Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commission Erickson via Zoom and Commissioner Gulmon

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Department Reports

Sanitation Department

Sanitation Supervisor Swart stated everyone now has their CDL permits. We are out of wood chips until spring.

Water Department

Water Superintendent Hesch reported water use has gone up a little bit likely due to people cleaning things up getting ready to store them. October the plant was ran 241 hours which was 33 hours less than in September. September daily average usage was almost 880,000.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 7 outages for October, 1 bird, 4 squirrels, 1 track hoe and some bad underground. The electrical has been blinking the last couple days but that is Otter Tail that lost a line between here and Jamestown. Christmas decorations are starting to go up. Previously we would pay customers to put their service in underground at $3/foot, we would like to raise that to $4/foot.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson stated they completed 23 tours around the station for Fire Prevention month. The open house and dedication took place.  Tonight, the new truck will go into service and there will be a traditional truck pushing ceremony.

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher stated they hired a new officer that will start on Thursday.

Street Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reminded everyone to have their garbage out by 7 AM.  The end of the year hydrant and flushing program is completed.  Working on tearing down some houses.  Brockopp’s had a sewer disconnect from the main and has caused a sinkhole in the alley. The lagoon discharge will happen this month to create some storage for winter.

Administration

City Administrator Crawford stated every 5 years we switch to a different insurance company, usually they were just drawn out of a hat.  There is one company left in line to do that so we will fulfill that but going forward we will put it out for bids. We received notification that we were awarded the Urban Grant Program that we applied for the 2^nd St. N project.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $2,421,095.56 of expenditures for October.

Discuss Contractors License

City Administrator Crawford requested the $4,000 requirement to get a license be lowered. Consensus was to lower it to $1,000.

Update of Viking Court

City Administrator Crawford stated they are hoping the concrete products will be available in time so they don’t need to use the steel at temporary fixes.

Consensus was to allow one more month and an update will be provided on November 15^th.

Update on the Elks Building

Chad Petersen updated that at this point the gates and some other materials are ordered and the shop drawings were received back from the supplier and set up to be delivered to PW. We are set up to start receiving bids the 1^st week of December.

Discuss Viking Drive Bridge Reconstruction

The county was awarded money for the reconstruction of Viking Drive Bridge. There would be no rise.  There is a water main underneath along with sewer that may be affected by the pilings. The watermain is scheduled to be moved in Phase 5. The county asked if we would look at moving the water line when the project is done so there aren’t issues with the pilings. The State Water Commission will allow us to pull that out of Phase 5 and do it early.

Discuss Possibility to Purchase Property or have Garden on City Property in Crestwood

We were offered $2,000 for a section of property. The property is not buildable but Tina has it assessed at $10,500. Consensus was made to do more research and look into putting it up for bids. 

Discuss Purchase of Properties that are Subject to Tax Deed Proceedings.

There were three properties that were coming up for taxes due. When this comes up and there are assessments on the property, we are given the first option to purchase.  We would like to make so we do not have to get a motion each time a property comes up for sale.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at  4:40 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 2:30 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commission Erickson and Commissioner Gulmon

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Commission Topics

Discussion took place around the following topics:

            Discuss Contractor License.

            Discuss Single Family Dwellings being used as Multi Family Dwellings.

            Discuss Parking Ordinance 1108.

            Issues with Recycling.

Department Reports

Water Department

Water Superintendent Hesch reported water use has gone down. September the plant was ran 275 hours which was 35 hours less than in August. Water usage in august was 33,405 and as of September 30th it was 27,463.  August daily average usage was almost 1,100,000 and September was around 915,000 and will continue to drop.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported the transformer is getting assembled and tested and should be online the first part of November. We may have a buyer for the other one.  Working on trimming trees and building a 3-phase line on Brea for an upcoming tooling shop.  We had 7 outages, 1 tree, truck hit a power line snapping a pole, the others were squirrels. We also had a pole hit on 5^th Ave NE but didn’t cause an outage so just replaced the pole.

