May 13, 2009 council meeting minutes
REGULAR MEETING – DANUBE CITY COUNCIL – MAY 13, 2009
Gene Allex, Sr. called the regular meeting of the Danube City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Councilmembers present: Sharon Lothert, Les Schneider, Sr., and Ryan Bentley. Absent: Al Strunc
Also present: Dennis Zieske and Police Chief, Les Schneider, Jr.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to approve the agenda with the following additions under New Business: “Paint Fire Hall” and “Mowing property north of Jahnke’s.”
Dennis Zieske was present to talk about the dust problem on 2nd Street East. The council again told him that there needs to be a petition signed by a majority of property owners on the street before the City can pave it. Dust control was also discussed. The City chose not to do dust control this year because it hasn’t worked in the past. The city clerk was asked to send a letter to all property owners on that street asking if they want it paved or not, in hopes of determining if there is enough interest in paving 2nd Street East.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to approve the minutes of the regular council meeting of April 22, 2009 and the minutes of the special meeting of April 22, 2009. Sharon Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Police Chief, Les Schneider, Sr., was present to give his April 2009 employee report. Calls were down from the same time last year. The following items were discussed:
· The officers have been attending continuing education classes.
· Regarding the school building, Tri-Valley has hired a new director and they are getting their floors waxed May 18.
· The deadline for 2009-2010 dog licenses is May 15. After the deadline, the clerk will get a list to Les Schneider, Sr. of unlicensed dogs so he can contact the dog owners.
· Les, Jr. is working on a list of blighted properties.
· Les, Jr. attended a RAPAD meeting regarding the upcoming compliance checks at area bars. The bar owners will be notified.
· Les, Jr. reset the Civil Defense Siren because it was off by four minutes.
· The City had a person needing community service hours to do some cleaning in the park.
· First Response training will take place June 25th. There are two new residents taking the course at Ridgewater College to become First Responders for the City of Danube. They will bring the total number of Danube First Responders to 13.
· The Highway 212 detour was discussed. The project is scheduled for 55 working days. The City of Danube and City of Renville will have a tar overlay done at the end of the project. Until the streets in Danube are dug up, Highway 212 may be used by local traffic between Danube and Olivia.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to accept the quote from Hillyard, Inc. to provide the materials and equipment to strip and wax the floor in the gym at the school building. Sharon Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously. The Basketball Association will help with the work.
In other school building discussion, the council was informed by Les Schneider, Sr. that Tri-Valley would like to plant grass where the pea rock was and also fix the holes where the old playground equipment was.
There was no additional information on the Mahoney case other than it’s going back to court. The City has not been notified of a court date yet.
The council reviewed the upcoming rentals of the Community Center and School Building. There will be a Memorial Day Program at the school on Monday, May 25 and at the Community Center after the program.
The council was given a copy of the quote to purchase a new skid loader from Haug Implement Co. to review once more.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to purchase a 325 John Deere skid steer from Haug Implement Co. for $18,887.28 plus tax. No bucket will be purchased as the City will be having one made. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Sharon Lothert to have the locks on the Community Center re-keyed by Torkelson’s Lock Service for a service call charge of $69 plus $15 per lock and $3 per key. Les Schneider, Sr. seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
There was no FEMA update available.
There was no update available on rates from telephone companies other than CenturyTel.
A copy of Dan Kaufenberg’s Second Class Engineer – Grade C Boiler license was shown to the council.
A motion was made by Sharon Lothert to approve the bills as submitted in the amount of $21,269.39. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
The Clerk asked the council if she could change the hours that the City Office is open for the summer. The council approved and asked the Clerk to post the notice two weeks ahead of the change. The hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. (noon) – 4:00 p.m. starting June 2, 2009.
A motion was made by Sharon Lothert to have the door open between Miller’s on Main and the Community Center on Saturday, May 30, 2009 for the Trista Schneider wedding reception. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Discussion took place regarding private citizens putting their trash into the City’s dumpster. The citizen(s) doing this will be talked to.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to approve a building permit for Jeff Sindelir to put a deck on his house. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
After reviewing quotes for having the floors waxed in the Community Center, a motion was made by Sharon Lothert to have Service Master strip and wax the Community Center floors for $1,595.00 plus tax and to clean and scrub the ceramic tile and grout in the bathrooms for $175 plus tax. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Quotes were also reviewed to have street repairs done. A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to have Duininck Construction repair the roads by 402 4th Street and 304 5th Street at a cost of $7,967.70. Ryan Bentley seconded and the motion carried unanimously. This money will come out of the City’s water fund because the roads were damaged by water main breaks.
A motion was made by Les Schneider, Sr. to have Hardline Asphalt do up to 30 heats at $115 per heat, to repair streets around town. Sharon Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Closed meeting procedures were discussed. It was agreed that if the meeting involves a city employee, the employee should be contacted ahead of time to see if he/she wants the meeting open or closed.
The Clerk was told that when contractors are coming to town to give quotes, all councilmembers should be called to allow them the option to meet with the contractor.
The council discussed the Sunrise Square apartments. The shingles are bad on the roof. The part-time summer maintenance employee will be doing the mowing at the 4-plex.
There was discussion about non-profit organizations using the Community Center. Recently, a non-profit organization reserved the Community Center, but did not show up and did not cancel with the Clerk. This causes the problem of potential lost income because the Hall could have been rented out to someone else. The City also pays someone to come open and close the Community Center when there are activities, and therefore incurred an unnecessary expense. A reminder will be sent to all local non-profit organizations regarding the reserving/cancelling procedures.
The brush site hours were discussed. For the most part, the gate is unlocked all the time. If trash starts getting dumped in there, it will be closed.
Discussion on painting the Fire Hall and entry of the City Office Building was tabled.
In the past, Jerry Jahnke was kind enough to mow the property to the north of his house because nobody was taking care of it. Jerry said he will not be mowing it this summer. The clerk will find out who owns the house and send them a letter about keeping the yard under control.
There being no further discussion, at 9:30, a motion was made by Ryan Bentley to adjourn the meeting. Sharon Lothert seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted: Sara Wilson, City Clerk