The City Commission Meeting will begin on Thursday, July 20, 2021 at 7:00 AM CT, at City Commission Chambers, 254 2nd Avenue NE, Valley City, ND.
The meeting is also available to view online https://zoom.us/j/97295012373 or listen by calling (1 346 248 7799) Webinar ID: 972 9501 2373
Pledge of Allegiance (please stand)
N1. Discuss 2022 Budget.
Roll Call: Magnuson Erickson Gulmon Bishop Carlsrud
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 8:15 AM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Gulmon
Approve Raffle Permit for the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway Foundation.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Consider Possible Burn Ban/Fireworks Options.
Fire Chief Magnuson stated he had been in contact with Sue Lloyd, the Emergency Manager, and our thought with the recent rain to not do anything regarding the fireworks at this time.
Consensus was made to leave things as is right now.
Approve Third and Final Reading of Ordinance No. 1085, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Chapter 08-07 and Section 11-05-11 and to repeal Title 13 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Mobile Park Regulations.
Commissioner Bishop requested this be added to next agenda when City Attorney Martineck would be present.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:23 AM.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Gulmon, City Administrator Crawford and City Attorney Martineck.
No Changes
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve the minutes from the June 1st meetings seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Block off Street Request Along 4th Ave SW from 4th St. to 6th St. SW for On the Move Let’s Walk Valley City Event held on July 19th, 2021 from 5PM to 8 PM.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to close the hearing, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Public Hearing to Consider Development Plan and Developer’s Agreement for Valley Plains Equipment (Nextera Properties).
City Attorney Martineck stated the purpose is to discuss the Developer’s Agreement and Development Plan for Valley Plains. Essentially the Commission has to find that this is in the best interest for the City, mark this as appropriate for development and a TIF. The total value of the project with the land and the building will be $4.5 million. We would need $57,000/year from the TIF to repay our $500,000 to the BND at 2% over 10 years. The anticipated revenue from that property based on that value would be almost $62,000.
Finance Director Richter stated she has not received a building value and was hoping Aaron could fill us in.
Aaron Raap stated he is trying to guesstimate on what was spent on the building in Jamestown and what that’s valued at and doing a comparison in size. One of the things we need to consider too is the issues we are having getting building materials so not sure if it will be enclosed this fall. The plan is to get the site work, foundation and hope that the steel shows up but no one can tell me when that will be coming in. From a timing standpoint on the TIF we thought we should bring that up. The $4.5 million is a conservative estimate. I expect it to be even more than that.
Tracey Eslinger stated we are hearing there are delays in receiving some of the materials but it may be taken care of by the time this is all ready. We are hoping to have everything ready and reviewed by July with bidding possibly taking place end of July early August giving the contractor an opportunity to start this year and get services tied in for at least the water and sewer. If the project doesn’t need actual services until 2022, there would be an opportunity to do that work in 2022. Tracey also recommended to not limit the TIF. Any increase in the TIF will pay off the loan quicker.
President Carlsrud declared public hearing open.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to close the hearing, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Resolution 2303, a Resolution Approving Developer’s Agreement and TIF for Valley Plains Equipment (Nextera Properties).
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance 1083, an Ordinance Approving the Annexation of Lot 2 Block 1 of Love’s Valley Addition.
City Attorney Martineck stated no change from the first reading.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final reading of Ordinance 1084, an Ordinance to Adopt and Enact section 12-01-11 of the Valley City Municipal Code re littering.
City Attorney Martineck stated no changes from the first reading.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve Second Reading of Ordinance 1085, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Chapter 08-07 and Section 11-05-11 and to repeal Title 13 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Mobile Park Regulations.
City Attorney Martineck stated as of right now there are no changes from the first reading but I did want to address the materials section 8-07-02. I was asked whether we should make changes to that section. The concern was about having a recreational vehicle or trailer in the front yard as long as it’s not impeding a line of site or blocking a sidewalk.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1086, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Subsection 2 of Section 15-01-19 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Responsibility for Utility Service Lines.