Sanitation Department

Sanitation Supervisor Swart requested everyone try to keep them clean.  Throw bags and boxes in dumpsters and do not put processed wood down there.  The Transfer Station will be open the 3^rd Saturdays of November and December from 8-12 and then we will determine if it is cost effective to continue.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson reported Fire Prevention week starts Saturday so we will be going to the schools and giving tours.  The 15^th there will be an open house at the Fire Hall.  11^th is the active shooter drill, there is limited participation allowed for that and those that are allowed should have received an invite. Blood Drive is the 11^th and 12^th as well. We just got back from NY and the truck is what we need so we did commit.  It should be here next week.

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher stated they are moving forward with bidding out the towing so we can have established fees.  There have been 2 interviews for our open position, both good candidates.  Friday is also the first responder night at the VCHS football game.

Street Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reported salt/sand is mixed and ready for winter.  Fall hydrant program will be starting soon. Flood buyouts and condemned houses are on the list to do yet too.

Administration

City Administrator Crawford stated she will be joining the Devils Lake outlet committee that Mary Lee Nielson was previously a member.  We are receiving calls that there is a blind spot coming out of Stoudt Ross and KLJ, and there have been a couple accidents, they are requesting that gets moved down to 25.

Finance Director Richter broke down the quarterly engineering services report.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $1,844,866 of expenditures for September.

Fire Extinguisher Services Financial Report

Finance Director Richter read through the report.

Discuss Stilling Well

City Administrator Crawford stated with the changes being made to the Little Dam they will no longer be using the stilling well and are considering making it some sort of monument.

Discuss 8^th Ave SE Expansion-Request to Fund Partial Road

City Administrator Crawford stated this is an expansion by Meadow View that was approved.  The developer has asked us to look into funding a portion of the road.

Consensus was made to move forward.

Discuss Public Works Rate Increases

Public Works Manager requested approval for rate increases for electrical, water and garbage departments effective the first billing after January 1^st.

Updated on Viking Trailer Court.

David Wick via Zoom advised they are waiting for the delivery of the culverts and once those are received, they have contractors that can put them in.  If they don’t get them in time, they will use steel for now and replace them when they get the concrete. This would be the first phase.
Update on Elks Building

Chad Petersen updated that at this point we are in position to order the materials and then revise the plan documents to show that the materials are owned and on had by the city.

Discuss Replat of Metes and Bounds

City Administrator Crawford stated there has been some discussion from Miller Motors and the Theater about doing some upgrades and in order to get a building permit the areas cannot be a Metes and Bounds area.  David Wick has agreed to pay for a portion of the area outlined and discussion will take place with the other property owners to do the same.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 4:36 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commission Erickson, and Commissioner Gulmon

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Department Reports

Sanitation Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reported that Dustin passed his test and received his CDL and Cameron passed the general knowledge portion. Gloria has started teaching the Class B CDL.  Reminder to have your garbage out by 7 AM and thanks to all that have used the grass site and kept it clean this year.

City Administrator Crawford explained the reason we are not able to accept shingles that have not been tested for asbestos is because of the way we are permitted. Not all cities are permitted the same and some may be able to take them without being tested.

Street Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reported the annual cleaning of the master lift station is done and working on cleaning all other lift stations. There are a few curb-stops repairs that will be fixed and a fire hydrant that needs replacing.  Painting has been in process and working on trees.  Salt has been ordered and new pickup is in.

Water Department

Water Superintendent Hesch reported water use has gone down.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 1 outage due to bad underground. Purple lamps are being swapped. We received 3 bids on selling the used transformer. Recommendation is to let the transformer sit on our property for a year and we get $60,000 which is an additional $40,000 than the bids received and it’s not hurting anything where it sits.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson reported on the fire report for August. Trucks all passed pumper test, the one is border line so will need to be replaced soon. There will be an active shooter drill taking place at the college on the 22^nd.

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher reported they are still hiring and have received zero applications. Calls have picked up recently with college being back in session.  Ford has delayed building the car again.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $2,355,850.48 of expenditures for July.

