November 4, 2009 - council meeting minutes
REGULAR MEETING – DANUBE CITY COUNCIL – November 4, 2009
Gene Allex called the regular meeting of the Danube City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Councilmembers present: Sharon Lothert and Ryan Bentley. Absent: Les Schneider, Sr. and Al Strunc.
Also present: Police Chief, Les Schneider.
At the start of the meeting, the clerk gave Mayor Allex an envelope addressed to the City Council that had been dropped off by Les Schneider, Sr. Schneider, Sr. had asked the clerk to have the Mayor read the enclosed letter to the council. Enclosed was a resignation letter from Les Schneider, Sr. Envelopes from Schneider, Sr. were then handed to each councilmember.
A motion was made by Ryan Bentley to accept the resignation from Les Schneider, Sr. Sharon Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
The clerk will check into proper procedures on appointing a new councilmember to fill the vacancy for the rest of the term, which ends December 31, 2010.
A motion was made by Sharon Lothert to approve the agenda with the addition of “questions from residents” and “lights on school building” under New Business. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Gene Allex to approve the minutes of the October 28, 2009 meeting. Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Chief of Police, Les Schneider, Jr., was present to give his October employee report. Danube Police Department Statistics for October 2009: Calls: 60, Reports: 33; Traffic Stops: 42, Citations: 15, Mutual Assists: 30, Home Security Checks: 2. Discussion took place as follows:
· The brush site has been monitored and there haven’t been any problems.
· West Central Roofing will be here this week or next week to advice on the roof problem at the school building
· Danube First Response received their free pager and spent $10 to get it programmed and Les bought a $17 battery for his pager. The previous battery lasted about 2 ½ years.
· At the countywide radio meeting on October 29, the ARMER System was approved. The radios will be purchased by the county and then individual cities will pay a user fee. The system will be put in place next year.
· Xcel Energy replaced 12 street light bulbs yesterday and 2 last week. There is still one more to be replaced on Main Street.
· Schneider, Jr. checked into texting plans for the cell phones, as he does receive text messages from the younger generation and also uses it to correspond with other city employees. The minimum texting plan is $4.99 for 200 messages. Schneider will add that on to the plan.
· Schneider will be taking care of any water & wastewater issues next week while the Public Works Director is on vacation.
· The Police Department gave Halloween bags to the kids at Tri-Valley.
· Schneider helped with the DAAC dance on October 30. There were approximately 50-60 kids there in grades 5-8.
· The light on the school building that shines on the parking lot has been a concern to some neighbors. After the busses are gone from Tri-Valley, the light will be turned off for the winter. The council discussed building a shield to block the light from shining on neighbors’ houses.
· Schneider, Jr. will get the keys for the school building from Les Schneider, Sr. and they will be brought to the City Office.
· The council reviewed the news release on alcohol sales compliance checks performed on Halloween. Miller’s on Main failed the check. It was their first offense, so Schneider doesn’t think there will be any charges filed.
· The Police Dept. still has the DWI forfeiture car. The owner has 30 days to reclaim it and then it can be sold. The proceeds will have to be used for specific Police Dept. expenses as designated by law.
The council reviewed the upcoming schedule at the Community Center. There is a 4-H event scheduled on November 8 and a Danube Lions Club event on November 12. Men’s basketball is being held at the school on Wednesday nights and St. Matthew’s Youth Group is at the school on the 2nd & 4th Sundays of each month.
Schoffman’s, Inc. increased the bid for the lawnmower by $500 for a collapsible roll bar. They didn’t change anything else, including the trade in value. The council would like to check to make sure the trade in value allowed for the current mower is fair.
The clerk found out that the dumpster by the City Shop belongs to the City of Danube. The City can either rent a dumpster from West Central Sanitation or have a new bottom put into the one it has. The clerk will ask Dan if the dumpster is worth fixing.
The clerk reported that Kaufenberg has lined Krause up to blade 2nd Street East and the Elevator Road. The cost should be about the same as last time.
The following items were tabled until the next meeting:
· Mahoney lawsuit update
· Telephone
· Playground Equipment
· Drinkable city water
· Boilers at the school building
· Zoning commercial property/assigning addresses
A motion was made by Lothert to approve the bills as submitted in the amount of $11,938.40 with the addition of $17,956.00 to the League of MN Cities Insurance Trust and $1,826.48 to Mills Automotive for squad car repairs. Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
The clerk explained her reports on accumulated sick leave and available vacation time. Discussion took place on allowing the clerk to accumulate vacation pay based on her hours.
Annual employee reviews will take place on November 18. The clerk will give the employees the evaluation to fill out on themselves and put copies in the council packets for the next meeting.
The clerk passed on a message from Kaufenberg on the transmission in the City pick up. The transmission was flushed by Danube Auto Works. The transmission is in bad condition and will need to get replaced in the near future. The pick-up still slams into gear at times.
The clerk also reminded the council that Kaufenberg will be on vacation from November 6 – 16. The boiler needs to be checked every day, so Allex will talk to Lonny Davis about doing this.
A motion was made by Gene Allex to pay Lonny Davis $500 per month to use his boilers license to oversee Kaufenberg’s work. Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
· Discussion took place about the letter Les Schneider, Sr. dropped off for each councilmember. Schneider, Sr. stated that a councilmember got paid for work done outside of a meeting. Nobody recalled this happening and the clerk said she has not paid any councilmember for work done other than their normal salary, and to pay Lothert for cleaning the Community Center and City Hall, as she was hired to do.
· A letter will need to be sent to Tri-Valley to let them know that Schneider, Sr. will no longer be the contact person for them. A new contact person will be assigned.
· A notice for rental space available at the school building will be put on the website. A banner to hang on the building was also discussed.
· Schneider, Sr. stated he was accused of not looking out for the City’s best interest. No councilmember present was aware of this happening.
· Lothert suggested that the clerk check with the League of MN Cities on the proper process on paving 2nd Street East. Changing the date of the public hearing was discussed.
At 9:25 p.m., a motion was made by Lothert to adjourn the meeting. Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted: Sara Wilson, City Clerk