City Attorney Martineck stated the intent is to make clear who owns the underground infrastructure.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve Resolution 2301, a Resolution Creating Consolidated Sewer & Water District No. 59 (Nextera).
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve Resolution 2302, a Resolution Providing for the Issuance of City Sales Tax Revenue Bond, Series 2021, for the local share of Permanent Flood Protection.
Finance Director Richter stated back in December 2019 we asked for a loan for the local share for PFP from the State Water Commission and were approved for $3,676,600. We need to close on this loan and take a draw.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Resolution 2297, a Resolution Approving a Petition to Vacatate 15th Ave NE adjacent to Lots 4 & 5 of Block 1 of the Northern Pacific East Fourth.
City Attorney Martineck stated the Planning and Zoning Commission received a petition for the vacation. The property owners have reached an agreement to maintain that as a private road. The Planning and Zoning recommends approval.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve to Submit Application to the Bank of ND for loan for Fire Hall Addition.
Finance Director Richter stated in May we submitted an application for a loan to the Rural Development Corporation and received approval for a $300,000 loan 2% 10 year loan with 1% origination fee. The 2021 legislation has broadened the infrastructure loan fund to the BND and it now included buildings. It is still 2% and we don’t have a maximum. I recommend we apply for a $500,000 loan for the fire hall addition and ask for a 20 year loan.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Appointment for the Following Committees and Terms:
a. Planning & Zoning Commission-1 opening, 5 year term
b. Renaissance Zone Board-4 openings, 3 year term
c. Special Assessment Commission-1opening, 6 year term
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Quotes for Mill and Overlay on 2nd Ave SE.
Chad Petersen stated we received quotes from Border States and Strata. The engineer estimate was $70,112.50. Strata came in at $83,995 and $76,700, we recommend awarding the bid contract to Border States.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried
Approve Ending COVID 19 Emergency Resolution.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
City Administrator Crawford stated there is a lot of different pieces to the budget being discussed. We are also working through the policy manual so if there are any changes you would like to see send those in. The cleanup property has been a big learning curve for everyone because we are doing things the right way. We can tell word is getting out because people are coming to us and asking questions.
Finance Director Richter thanked those that volunteer their time for the various committees. It takes time out of their days and we appreciate it. The budget worksheets have been sent to the department heads.
PW Manager Jacobson reported the end of the second year of the recycling, the contract says he had to do 800 tons worth, we’re at 1266 tons. The garbage that we run to Fargo is slowly declining.
Chad Petersen from KLJ reported the 7th Ave 2nd Ave projects. The 7th Ave project by Pucklich they got the curb and gutter in this week south of Main Street and worked on some of the sidewalk work. Next week they are supposed to do the curb and gutter on 2nd Ave NE. Once that is done and cleared out they should do the paving on 7th Ave including intersection of Main St. and 2nd Ave. As long as nothing happens we should have pavement back in place on Main Street before July 4th. After that time frame 2nd Ave should be pretty wrapped up other than the driveways and sidewalk work in that area and then we’ll start Phase II. Streetscape we have been working with the contractor on getting things prepared for Rally in the Valley.
Commissioner Magnuson reminded everyone of Rally in the Valley and the Fireman’s Dedication.
President Carlsrud advised everyone to be safe in the heat. Cleaning up properties is important. Please think before you throw stuff and dispose of it properly. Business’ dumpsters are private. They are rented and are to be used for that business only, it is a misdemeanor. I encourage you to take part in our committees. It is rewarding. Chris Berg from KVLY including Valley City in the Small Town Spotlight.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:50 P.M.
The City Commission Meeting will begin on Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 at 5:00 PM CT, via Zoom.
Members of the public may view the meeting online https://zoom.us/j/96670258304 or listen by calling (1 346 248 7799) Webinar ID: 966 7025 8304
Approval of the Commission Minutes from June 15th and June 28th Meetings.