Discuss Utility Fund

City Administrator Crawford stated there was a request to allow people to “round-up” on their utility bills in order to allow those funds to be donated to elderly people that are having issues paying their bills.

Eide Bailly Audit Report at 4PM

Courtney Richman presented the audit findings giving the city a “clean” report.

Update on Elks Building

Chad Petersen updated that at this point we are in position to order the materials and then revise the plan documents to show that the materials are owned and on had by the city.

Update on Lead Line Inventory& Replacement

Tracy Eslinger provided an update that the cost share for the project has changed requiring the city to cover more so at this time we are waiting on a grant to continue.

Discuss RV and Vehicle Parking

City Attorney Martineck stated the change to the RV parking is that they would be allowed from April 1-Sepetmber 30 but no longer than 14 days and are still subject to any other parking and traffic rules and be parked in front of their own residence.

We also cleaned up the ordinance so there was consistency.

After discussion, decision was made to have further discussion on some areas of the ordinance.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at ­4:50 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Gulmon, Commissioner Magnuson via Zoom

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Department Reports

Sanitation Department

Sanitation Supervisor Swart reminded everyone to have their garbage set out before 7:00 AM.  There are a couple of employees that are working towards their CDL.

Water Department

Water Superintendent Hesch reported we are dry now and people are out watering.  Water usage for July was 34,543,000 and in June it was 29,360,000 and the average has gone from June 980,000 to 1,114,000 in July.  The Department of Environmental Quality came for an inspection and we received 5 stars.  We are working on making sure every building has a meter in it so we can account for all the water.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 3 outages-1 pump failed splice and 2 trees.  There were 4 new businesses or buildings that needed hook ups.  Gaukler’s is ready to go when the meters come in.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson reported on the fire report for July. 

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher reported there were interviews for the open position taking place and one that will have a background check take place.

Street Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reported the hydrants have been flushed.  There was another leak in Crestwood that was fixed and looks like a fresh slide happened.  Next week school crossings will be starting to get painted. The annual master lift cleaning is scheduled for the night of August 11^th.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $1,295,553.85 of expenditures for July.

Discuss Addition of 7^th St NW to Storm Water Phase II

Chad Petersen stated it was discussed adding 5^th Ave to 6thAve to this project due to it being in poor condition and having no infrastructure.  There is also 7^th St NW corridor between 6^th Ave and 5^th Ave and the watermain along that corridor.  That was last overlaid in 2002, the storm sewer is in good shape.  Due to the watermain being old and the road being in poor condition and that being an outlier we are looking to tie that on to this bigger project and we are looking for a consensus to do this.

Gwen and Clint discussed other infrastructure projects that they have been working on that need repairs but are not part of any other projects.

Discuss NW Expansion Proposal

City Administrator Crawford stated Valley Realty is in the process of purchasing 10 acres west of 9^th Ave NW to develop into single home lots.  They are requesting 12^th St NW be extended approximately 800 feet to a proposed intersection with a road to be named 12^th Ave NW.  They are also requesting the City to extend the services to this intersection.  Next year there is the water tower study so we would have to discuss if this is something, we would want to do so we know what to move forward with a water tower.  Chad Petersen added that if this is something that will move forward, we will need to allow time to work with the railroad to get right of way for the 12^th St corridor to extend.

Commission requested additional information to review such as how many homes, timeline and if the ARPA money can be used.

Discuss Adjusted Role for Gloria

City Administrator Crawford stated with the additional job duties in that role such as the upcoming CDL training we are proposing promoting Gloria to a B32 from her current B31.

Discuss Next Steps for Remnants after Fire at 925 2^nd St SE.

City Attorney Martineck will meet with Scott and Gwen and develop the most time efficient plan to move forward.

Discuss Ordinance to Amend and Reenact sections of the Valley City Municipal Code Related to Parking and Storage of Vehicles, Boats and Trailers.

