MINUTES– MORRIS CITY
COUNCIL– REGULAR MEETING–FEBRUARY 23, 2010
The regular meeting of the
Morris City Council was called to order at 5:15 p.m. this 23rd day
of February, 2010, by Mayor Giese in the Council Chambers of the Morris Senior
Citizens/Community Center.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ROLL CALL: Roll
call was taken with the following members present: Council member Carrington,
Miller, Storck and Mayor Giese. Council member Webster was absent. Also
present was City Manager Hill, Finance Director Krosschell, Fleet Manager
Searle, Police Chief Beauregard, Public Works Director Dittbenner, and City
Attorney Glasrud.
ADDITION TO AGENDA:
Mayor Giese added the following to the agenda: Resolution on the Governor’s
2010 Supplemental Budget Cuts to LGA Payments.
CITIZEN’S COMMENTS:
Nora Jost – Stevens County HRA: Jost stated the Housing Authority has
taken possession of the house at 16 East 4th Street and the property
would be demolished in April. Jost indicated they are currently looking at
some different options for the development of the property. Jost asked the
council to consider abatement of some special assessments that were levied
against the property prior to the HRA taking possession. Hill noted the
assessments would include charges for mowing and snow removal as well as a
payment on a road project for a total of $3,452.52.
Jost pointed out the remaining
assessments on the property from 2010 and beyond are $6,600 on a street
assessment and a few hundred from snow removal in 2010 as well.
Jost stated they paid
$7,500 for the property and an additional $3,500 for the demolition. It was
the consensus of the council that this would be a wonderful thing to have taken
care of.
Mayor Giese moved,
seconded by Council member Storck, to adopt Resolution #2911-2-10, A Resolution
Authorizing the Removal of Certain Assessments to the Property Located at 16
East 4th Street. Upon a roll call vote taken and all present voting
in favor, motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
READING AND APPROVAL OF
MINUTES: 2/9/10 Regular Meeting Minutes: Council member Carrington
moved, seconded by Storck, to approve the 2/9/10 regular meeting minutes.
Motion carried.
2/9/10 Condensed
Version Minutes: Mayor Giese moved, seconded by Council member Miller, to
approve the 2/9/10 condensed version minutes. Motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA:
Council member Miller moved, seconded by Storck, to approve the consent agenda,
which included the following items:
A.
Audit of City bills.
B.
SCMC Administrative Report
C.
Gambling Reports
D.
Revenue & Expenditure
Report
Motion carried.
PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND
COMMUNICATIONS: Gambling Report from American Legion: Council
member Storck moved, seconded by Miller, to accept the gambling report from the
American Legion. Upon a roll call vote taken and all present voting in favor
and Mayor Giese abstaining, motion carried.
Arbor Day Proclamation:
Mayor Giese approved the Arbor Day Proclamation, which would observe the last Friday
in April as Arbor Day and the month of May as Arbor Month in the City of
Morris.
ORDINANCES AND
RESOLUTIONS: Resolution Approving County Project within Municipal
Corporate Limits: Hill indicated the county was applying for federal
stimulus funds for an overlay project on County State Aid Highway 22, which
runs past the fairgrounds and city garage. Hill noted the county would like a
resolution from the city stating that the project is within city limits and it is
okay with the city to go ahead with the project if funds are awarded.
Jeff Kuhn of WSN was
present at the meeting and stated this project would take care of some trench
settlements and improve the riding ability of the road.
Kuhn pointed out the city
is also trying to get in line for some of the federal stimulus money as well for
Park Avenue from trunk Highway 9 to Wyoming and from Wyoming to 5th Street.
The city is also looking at California Avenue from South Street to Elm Street.
Kuhn stated whether or not it comes to fruition is for the lawmakers to
decide.
Kuhn noted Pacific Avenue
is scheduled with federal money in 2014 for complete reconstruction. Hill indicated
City Engineer Fier has a plan is to do something to patch up that road surface until
2014.
City Attorney Glasrud stated
the topic on a lot of people’s minds is the debarment of Riley Brothers. Hill stated
it is the city’s understanding that they are barred in Minnesota, North Dakota
and South Dakota. Kuhn noted this would definitely affect the projects the
city is looking at letting. Glasrud added worse than that, there are a lot of
jobs on the line.