Roll Call: Magnuson Bishop Gulmon Erickson Carlsrud
Public Comments
Attorney General’s “A Citizen’s Guide to North Dakota Open Records & Open Meetings Laws” *A member of the public does not have the right to speak to the governing body at an open meeting. The public is only entitled to see and hear what happens at a meeting, and to record or broadcast those observations.
1. Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance No. 1086, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Subsection 2 of Section 15-01-19 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Responsibility for Utility Service Lines. (City Attorney Martineck)
Roll Call: Erickson Magnuson Bishop Gulmon Carlsrud
2. Approve Third and Final Reading of Ordinance No. 1085, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Chapter 08-07 and Section 11-05-11 and to repeal Title 13 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Mobile Park Regulations. (City Attorney Martineck)
Roll Call: Magnuson Erickson Gulmon Bishop Carlsrud
3. Approve First Reading of Ordinance No. 1087, an Oridinance to Amend and Reenact Section 14-12-02 of the Valley City Municipal Code Relating to Permits for Vehicles of Excessive Size and Weight.
Roll Call: Bishop Magnuson Erickson Gulmon Carlsrud
1. Approve Site Authorization Renewal for the North Dakota Winter Show from 7/1/2021 to 6/30/22. (Finance Director Richter)
Roll Call: Bishop Gulmon Erickson Magnuson Carlsrud
2. Approve Adding the $458,305.73 Refund from MRES to the 2021 Capital Budget for the new Public Works Service Center. (City Administrator Crawford)
Roll Call: Magnuson Bishop Gulmon Erickson Carlsrud
3. Approve Request from VCBCDC for $150,000 to support a business retention/expansion project. (Finance Director Richter)
Roll Call: Erickson Magnuson Bishop Gulmon Carlsrud
4. Approve using Covid Cares Funds for Speakers from Main St. to 4th St. N. (City Administrator Crawford)
Roll Call: Gulmon Erickson Magnuson Bishop Carlsrud
The City Commission Meeting will begin on Tuesday, July 6th, 2021 at 2:30 PM CT, at the City Commission Chambers, 254 2nd Avenue NE, Valley City, ND.
Members of the public may view the meeting online https://zoom.us/j/93612682161 or listen by calling (1 346 248 7799) Webinar ID: 936 1268 2161
a.Discuss Energy, Green & Base Load. (President Carlsrud)
2. Department reports.
3. Review monthly bills/reports (10 minutes) – (President Carlsrud)
4. Updated Information about Nextera. (City Administrator Crawford)
5. Quarterly Engineering Contract Fee Review. (City Administrator Crawford)
6. Discuss Reserving the $458,305.73 Refund from MRES for the New Public Works Service Center. (City Administrator Crawford)
7. Discuss Speakers for Central Ave. from Main Street to 4th Street North. (City Administrator Crawford)
8. Discuss Downtown Substation Upgrade. (Electrical Superintendent Senf)
9. Discuss Appointments to Planning and Zoning Commission. (City Attorney Martineck)
10. Year to Date Report of Fire Extinguisher business. (Fire Chief Magnuson)
11. Possible PFP Property Buyout. (City Administrator Crawford)
12. Leevers’ Parking Lot Restoration with 2023 Project. (City Administrator Crawford)
The City Commission Meeting will begin on Monday, June 28th, 2021 at 8:15 AM CT, at the City Commission Chambers, 254 2nd Avenue NE, Valley City, ND.
The meeting is also available to view online https://zoom.us/j/96369581680 or listen by calling (1 346 248 7799) Webinar ID: 963 6958 1680
Roll Call Magnuson Gulmon Erickson Bishop Carlsrud
2. Consider Possible Burn Ban/Fireworks Options. (President Carlsrud)
Roll Call Bishop Magnuson Gulmon Erickson Carlsrud
3. Approve Third and Final Reading of Ordinance No. 1085, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Chapter 08-07 and Section 11-05-11 and to repeal Title 13 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Mobile Park Regulations. (City Attorney Martineck)
Roll Call Erickson Bishop Magnuson Gulmon Carlsrud
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Erickson, and Commissioner Gulmon, City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck.
