Staff persons on hand were Rich Romness of Bolton & Menk, Joel Dasher and Joe Heinen.

Staff Reports

A draft preliminary plat II within the Industrial Park, prepared by SEH surveyor Sam DeLeo, was studied by councilmembers and included two Lots along with two large outlots, consisting of some 74 acres not included in plat I. It was noted that Lot 1 was devoted solely to the Bestes' new plant site with Lot 2 comprised of 20.5 acres that would include 15 acres under the right of first refusal clause now part of the purchase agreement with the Bestes'. Although the city did not ask for this 20.5 acre site, DeLeo stated in his notes that he had used this acreage to account for the fact that slightly over 5 acres was wetlands and not eligible for construction use. The clerk was instructed to seek feedback from both the Bestes' and the Middendorf Brothers Partnership, since they would ultimately need to sign the plat, in order to determine if this draft was satisfactory to all involved.

Also part of the Industrial Park discussion was a letter dated 10/28/02, written by Attorney Scott Dymoke, calling to the city's attention that the northern tier of the current Middendorf land may be owned by Al Beste, after some conern had been raised by the legal counsel working for Phil Osendorf had done a title search on the land abutting I-94.

Dymoke hinted that this finding should not be of great concern and stated that he, along with City Attorney William Meyer are resolving this issue with Al Beste. Discussion on the park concluded with the clerk stating that he had received a phone call from Karen Young indicating that Xcel Energy would be providing the necessary 3-phase electrical service at no cost to the city and he revealed that he asked this utility to provide this fact in writing to the city.

After studying an application from Sacred Heart Parish to conduct a raffle on January 19, 2003, on the parish grounds, Thelen moved to grant a licensing exemption permit for this function, s/Humbert. On a 3-0 vote, the motion carried.

At 8:40 P.M., member Greg Boelter arrived to participate in the evening's business.

Harold Sand, acting on behalf of David Anderson, appeared to speak to the council about his plans to clean up both Lots 1 and 2 of Block 1, Welle's Country Acres, and asked that city staff terminate any future plans to spend additional time in picking up debris. He also stated that he has begun to eliminate this nuisance but due to the recent rains, his equipment now sinks in and he sought to obtain a time extension from the council but assured the members that he would be responsible for the lots' cleanup. The council consented to offering him the added time needed to address this problem but stated that Anderson would be billed for any labor already utilized at the site.

Joel Dasher introduced a written report of various public works issues and his first comment passed along the fact that some 25% of the sanitary sewer lines had been cleaned with the aid of John Harren. He also provided a quotation sheet from the firm of Display Sales that outlined the costs for supplying 17 new Christmas street decorations at a cost of $4,760 delivered, excluding sales tax. After selecting several different designs, Humbert introduced a motion to authorize the purchase, utilizing a $3,000 donation from the Freeport Lions Club with the city making up the difference. Boelter seconded the motion and by a voice vote, the motion was adopted by a 4-0 vote. The issue of buying U.S. flags, following an earlier request by the Chamber of Commerce to spend some $1,246 for 28 3x5 nylon flags, was deferred by consent until the spring of 2003. Dasher also addressed the recent street repairs near Sacred Heart Church on CAR #157 for a faulty water line and also submitted a copy of a letter sent to Thull Excavating, stating that the city would be billing this firm for water line repairs on 3rd Avenue SE, after the previous hot mix installed had settled due to poor compaction. Dasher also revealed that Danny's Disposal would be conducting the annual leaf pickup and a copy of a notice to be placed in the Melrose Beacon and prepared by the clerk should alert all residents of this upcoming event. Dasher also asked that his accumulated personal banked hours of 25.37 be cashed out at his former hourly wage rate of $12.55, after one year of employment was now completed. Humbert offered a motion to grant this request, s/Boelter, with all voting in the affirmative.

Although the group was presented with the agenda and supporting material for the 10/23/02 EDA Board meeting, the clerk explained that this meeting was cancelled due to a lack of a quorum. Heinen indicated that all of the pending matters would be added back to the next scheduled meeting on November 20th.

The clerk next presented the 3rd quarter budget summary that revealed 85.6% of revenues were receipted for the year while expenditures stood at 65.7%. Currently, he added, the city had taken in some $104,601 more than expensed and all funds had a healthy balance on hand. Also, third quarter land use summary was distributed to the council to show these quarterly and year/to/date figures:

Category 3rd Quarter Year/Date

  • Building permits 10 29
  • New valuation 160,525 441,319
  • Permit fees 1,089 3,197
  • Fee disposition
  • Bldg official 2,453
  • State/MN 171
  • City retained 433
  • Zoning Permits 2 5
  • Zoning fees 30 60

Members of the council thanked the clerk for his specific numbers to detail and asked that this type of information be continued in future quarters.

The list of pending claims, amounting to $38,869.29, was submitted for review. After a brief question and answer session on some of the specific vendors, Thelen moved to approve payment with the exception of these claims, until further explanation is received:

  • David Drown Associates $6,238.32 TIF District 1-2 creation
  • 6,290.01 TIF District 1-3 creation
  • 5,950.00 $375,000 bond sale

Boelter then seconded the motion and all voted to adopt the amended claims register.

A written letter from Norb Renneker, complaining about the condition of a neighboring property with used oil and other hazardous material on the site, was acknowledged and the clerk was instructed to research the situation and, if necessary, inform the fire chief that an inspection with state agencies might be order. The complaint also informed the group about the junk accumulation on the property and this too, was in need of a site inspection by staff to see if a nuisance violation notice was warranted.

Several items of correspondence, including the election judges schedule for November 5th and an invitation for Attorney Scott Dymoke to address the council about further controls of billboards within the city, were passed along, with no action required at this time.

By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 P.M.