Storck questioned whether
or not the city had talked about doing projects every other year instead of
every year, given the economy.
Resolution Approving
County Project within Municipal Corporate Limits: (continued)
Council member Miller
moved, seconded by Carrington, to adopt Resolution #2912-2-10, A Resolution
Approving County Project within Municipal Corporate Limits. Upon a roll call
vote taken and all present voting in favor, motion carried.
Resolution Approving
Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertising for Bids for the East 2nd
Street Improvement Project: Hill indicated the estimate is about $62,000
more than the original because of the inclusion of the Colorado work to correct
the drainage in that area.
Considerable discussion
was held on the bid date and the Riley Brother’s dilemma with debarment. Kuhn
stated he talked with Joel Siegel from Riley’s and he felt holding off for a
month would give them a better idea of where things stand. Kuhn stated it would
be hard to say what pushing things back a month would do, it would just depend
on the current atmosphere at the time of bid openings.
Storck asked if the city
had the right to bid again if bids were over the engineer’s estimate. Kuhn indicated
the city would have some rights in regard to that but the city would probably
want to look at the project and make some changes to the plan by either cutting
back or eliminating things. Kuhn stated it would not be the right thing to do
to just blatantly reject all bids. Glasrud noted legally the city could
probably do it but it wouldn’t be fair to the bidders.
Mayor Giese stated hopefully
the council agreed that the city does not want to see 140 jobs lost. Hill pointed
out the first issue for the city is the economic viability of a major company,
which will affect the employees, families, homeowner’s, plus other companies
that do business with them. Secondly, not having them at the table to bid would
change the price of this project. Hill stated for what it’s worth he believes
Riley’s is one of the better companies that the city deals with and wants them
at the table bidding the project. Hill does not believe by waiting a month all
construction company’s schedules would be filled for the season, given that
last year’s project had 13 bidders and they were bidding from a distance.
Kuhn noted the projected
start date for the project was May 17th. If the bid opening were
moved back a month the award could be made at the first meeting in May. Kuhn
suggested the council may want to table the resolution and talk about it at the
next meeting. Hill noted that Riley’s are meeting with federal officials to
find out where they are at and concurred that waiting two weeks was a good
idea.
Council member Miller
moved, seconded by Storck, to table the Resolution Approving Plans and
Specifications and Authorizing Advertising for Bids for the East 2nd
Street Improvement Project and bring the matter back to the council at their
March 9th meeting. Upon a roll call vote taken and all present
voting in favor, motion carried.
Resolution on the
Governor’s 2010 Supplemental Budget Cuts to LGA Payments: Hill stated the
city has been unalloted state aid in 2008 of $127,000; $113,306 in 2009 and
$261,440 for 2010. Under Governor Pawlenty’s budget proposal for 2010-2011
the city’s LGA would be further reduced by $292,181. This resolution asks
that the legislature reject the budget proposal by Governor Pawlenty. Hill
suggested everyone in town write or call their representatives. Hill stressed
that there are parts of the state budget that are not getting any cuts, while
the city is looking at 16% of its budget being cut in one year. Hill stated
there is no way the city would be able to continue to provide services if there
isn’t a decent amount of LGA coming in.
Mayor Giese moved,
seconded by Council member Miller, to adopt Resolution #2913-2-10, Resolution
on the Governor’s 2010 Supplemental Budget Cuts to LGA Payments. Upon a roll
call vote taken and all present voting in favor, motion carried.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORTS
& RECOMMENDATIONS: City Manager Report: This was informational
for the council.
NEW BUSINESS:
Storck asked what was being done about trimming trees on the boulevards. Storck
stated there is such an investment in trees that were planted 12-13 years ago
but they need to be taken care of. Hill indicated a professional tree trimmer
was used on East 2nd Street and that worked very well. Hill noted
the city has looked at using a professional to do the high work because the
city doesn’t have a bucket truck.
OLD BUSINESS: None
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS:
None
ADJOURNMENT: There
being no further business, Mayor Giese adjourned the meeting at 6:13 p.m.
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