Staff persons on hand were Joel Dasher, Anton Massmann, and Paul Hetland.

Hennen moved and Goebel seconded a motion to approve the outstanding claims as presented by staff. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Grader and Trailer Bids

Council and staff opened and read aloud the bids for the city grader and lawn tractor-trailer. Humbert moved and Hennen seconded a motion approving the winning grader bid to Mark Dziengel for $1500. Discussion offered. Motion carried. Worms moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving the winning lawn tractor-trailer bid to Tony Reuter for $56.00. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Liquor License Renewals

Hetland brought to the Council’s attention that there were two entities that were in compliance to have their licenses renewed, that is – their insurance documentation, fees paid in full, and documents completed were in order. Humbert moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving the on-sale liquor license renewal for the Freeport Softball Club. Discussion offered. Motion carried with Hennen abstaining. Worms moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving the on and off-sale liquor license for Ackie’s Pioneer Inn. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Proposed New City Hall

Hetland brought to the Council’s attention a letter written by attorney William G. Meyer dated May 20, 2003 in response to his request to give legal counsel in the matter of the omission of bid bonds from four out of the nine bid submissions. In response to legal counsel’s recommendations, the City Council approved the following motions. Humbert moved and Goebel seconded a motion to reject all bids and re-advertise for bids. Discussion offered. Motion carried. Goebel moved and Humbert seconded a motion approving Resolution 2003-12 accepting the revised city hall plans and specifications, subject to final review and approval by the Mayor and the City Clerk. Discussion offered. It was noted that the Council will receive a report from the Mayor and City Clerk at the next meeting and to pass a second resolution accepting the plans and specifications unconditionally. Motion carried. Humbert moved and Goebel seconded a motion approving Resolution 2003-13 approving Cole Group Architects, Inc. for the purposes of preparing the plans and specifications and supervision of the proposed city hall project. Discussion offered. Motion carried. The timeline for the bid process would be as follows: the bids would be due at City Hall by 12:00 PM on Monday, June 23, 2003. The EDA would review the bids at a special meeting at that time and make their recommendation to Council. After review of the EDA and architect, the Council would review the bids at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, June 25, 2003.

Public Works Report

Dasher provided Council with written and verbal reports. East half of third street water passed pressure test on this day. Security system is operating well. Annual Nitrate test was passed. A second pond discharge is not possible now due to the TSS levels. The day before the ponds were mowed and trimmed. Some spraying of the dikes were also completed. The new mower was a time saver and the quality of the cut was noticeably improved. Discussion surrounding the infiltration problem on the north lines seems to suggest sump pump connections. All sewer lines are below the water level. If the infiltration is coming from leaks, it would be more continuous. Dasher requested setting up an inspection schedule to investigate for illegal connections.

Hennen Lumber requested that the account for the wastewater line in the warehouse be eliminated due to the fact that the line will no longer be hooked up. Humbert moved and Worms seconded a motion to disconnect service with the understanding that if service were to be reconnected, a $3800 minimum charge would be assessed for the connection of sanitary sewer service. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Banners and flags were installed with the assistance of Chris Williams with Tree Service of Minnesota. Discussion took place regarding the taking down and display of flags for holidays. It was agreed upon by Council that the flags would remain up during Memorial Day through Flag Day and to Independence Day at which time their condition would be evaluated and a decision made whether they should come down and then replaced for Labor Day and subsequently for Veterans’ Day.

A proposal was presented from Loren’s Lawn Service to spray for weed control on city property. Worms moved and Humbert seconded a motion to approve Option 2 which would include the first 7 locations as described in the proposal, and broken down into $396.90 for spray, $148.00 for fertilizer, and $35.42 for sales tax totally $580.32. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Industrial Park Project

Rich Romness was present to report on the status of the Industrial Park Project. He reported that Kuechle Underground would not be on site the following day, but Bauerly Brother’s would be finishing the gravel work. Worms moved and Goebel seconded a motion to approve the use of 2 feet, or what is necessary, of sand and topsoil available on location to fill in the areas where the lots needed to be slopped for proper water drainage. Discussion offered. Motion carried. Romness stated that he would retrieve a quote on how much material would be needed to complete the task and report to Council. Romness also stated that pavement could be completed by the end of the following week.

