February 9, 2011 Council Meeting Minutes
DANUBE CITY COUNCIL
Regular Meeting
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 7:00 PM
Danube City Council Chambers
A regular meeting of the Danube City Council was conducted on February 9, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. with Mayor Gene Allex presiding. Council Members Ryan Bentley, Al Strunc and Sharon Lothert were present. Chief of Police Les Schneider and City Clerk-Treasurer Sara Wilson were also present. Council Member Bob Simpson was absent
Approval of Agenda
Council Member Lothert moved and Council Member Strunc seconded a motion to approve the Agenda with the addition of “gym lights” and “community center roof” under Old Business. The motion carried unanimously.
Approval of Minutes
Council Member Strunc moved and Council Member Bentley seconded a motion to approve the minutes from the regular meeting of February 9, 2011. The motion carried unanimously.
Chief of Police Les Schneider
Chief of Police Les Schneider was present to give his monthly employee report. The Police Department statistics for the month of January 2011 were: 55 calls, 33 traffic stops, 36 citations, 13 mutual assists, and 42 home security checks.
Chief Schneider reported that a church playgroup will be using two Tri-Valley rooms one morning each week. This has been approved by Tri-Valley.
Under old business, Chief Schneider discussed that the new mandated forfeiture policy was placed in effect on January 12, 2011. The council briefly discussed Chief Schneider’s employee evaluation stating that they feel that getting drug dealers out of town should be the top priority for the Danube police department. Chief Schneider helped Public Works Director Dan Kaufenberg take down the Christmas lights. The council was reminded that Schneider will be attending the MRWA conference with Kaufenberg March 1-3. The new squad car will arrive in April.
Chief Schneider requested approval to attend the MCPA Executive Training Institute (ETI) Conference April 4-7 for a cost of $435 plus hotel.
Council Member Lothert moved and Council Member Bentley seconded a motion to send Chief Les Schneider to the MCPA ETI conference April 4-7 at a cost of $435 plus hotel. The motion carried unanimously.
Chief Schneider called Xcel Energy with 4 street light outages. Mayor Allex proposed using a complaint form and emailing street light outages so we have a paper trail. Clerk Wilson will check into this option.
The Danube First Responders held their annual meeting and completed their CPR renewals. SW EMS attended the meeting and presented resources for training and equipment. The First Responders had 20 calls during 2010. That was down from 26 calls in 2009. Chief Schneider was elected the 2011 Director for the First Response Team.
School gym lights
The council again discussed the light outages in the school gym. Council Member Strunc talked to Krista Schrupp at RCW School and was told that the average cost RCW paid to replace the lights in their gym was $210 per fixture and they used J & R Electric. The fixtures would average $175 after rebate using Sullivan’s Electric.
Council Member Strunc moved and Council Member Lothert seconded a motion to have Sullivan’s Electric replace all 12 fixtures in the school gym. The motion carried unanimously.
Mahoney Lawsuit
City Attorney Aaron Walton sent Clerk Wilson a copy of a letter he sent to Terry Zieske of Danube. The letter advised Mr. Zieske that the City does not approve of his attempt to convey the east 6 inches of his lot to Kelly and Charlotte Mahoney.
2nd Street East
Clerk Wilson presented the council with an e-mail from Craig Hebrink of Coop Country Farmer’s Elevator. The e-mail asked if the council would consider making all of 2nd Street East a 9 ton road or making Oak Street a 9 ton road from 2nd Street East to County Road 1.
The council discussed this request and, although they want to accommodate the Elevator’s needs, they feel that they would not be treating Danube’s residents right by adding a truck route through a residential area. The council feels that the Elevator has the option of using highway 212 and there is no benefit to the turning a residential area into a truck route. The purpose of making only the 1st block of 2nd Street East a 9 ton road is to keep truck traffic out of the residential area.
The council instructed Clerk Wilson to notify Mr. Hebrink and City Engineer Elfering of their decision.
Community Center Roof
Council Member Lothert, who is also the custodian for the Community Center, reported that the back entry of the Community Center is now leaking. It was decided that Lothert will talk to Penning’s Construction and Jeff Sindelir about the roof leaks.
Approve Bills
Council Member Strunc moved and Council Member Lothert seconded a motion to approve the bills in the amount of $12,333.04. The motion passed unanimously.
Adjournment
After a brief correspondence discussion, Council Member Lothert moved and Council Member Strunc seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting. With all members voting in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted: Sara Wilson, City Clerk