Removal of R1
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve the minutes from the May 18th meeting seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
C. Approve Block off the Street Request for City Lights Wiffle Ball World Series from 5 PM-12 AM on July 24th, 2021 for Elm St. to Parking Lot of City Lights.
D. Approve Raffle Permit for SHINE.
E. Approve 2021-2022 Renewal of Retail Tobacco Licenses for the following businesses:
a. CHS Inc.
b. Family Dollar Inc.
c. Farmers Union Oil, Petro Serve
d. County Bottle Shop Inc. dba The Liquor Locker
e. Leevers Foods, Inc. at 148 South Central Ave.
f. Leevers Foods, Inc. at 424 2nd Ave NE
g. Casey’s
h. And all licenses received before June 30 at 12 Noon
F. Approve Renewal of Alcoholic Beverage Licenses for the following businesses:
a. Brockopp Brewing, LLC
b. Jimmy’s Pizza
c. The Clubhouse Lounge, LLC
d. Chinese Palace
e. Hi-Line Hospitality, LLC
f. Captains Pub
g. Bridges Bar and Grill
h. The Liquor Locker
i. And all licenses before June 28 at 12 noon
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance 1080, an Ordinance Rezoning the Undeveloped Land Located West of 8th Ave SE and South of 10th St SW West of Waterfront Meadows Addition.
City Attorney Martineck stated no changes from the first reading.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance 1081, an Ordinance Relating to the Annexation of territory-Meadow View.
City Attorney Martineck stated no changes from the first reading.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance 1082, an Ordinance approving Hidden Ponds Estates Planned Unit Development.
City Attorney Martineck stated no changes from the first reading.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop.
Roll Call: Magnuson-aye Bishop-aye Gulmon-aye Erickson-nay Carlsrud-aye
Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1083, an Ordinance Approving the Annexation of Lot 2 Block 1 of Loves Valley Addition.
City Attorney Martineck state the original Love’s annexation was in 2019. After that was approved Loves acquired an additional parcel in the NW portion. They have petitioned for that to be annexed in.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1084, an Ordinance to Adopt and Enact section 12-01-11 of the Valley City Municipal Code re littering.
City Attorney Martineck stated we were getting several complaints about littering around town. We do have a provision for littering in streets but nothing for public or private property. This ordinance will make it an offense.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1085, an Ordinance to Amend and Reenact Chapter 08-07 and Section 11-05-11 and to repeal Title 13 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Mobile Park Regulations.
City Attorney Martineck stated we haven’t really did any amendments to this ordinance since 1959. City Attorney Martineck stated he made changes to align better with the State and also to make it easier to enforce.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Resolution 2299, a Resolution Approving the Plat and Variance request of undeveloped land located west of 8th Ave SE and south of 10th St SE, west of Waterfront Meadows Addition.
City Attorney Martineck stated the Planning and Zoning is recommending approval with the several conditions and variance to the sidewalks.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Special Alcohol Beverage Event Permit for The Labor Club at the Labor Club South Lot June 19th from 7 PM to 2 AM for the Rally in the Valley Parking Lot Dance.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Site Authorizations Renewals for Eagles Aerie at the Eagles Aerie, Captains Pub, Labor Club, My Bar, City Lights and Tavern 94 from 7/1/2021 through 6/30/2021.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Preliminary & Design Engineering Task Order for Project No. SU-2-990(061), OCN 23233-12th St N (9th Ave NW to 5th Ave NE) and 8th Ave SW/Winter Show Rd (Mill & Overlay and Turn Lanes).