Meetings will take place with the Police Chief, City Attorney, City Administrator, Commissioner Erickson and Commissioner Bishop to discuss the specifics.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at ­4:45 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 2:30 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Gulmon, Commissioner Magnuson

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Commission Topics

Discussion took place around the following topics:

            Estimated 2023 Prairie Dog Funding

            Fargo Landfill Contract

Department Reports

Sanitation Department

Sanitation Supervisor Swart reported they got a new compost turner and have been borrowing a magnet to drag to help prevent flat tires. There is a good pile of wood chips ready for residents to get.  Please make sure your garbage is out by 7:00 AM.  There has been cross-training taking place so the times might not be the same each time and we will not come back if it is not out by 7:00 AM.  There is a culvert that needs to be fixed at the Transfer Station by the main gate and may affect traffic.

Water Department

Water Superintendent Hesch reported we are dry now and people are out watering so we are working some Sundays.  There are signs of some algae bloom.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 5 outages-3 squirrels, 1 bird and 1 tree. Lights are being replaced and trees are being trimmed.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson reported on the fire report for June.  New rescue truck is now on-line.  There are several community events the Fire Department will be participating in.

Fire extinguishers numbers are lower than anticipated.  Part of this is due to permits and the rise in nuisance calls so there will be a plan in place to streamline these and next time you’ll see a rise in the numbers.

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher reported there will be an exercise with VCSU for a mass casualty incident and the plan is to do a drill sometime in August or September. There is another opening for a police officer again.

Street Department

Operations Supervisor Klemisch reported they are flushing hydrants. The forester has been busy so trees are getting worked on too, and mowing is a full-time job for a few people.

Administration

Finance Director Richter presented the engineering quarterly report which shows we are where we should be.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $2,600,650.21 in expenses for June.

Discuss Contractor License

City Administrator Crawford stated the electricians, plumbers, HVAC all need to be licensed, but contractors do not.  Many years ago, there was one in place but through an initiated ordinance it was eliminated.  Discussion took place regarding whether or not to require contractors to have a license.

Update on Elks.

Chad from KLJ stated they are soliciting quotes for the gates for the discharge to order ahead of time. Hoping to have the bid opening beginning of August.  Construction will be scheduled to take place next spring.  

Discuss City Holiday Schedule

City Attorney Martineck provided a comparison of the city, state, federal and county holidays.  Discussion took place around if any changes should be made to the current schedule.  

Discuss 2022 Spring Flood Updates

City Administrator Crawford reported that she heard July 25^th Biden will declare the federal emergency.  With the steps that need to take place we can start the process and if it isn’t declared we can hold the bids for 30 days if needed.

Discuss Existing Ordinances Related to Parking and Storage of Vehicles, Boats and Trailers.

City Attorney Martineck stated the ordinances currently in place are not easily enforced. The plan is to take the current ordinances and add how it will be enforced and the procedures that will take place.

Update on Crestwood

Operations Superintendent Klemish stated they are running with new water line. We will see if there is any federal funding for this area to have another study on the stability of the ground.

Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at ­4:56 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:35 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Gulmon, Commissioner Magnuson

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Department Reports

Sanitation Department

Operations Superintendent Klemisch reported that the 3^rd truck is not up and running yet so just using 2 trucks for clean-up week.  One of our new hires passed half their CDL permit, just need to do the air-brake portion.

Electric Department

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 4 outages-3 squirrels and one bad underground. Took down some flood walls and will start on the street lighting on 6^th St. Brandon is now back to full time.

Fire Department

Fire Chief Magnuson reported that it was almost a record setting month on calls. The building is 99.9% complete.  The new rescue truck showed up and the radio was put in.

Police Department

Police Chief Hatcher reported the autism fundraiser has finished up with right around $4600 being raised.  We are still working on bringing a program here. The new officer showed up on June 1^st so we are full staffed again.

Street Department

Operations Supervisor Klemisch reported they were busy with clean-up week and the flood has set them behind. Water nodes are in and being exchanged. Crestwood has two water breaks.  We tried fixing one but the hill just keeps sliding so for safety reasons we pulled the guys out. We’re looking at options, there’s a lot of movement going on up there.