City Clerk’s Report

3rd St. NE

Hetland and Massmann reported that the sub-cutting of the street was completed. The stubs will be will be added shortly and the services are approximately a week and half a away. Regarding the back lot south of 3rd Street NE, staff walked through with on-site coordinator Dale Claude from SEH to discuss the construction process for the sewer line. Staff informed Council that all property line owners will be contacted prior to digging.

Hetland also reported that he attending a second meeting with the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce regarding the proposed tax free zones and reported his findings to the Council. He also reported that he closed on the Welle Country Acres lots 10, 11, 12, and 13 on Wednesday, May 21 with Homecraft Builders for a final cost of $75,870.68. Hetland reported that the water truck was official out for bid as directed by Council. The opening of the bids would be Tuesday, June 17 at 12:00 PM at City Hall with John Gilk and Paul Hetland. The bids would then be reviewed at a special meeting the City Council and ASFA on Wednesday, June 18 at a Special Meeting as called by the mayor.

City Web Site

Hetland brought to the Council’s attention the need to update a number of elements on the city web site. Thelen moved and Worms seconded a motion to update the web site with current information for an amount as presented by staff not to exceed $150. Discussion offered. Motion carried.

Hetland also provided information regarding Board of Directors openings for the League of Minnesota Cities. He updated Council regarding correspondences. Dana Beuning has been contacted that he must clean the soil from his curb and gutter or be charged for the clean up by the end of the week. Jessica Shaffner began work as the new Summer Recreation Director on Tuesday, May 27 and the program will run from June 9 through August 1, 2003 (8 weeks). He also informed the Council that the foreclosure hearings for Lots 3 and 4 in the Welle Country Acres will be Thursday, June 5 at the Stearns County Courthouse.

Hetland brought forward the information for Joel Dasher’s review and due to time constraints, the Council advised him to revisit the review at the next meeting.

By call of the chair, the Council recessed at 9:05 PM. The Council reconvened at 9:07 PM.

Report From Pete Carlson, SEH

On the issue to the storm sewer drainage in the block east of 2nd Ave. NE and south of 3rd St. NE, Carlson discussed his proposal to complete the project. Worms moved and Humbert seconded a motion approval the proposal for the project at a proposed cost of $4500.00 for approximately 310 feet of pipe. Discussion offered. Motion carried with Thelen abstaining.

Downtown Parking Lot Proposal

Regarding the downtown parking lot, Carlson brought forward an estimate of just grading the existing gravel without rebuilding the road at a cost of $50,000 versus $60,000 if rebuilt. There was substantial discussion regarding the cost and necessity of the pavement. Worms moved and Humbert seconded a motion to table the issue of paving the downtown parking lot. Motion carried.

3rd St. NE Project

Carlson reported that the work on 3rd St. NE should be concluded by the end of June.

7th St. SW Project

On questions regarding 7th St. SW, Carlson did not think that SEH would need to redraw the area plans should the Council decide to assign the project to his firm. He would review the plans and formally report to the Council upon request at the next meeting on June 11.

Sanitary Sewer Ponds

On the issue regarding the stabilization of our sanitary sewer ponds, Carlson reported that the necessary permits are on hold with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and expected a delay due to staff and program cuts in light of the state budget crisis. His proposal is to bring up the dike a half a foot higher than the original, from a 4:1 to a 3:1 slope. The cost estimate was approximately $150,000. There was discussion on the addition of more fill to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future, but the analysis from the geo-technical experts at SEH (and one other source) concluded that the proposal was the best option. Too little fill would not solve the problem and too much could cause damage to the structure underground. Carlson would investigate more sources for fill in the area that would be approved for use on the project and report to Council on his findings.

Council requested Hetland to look into the two new laws – one concerning later bar closing and the other regarding “conceal-and-carry.”

Goebel moved and Hennen seconded a motion to adjourn the Council meeting at 10:20 P.M. Motion carried.