Chad Petersen from KLJ stated this was discussed at the last meeting and approved programming this project for the February 12th, 2022 DOT bid opening. This is to complete the preliminary environmental documentation to meet DOT requirements as well as the plan development.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson.
Roll Call: Gulmon-aye Erickson-nay Magnuson-aye Bishop-aye Carlsrud-aye
Motion carried.
City Administrator Crawford asked Tracey Eslinger from Moore engineering to provide an update on the Nextera Subdivision property.
Tracey stated they are preparing the profile sheets for the sewer and water extensions. They are anticipating having their plans wrapped up by the July timeframe. There may have been some discussion of having the bid later. There could be two options, bid this year and give the contractor the option of installing it this year or waiting until next year. Or bid it in the winter time of next year and have the project done early in the spring or summer.
City Administrator Crawford provided an update on cold storage. July 2nd was supposed to be the closing date but we need the preliminary plat before the Title Company can do anything. June 8th is the State Water Commission so we will be in that meeting to find out if we get the 80% for the building.
Clean-up week, kudos to all the crews that helped. There are some things that need to be tweaked for next year and we will be working on that. All the Sanitation positions are filled as of today.
The electrical boxes on Central have been wrapped. They will have another opportunity to do the ones on Main.
Lots of ordinance changes will be taking place due to the legislative stuff being finished and just clean-up.
Thanks to all the crew that has been involved with addressing the “junk” issues. There are people near those areas that appreciate it. We are not picking on any areas, it takes time and all areas will be addressed.
City Attorney Martineck stated the State Legislature made a lot of changes. A lot of time the city ordinances mirror the state so we will be making some changes. We’re also finding a lot of the ordinances haven’t been changed in decades so we will be working on bringing those up to date.
Finance Director Richter encouraged people to volunteer for the RZ Board.
City Assessor Hansen stated she attended the County Equalization meeting in case there were any changes or protests, there were none. She will attend the August 10th meeting and expect the same results.
Fire Chief Magnuson stated it is dryer than what you think so just watch and have water nearby if you decide to have a campfire. June 19th is the dedication to our honorary members.
Chad Petersen from KLJ stated we are seeing a lot of progress in the last week or so on the Main Street Streetscape project. The concrete contractor will be in town tomorrow to pour for the ADA ramps and intersections and the sidewalks will follow after that. The utility work on 7th Ave from 2nd St SW to 2nd ST NW is complete. They anticipate that the curb and gutter will be coming in late this week or early next week. 2nd Ave sanitary sewer is complete and the water main is about half way up to 6th and 7th so they’ll be getting ready to work on the grading work.
Commissioner Gulmon gave a shout out to the kids that did the artwork on the electrical boxes.
Commissioner Erickson gave a shout out to the city crews for a good job last week. We pulled in a 164 tons of garbage and just shy of 78 tons of inert.
Commissioner Magnuson stated it is getting nice out so get out and use the community. We have some exciting things coming up. Apologize for the construction but progress takes pain once in a while. Shout out to the city crews for the hard work this last week. Take care of your properties, your neighbors depend on you to do so. Thank you to Gwen for coordinating with the schools to do the electrical boxes.
Mayor Carlsrud gave a shout out to the employees, the construction also creates challenges for them to do their regular duties. Keep in mind people are working hard all over the city to get construction done for you. Be safe. We had to order more stop signs because people were going through construction zones to fast. Please do not look at your phones while driving.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:34 P.M.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Erickson (3:40), and Commissioner Gulmon.
Department Reports
Electrical Superintendent Senf reported one outage. Finished up the underground in Webster Subdivision. Finished the alley rebuild and will be getting some locates called in Donny’s subdivision. Bad news is that our downtown sub, one transformer is out of commission. Waiting for a quote from HDR. I would like to convert it to a 115 line vs the 69 line so reinsulate some new poles and possibly a transformer.
Sanitation Supervisor Swart reported the numbers for clean-up week. We brought in 164.10 tons of garbage since September’s clean-up week and inert was 77.74 tons.
