 4 street sign posts are
leaning and need to be straightened.
Cliff Johnson said he noticed when grading has been done that
they are starting to widen the roads so the ditches are back
where they are supposed to be. Frank Thelin said he can see
that valve boxes and manhole covers may get hit by the grader if
they don’t start filling in the roads with class 5.
Brian Hitchcock asked if the city grades down by the boat
landing and thought that it should be done a couple times a
year.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to amend the agenda by adding Denise Johnson at 7.5.
Denise Johnson said she had heard a rumor that the liquor store
was sponsoring a dance the same time the teen dance is going on
during Paul Bunyan Days and strongly disagrees with the dance.
She thought a different time other than during Paul Bunyan Days
would have been better since she felt the parents who would
normally be at the teen dance watching their kids may be at the
other dance. Cathy Hamand was also present and said it would
have been nice to involve the PBD committee. The Council said
it wasn’t intentional that the PBD committee wasn’t contacted
and they would like to work with the PBD committee next year.
Denise Johnson said that Hulet and 1st Streets will
have to be closed for the carnival from the Monday before (June
23rd) to the Monday after Paul Bunyan Days (June 30th).
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to close part of Hulet and 1st Street for the
carnival during Paul Bunyan Days.
Denise Johnson stated that in the past $3,000.00 had been
budgeted by the City for Paul Bunyan Days. She said there have
been a lot of increases so she was hoping the City could at
least give $3,000.00 but hoped more could be given.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve to give $4,000.00 to the PBD Committee from the
Community Fund for Paul Bunyan Days.
Frank Lamb asked about the entertainment that would be taking
place at the Fish Fry during Paul Bunyan Days. Denise Johnson
said the Banjo Man would be on stage during that time.
Police Report - Chief Eric Klein
·
Eric said he hasn’t heard any more regarding the
grants he had applied for but he would like to increase the
number of hours that the Beach Patrol would be on the beach from
4 hours which had previously been approved by the Council to 5
hours. He said the increased cost for the extra hour a day
would be $643.28 and could be paid for out of the Police
Administrative Funds.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to increase the number of hours from 4 hours to 5 hours
paying the additional costs out of the Police Administrative
Funds.
·
The removal of the light pole costs have been sent
to the two parties involved in hitting the pole at T&M and
payments have been received from them.
·
Eric said he received the sound meter today and
will contact MN Dot so signs can be put up regarding engine
breaking.
·
Part-time officer hours on weekends were discussed
and at this point in time the money budgeted for part-time
police hours has been used up. Cliff Johnson said he spoke with
the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Department and they said that
someone from the sheriff’s department would respond to a 911
call whether an Akeley officer would respond or not. Brian
Hitchcock said that he thought additional money spent for
part-time officers working should be as fill in for vacations,
during Paul Bunyan Days and bigger holiday weekends. Tom Moore
figured for a part-time officer to work 1 weekend a month for
the rest of the year it would cost about $1,800.00. Eric Klein
said at this point in time the police budget is under budget by
$1,949.99. Eric Sjolin felt the budget should be followed
regardless of how painful it may be. Brian Hitchcock said some
reserves have expressed interest in driving and parking the
squad car to show police presence which may slow down traffic.
There would be no wage cost to the City but the cost of gas
could increase slightly.
·
Eric received information in the mail regarding a
ResQ Disc which is a flotation devise thrown like a Frisbee to a
person who is drowning. He thought it would be good for the
person doing beach patrol to have and he will be checking with
neighboring cities, fire departments and sheriff’s departments
to see if they would be interested in getting some since the
more of the item purchased, the lower the cost.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve to allow the police department to purchase two ResQ
Discs, 1 for each squad for a cost of up to $120.00 using Police
Administration Funds.
·
Eric spoke with Tony at the Post Office who was
unopposed to putting a sign on the mail box which states people
should not be crossing the lane of traffic to put their mail
in. Eric has only warned people at this time when he has seen
them do this but fears that an accident could occur and is
looking into getting a sign which would warn people that it is
not permissible to do this.
Tom Moore read a letter from the HRA board which stated that the
entire board had resigned.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Frank Lamb and carried to
approve to accept the resignation of Gary Hendricks as
President, Marie Crosby as Treasurer, Emma Tufts as Secretary,
and Alf Staffenhagen and Bea Dybsand as board members of the
HRA.
