Others on hand were Summer Recreation Director Becky Primus, Maintenance Supervisor Joel Dasher, City Engineer Rich Romness and Acting City Clerk Joe Heinen.
Minutes of both the regular meeting of July 10th and special meeting of July 17th were presented for approval, after being mailed out earlier. With no corrections required, a motion to approve the minutes was made by Heidgerken, s/Humbert, and adopted on a 5-0 vote.
Staff Reports
Primus appeared before the council to summarize the summer rec program that involved 52 participants, with 4 out-of-town events held. Her written report also indicated an average daily attendance of 21 youngsters, with 1 major and 24 minor accidents over the life of the 7 week program. Members were extremely pleased with her oversight of the program and thanked her for her contributions to the community.
David Simpkins, editor of the Sauk Centre Herald, appeared with new reporter Andrea Marthaler, and stated that his publication is branching out in central Minnesota and covering more communities. As a result, he stated that Marthaler may be more visable here at city hall and the council could expect to see her for at least one of the two monthly meetings in the near future.
Rich Romness spoke of both the pending improvement project in the Industrial Park and the remaining issues involving the final plat of this 101 acre tract. He stated that the contractor has told him that they will be ready for dirt work as early as next week, or when the contract, bond and insurance papers are all signed, whichever comes first. The need to remove an existing fence for equipment movement must also be coordinated with the Middendorfs' and he revealed that Sam DeLeo of SEH has sent in the plat to Stearns County for their review. The first phase, consisting of only 4 lots, has also been forwarded unto MNDOT for their comments since that plat abuts the I94 right-of-way, stated Romness.
Pete Carlson of SEH appeared to speak of the wastewater pond, including the delay in the construction of added fill, following the MPCA's request that the city wait to until that agency had time to absorb the Braun Intertec report of borings conducted in November, 2001. An internal memo between SEH staff of 5/07/02 had concluded with the Braun report that some 3 to 5 feet of settlement has occurred since the construction of the dikes in 1994 and the potential for a stress fracture is there. The memo also stated that at present, there is 16 to 18 feet of fill in place within the ponds with another 15 to 21 feet of peat and organic matter below the fill and the likelihood of a catastrophic event is fairly low. Carlson concluded his remarks by stating that he would again like to be placed on a council agenda when he hears from the MPCA on the pond repair conclusions.
Old Business
David Drown appeared, representing his own firm as the fiscal agent for the pending sale of the city's $375,000 in G.O. Improvement Bonds, as discussed on July 31st, when the city granted preliminary approval to accept the proposal offered by Freeport State Bank for a 15 year payment schedule with a 4.30% interest rate. Drown stated that he had increased the face amount from the original $360,000 offered by the bank to add capitalized interest, since no income would be derived in the early years and thus, he also revealed that principal payments of $10,000 would not begin until the year 2005. A call provision was also added; so that the city could retire the bonds early, if they so chose.
Freeport State Bank President Jim Hemker was on hand to object to these features, stating that the bank had not included these options in its offering letter of July 17, 2002.
He also was critical of the fees being imposed upon the city and with that, Drown went on to explain the costs associated with this transaction, including a line item that called for a $5,000 fee for tax increment administration. Since there were apparently several unresolved issues, Drown suggested that the resolution awarding the sale be delayed until such time as he had time to confer with the bank and amend any provisions. The council agreed and by consent, the matter was deferred until the next council meeting.
Joel Dasher, Public Works Supervisor, appeared to review his written comments concerning several projects underway. He also mentioned that the recent training workshop held in Watertown was very informative and he had the opportunity to see actual field sessions, with many new products tested the day of the meeting. He went on to explain the results of the storm sewer televising in the alley behind the Obermiller house that verified that a telephone cable had penetrated the pipe, thus causing a restriction that interfered with the drainage in this area. Albany Mutual Telephone has been informed of the situation and has agreed to pay for the cost of moving the cable and making the necessary repairs to the alley. He concluded his remarks by summarizing the costs of the softball field maintenance for the summer and to date, he calculated over $2,600 had been expensed thus far. He also revealed that Mayer's Inc. would be coming over soon to make repairs to the underground sprinkler system and bury the line to a depth of 2 feet and he would report back on this work. Permission to prepare a replacement riding mower proposal worksheet was granted by members so that some consideration may be made to purchase a new mower this fall.
The results of a special EDA Board meeting held earlier today was given by the mayor and the clerk, who both stated that the Freeport Roller Mills is in the process of consolidating their Belgrade, St. Joseph and Freeport plants. The EDA today had merely acted in a fact-finding session, Clerk Heinen indicated, and after meeting with the Bestes', the EDA's action was to present a proposal next Wednesday. This proposal will have to include recommendations from the city engineer and financial consultant, since the cost of assessments will hinge on the sewer and water layouts and the amount of tax increment assistance will first require a determination of the value of the 15 acre complex being planned by Freeport Roller Mills. It is anticipated that after the EDA has heard from its staff consultants next Wednesday noon, it will call the Bestes' in for a presentation and should they accept the offer, the city council may have to act in a special meeting next Wednesday night following a scheduled public hearing. Because the meeting with Freeport Roller Mills took so long, no action was taken on other EDA issues, namely the approval of the Freeport Properties LLC and Middendorf land purchase and land sale documents respectively, stated the clerk.
The council studied a letter dated 8/10/02 from Attorney Scott Dymoke sent to Franklin Sign Company, asking them to execute all four copies of the release of existing easement and creation of new easement, relating to portions of the Industrial park. As of this date, the documents had not been returned and the clerk reported that the legal counsel representing Franklin was reviewing these agreements so it may be several days before the council would know if they have been executed.
New Business
A request for a building permit to be issued for a replacement dwelling on Lot 6, Block 8,
Town site of Freeport, dated 8/01/02 and submitted by Judy Hoppe, was introduced for action. Since the council had recently rezoned the property in question from a R1 to a C1 District, the council denied the request and asked the clerk to respond to this affect to the applicant.
The clerk provided information from the 4M Fund, an alternative investment firm, which offered an option for placing money market and monies for CD purchases. The council chose not to amend the city's investment policy at this time but agreed to study the matter in the future since the rates of interest were slightly higher than the local institutions.
Pending payables amounting to $9,745.13 were submitted for consideration. After viewing the list, Heidgerken moved to authorize payment, s/Boelter. On a voice vote, the motion carried, 5-0.
A letter from the legal counsel for U.S Cable indicated that the prior Resolution No. 2002-19, adopted by the council on 7/31/02, did not meet the criteria to approve the consent to alter the majority control of the firm. As a result, the members agreed to have the clerk forward the letter on to Attorney Robert Vose, who earlier had prepared the document in question for council passage, to see if another resolution required drafting.
Following the reading of several items of correspondence not requiring action on the part of the council, the meeting was declared adjourned at 11:05 P.M., by unanimous consent.