Kevin Jacobson reported for the street department. Stated there was a little bit of a pressure problem but that’s worked out. Seemed to be a bad PRV. We’re working with Grotberg on getting the fire pumps up on both Crestwood and the Industrial Park.
Water Superintendent Hesch reported the demand for water is going up. We trying to let people know if they are going to water, please do it in the morning or evening so it can soak into the ground. Try not to water every day. Your grass needs to learn to handle the stress in case there is a reason any restrictions have to go on in the future. Also, for those that fertilize your grass with your hose, get a vacuum breaker on your hose so there isn’t any chance of the fertilizer getting sucked back into the hose and ending up in the system.
Fire Chief Magnuson stated the Fire Department will be holding their Dedication Ceremony June 19th.
Police Chief Hatcher reported they did some interviews for the open position. We now have two open positions as another officer has submitted her resignation. We’ve worked through a few junk areas with the Street Department. The notices are going out and we’re notifying them and have been trying to work with them to get it cleaned up.
Review monthly bills/reports
We have just under $1.3 million in bills and expenditures for May.
Discuss NDDOT Urban Grant Program
Chad Petersen from KLJ we have tapped into this program with the Phase I project on Central Ave along with the current project on Main Street. This is a competitive grant program. When we started we were just looking at using it for the Streetscape project but there are other components that are in the focus area that could benefit from this. I wanted to see if there is interest in pursuing this.
Discuss Change Orders for 7th and 2nd
City Administrator Crawford stated change orders will be presented differently than before. Instead of just one lump sum of a change order at the end we will discuss the change orders as we go so everyone can understand where they are coming from. The first one is us contracting out removal of trees in order to get to the services. The next one was the manholes. We had to go up sizes on the pipes and make the manholes bigger because of the pipes. There’s no way to know this until you get down to in there to see it. The next was we knew how many services we had but we didn’t know a lot of the PVC pipe went from a house to clean-up. There were about 14 services that looked like they would be PVC but when they got in there it was clay tile. Approval was given for the clay tile being replaced with PVC.
Discuss 2nd Ave SE in Front of Senior Center
City Administrator Crawford stated this was actually going to be done last fall with the project on 5th but with the plant shutting down early due to the snow it didn’t get done. Now we have two different projects going on with two different companies that we’ll get quotes done and then it will be done in October. The money had already been set aside but we may get a better deal this year.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 2:30 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Erickson, and Commissioner Gulmon.
Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, Deputy Auditor Klein, Public Works Accountant/Manager Jacobson, City Assessor Hansen, Fire Chief Magnuson, Police Chief Hatcher, Chad Petersen from KLJ, Electrical Superintendent Senf, Operations Superintendent Klemisch, Sanitation Supervisor Swart, Water Superintendent Hesch
1. Commission Topics
b. Discuss Housing Incentives.
Discussion took place around Housing Incentives.
a. Discuss Funds for Dam Signage.
Discussion took place regarding the City Engineer position.
2. Department Reports:
Water Superintendent Hesch reported we have been getting updated rules on the lead and copper revision. There will be more testing and a big part of it will be doing an inventory of each house in town. We’ll have to see what their feed is into their houses.
Electrical Superintendent Senf reported only one outage due to a squirrel last month. The guys are pulling the underground lines for the Fine Arts Building. We had an issue with the rolling black outs. The downtown sub worked perfectly, the south sub we have a bank of batteries and when the power goes out the way it did we have no way of controlling the breakers. When they kicked us on, everything came on at once and we saw a spike in our peak. Presented the three quotes for batteries. Cable and transformer quotes and stated his recommendations. Electrical Superintendent Senf also requested increasing his spending limit. The quotes are only good for seven days and by the time it goes through for approval it’s passed that time.