Nels Kramer was present and stated that he had spoken with 6
different people who may be interested in becoming members of
the HRA Board. They are Bruce Beckley, Josh Kietzman, Troy
Hegg, Dick Wahlin, Roger McCollough and Bruce Patton. Brian
Hitchcock stated that although he has no problem with any of the
people listed, he would like to see an ad posted for those who
may be interested in becoming HRA Board Members. Frank Lamb
said he would like to stipulate that there is $9,332.03 in the
account and he feels that any large expenditures should go
through the City.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to place an ad in the paper next week stating the City
is looking for HRA board members, that they must submit a letter
of interest to City Hall before May 27th and that a
Special Meeting will take place on May 28th at 7:00
PM to appoint the members.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Tom Moore and carried to
approve to allow Great River Energy to run the electric power
line around the sewer pond and irrigation field.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
approve to advertise the campground in the June issue of
“Journeys” magazine at a cost of $150.00 and paid for out of the
Park Fund.
Motion by Eric Sjolin seconded by Tom Moore and carried to
approve to make changes to the definition of “Full-time
Employee” in the Employee Handbook.
Motion by Eric Sjolin seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to make the change to Personnel Policy # 9 which adds
the paragraph stating, “Hours traveled to and from City Council
approved training programs are considered hours worked whether
driving or riding and must be adjusted to prevent overtime”.
Old Business
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Tom Moore and carried to
approve to write a letter to Hubbard County regarding the
forfeited property on Block 21 and Lots 2 & 3 asking them to
remove the building and to keep the lawn in check.
Frank Lamb stated that cars are worth money right now and there
are still a lot of cars in town that should be moved.
New Business
Cliff Johnson brought up the Local Band Showcase that will take
place during Paul Bunyan Days. There are 4 bands which are from
the Park Rapids, Walker, Menahga and Bemidji areas that would do
their own advertising and would play from 4:00 PM to 12:00 PM on
the Friday night of Paul Bunyan Days. The liquor store funds
would pay for this and the cost would be $1,500.00. The Council
would like to have a Local Band Showcase each year but will plan
it for a weekend other than Paul Bunyan Days.
Motion by Brian Hitchcock seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
approve to pay $1,500.00 from the Liquor Store Fund to hire the
4 bands for the Local Band Showcase and to require wristbands
for all people age 21 and over. Cliff Johnson abstained. Frank
Lamb voted yes with the stipulation that if it is during Paul
Bunyan Days next year that the Council would work with the PBD
committee.
Frank Lamb read a letter received from the C&C regarding the
need for public bathrooms. Frank had concerns that if the
bathrooms at the museum were used that there may be vandalism
and also wondered who would clean and maintain the bathrooms.
He also said he doesn’t feel that the museum bathrooms are
suitable for public traffic. Tina Monroe asked if permanent
bathrooms could be put down by the Paul Bunyan Statue using
money from the Community Fund and kept open from May to
October. Cliff Johnson and Eric Sjolin both said that money
from the Community Fund could be used to update the bathrooms at
the museum. Frank Thelin stated that years ago Dick Wahlin had
offered to put bathrooms in by the old library and that the work
would have been by volunteers but it had not been approved by
the Council at that time. The Council would like to look at the
cost of building new bathrooms and the cost of updating the
museum bathrooms.
Frank Lamb read a letter from the C & C regarding the money
earmarked for tennis courts in which the C & C would like to see
the money used for a more general activity. Members of the
council would like to see tennis and basketball courts put in to
replace the courts taken out a few years ago. Eric Sjolin said
that before anything is done, the Council would like to see what
the school is going to do with the athletic fields. The C & C
also stated in the letter that they have volunteers who would
like to paint and shingle the old RR depot. Frank Lamb stated
that he remembered a motion being made years ago turning the
building over to the C & C so they could go ahead with painting
and shingling the building.
Tom Moore brought up the Medallion Hunt that the C & C would
like to have during Paul Bunyan Days. The C & C would like to
have the City give $500.00 for the Medallion Hunt from the
Community Fund.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Tom Moore and carried to
approve to give the C & C $500.00 from the Community Fund for
their Medallion Hunt. Eric Sjolin abstained. Brian Hitchcock
voted no because he didn’t know the details.
Motion by Frank Lamb seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to have the C & C come to the next meeting to explain
how they plan to run the Medallion Hunt.
Eric Sjolin brought up the issue regarding the difference in
wages when performing different jobs (i.e. maintenance and
grader work) which was addressed at the April 28th
work session.
Motion by Eric Sjolin seconded by Brian Hitchcock and carried to
approve to pay grader operators $1.20 over their normal wage
when grading.
Motion by Tom Moore seconded by Eric Sjolin and carried to
adjourn.
Denise Rittgers
Clerk Treasurer
City of Akeley
Wendy Klein
Deputy Clerk
City of Akeley