Review monthly bills/reports

Finance Director Richter reported $1,574,550 in expenses for May.

Update on Elks.

Chad from KLJ stated they only received one bid on this project.  The engineer’s estimate was $250,000 and the bid was $375,000. We would like to rebid and have it installed early next year. We would also request the City purchase the flap gate and some of the other longer lead time materials so we can get them here and KLJ would reimburse at 100%. This would help expedite things and they would be under the City’s warranty. 

Discuss outdoor seating during warm weather for Main and Central.

City Administrator Crawford stated other cities have food or drinks in downtown outdoor seating areas and it has been requested that we look into it.

Discuss Changing the date of the June 21^st Commission Meeting and July Finance & Commission Meetings. 

Due to Conflicts and the holiday it was requested to change the upcoming meetings from June 21^st to June 22^nd and July 5 to July 7^th.

Discuss City Utility Disposition Letter.

City Administrator Crawford stated this did not need discussion at this time.

Discuss Options for Nextera Extension on Water Main.

City Administrator Crawford stated it would be best for the city if we brought the main down further for further growth.

Discuss NDDOT Transportation Alternative Program-Winter Show Shared-Use Path. 

money.

Chad from KLJ stated the state sent out a notification that they are changing the guidelines of what the Path program looks like, basically how they are funding projects and the cap levels. We would like to resubmit the request due to the new cap levels.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at ­4:45 PM.

Called To Order

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Roll Call

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Gulmon, Commissioner Magnuson (4:03)

Others Present:  City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Administrative Assistant Johnson

Department Reports

Commissioner Erickson reported for sanitation that the transfer station will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m.-noon.

Water Superintendent Hesch reported not much different from last time. Water table is fairly high, aquifer is looking good. Pumpage has been down, people are listening when they have been asked to conserve water usage. Right now, we have no issues getting chemicals.   

Electrical Superintendent Senf reported 1 outage-secondary fault by Riverview Drive.  Making arrangements to get that replaced.  It’s the second fault so we’ll replace as needed.  Getting prepared for summer.

Fire Chief Magnuson reported days away from building being completed.  Rescue truck should be here by the end of the week.

Police Chief Hatcher reported that they made their final hire and are fully staffed again.  The new hire will start June 1^st and is coming from Grafton with about 12 years of service. New engine in one vehicle and other vehicle will be built the end of May.

Operations Supervisor Klemisch reported Nick Yokom passed his test and is now a fully certified operator for our systems.

City Administrator Crawford reported on the plan moving forward.  We had a meeting regarding the flood walls and how they will be put back. Cory and Marshall were put in charge of this and they would like to have sections of the flood wall be color coated and stenciled so next time anyone can do it and the time to do it will be significantly reduced.

Clint added that we can make a slow return to normal and would like the river at 12’ before we have people go back to complete normal meaning until then to still conserve water when possible.  The car washes are now open but we’d like people to limit washing their cars. All pumps running at 17’, if one goes down at that time we have to pump back into the river and then we have to get the health department involved.  On a normal day we pump around 700,000 gallons in a 24-hour period.  Last 19-hour time stamp we were over 2.5 million gallons. We need to decide what to do with the clay.

Gwen added that we’ve been trying to keep notes throughout all this so we can make sure our permanent flood protection plans that are in place align with the process and will make changes as needed.

The flood hotline will be cancelled after today.

Rich said the current outflow will be held today.  The will continue to monitor and adjust as needed as there is another system of precipitation coming through. 

Review the monthly bills/reports.

Finance Director Richter broke down the $2,138,000 million in expenditures for April.

Discuss VCSU Application for Tourism Development Grant/Loan.

Mary Lee Nielson with the Visitor’s Committee reported this was a unanimous recommendation from the Visitor’s Committee.  It was also put on that you pay $75,000 minimum/year but we would like if you are able to pay more to do that to help pay things down earlier and save money.

Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at ­4:50 PM.