Sanitation Supervisor Swart reported we have a new employee, Troy Redding, and are now fully staffed. A couple of reminders on the 24 hour collection site. We have seen an increase of wood going instead of just trees. It is for grass and leaves on the east side and branches on the west side. Also, do not put dirty wood chips or anything in the wood chip pile. That’s for residents to come and take and use and we have had people dumping sawdust, scrap pieces of wood, gravel and dirt. We do have cameras are picking up some of this. We had a gentleman that dumped fence posts in the tree branches and he did have to come back and clean it up and haul it into the landfill. Clean up week is May 24th-28th. Please make sure garbage is out by 7AM and keep the areas clean around the dumpsters.
City Administrator Crawford added starting cleanup week early is not allowed. If there are couches, other items out on the curb they will be sent a letter asking to clean it up or we will go ahead and do that for them but it will be at a 2-person lift fee which is $35.
Operations Superintendent Kelmisch reported the well has been drilled and the stem is in place. Our plan is to go straight west from the well and tie in the pipe we have there. We don’t have a date yet, it will probably be another month or so. The old site will be capped and we plan to use the panel for the new one. We started crack sealing Main Street for the upcoming seal coat this summer. After that we’ll probably move on to painting to freshen up Main Street and some other down town areas.
Fire Chief Magnuson reported fire extinguisher services have been great. We got back into our training program which is good. It’s been nice to have everyone back together. We picked our new officers for the year, I will get that emailed. We met with the County Commission this morning about the building. They basically declined the dollar amount and now want to work on a rental agreement. They did extend the burn ban with the stipulations that they will enforce the penalty. It was relayed to the Sheriff’s office to write a $1500 ticket if you are burning.
Police Chief Hatcher reported the windows have been put in the police station.
3.-6. Were covered in Electrical Superintendent Senf’s department report.
7. Discuss Forester-Employee vs Contractor.
City Attorney Martineck stated it will be a little more than that. To start with the Forester is a position. We’re expected to pay him about $7,200 this year plus the cost of tools and reimbursement for a couple of training programs. When we looked into it more it seemed like there would be some overlapping on what we would have an employee do compared to an independent contractor and he’s really bordering on an employee. There’s a proposed salary schedule if we created a part-time, seasonal employee. We created an E21 Forester position. It would be step 1 to step 25 like every other position except instead of a step increase every year, it would be a step increase every 5 years. There would still be a COLA increase every year as long as approved by the Commission. We would be looking at 350 hours/year max so we’d be well below where we’d have to pay health insurance or any other benefits. In order to get it at approximately the $7,250 where he’d be contracted at, we’d probably place the current forester at step 10 or 11 which would be $21/hr. At 20 hours a week from May 15th –September 15th there would be about 348 hours and then he also said he would be willing to do some work in the off season which is expected to be under 10 hours. Over the course of the year if you paid him at $21/ hour is would be about $7300 versus $7250. The only other changes would be a slight increase to WSI and then the employment taxes. Also wanted to touch on 2 other positions. The first is the seasonal Public Works laborer. It’s been starting at $11/hr. It’s not competitive anymore. The proposal is to add a new position with a formal job description. Put it on the salary schedule stating at $14 max of $16. There would be a COLA increase annually if improved by the commission and we would give credit to those that come back. The other is an increase to the Sanitation Specialist I. There would be a new A13 level for people that get their Class A CDL. The idea is to add a level where a sanitation employee with a Class A CDL would get a $1 differential per hour.
8. Discuss Road to Landfill Coop.
City Administrator Crawford stated there was discussion on the road to the land fill. The township said at one time there was an oral agreement no one has any proof of anything so we said let’s move forward. We came to the agreement that the City will put the gravel on the road and the cost for that will be split in half. The County will grade it and we will be adding chloride and the cost of the chloride will be split. The chloride for year two will be provided by the City and going forward everything will be equally split. This will only be up to the landfill gate.
9. Quarterly Review of City Engineer Contract.
City Administrator Crawford stated she took the engineering invoices and compared them to what our contract for the year will be and for the quarterly report. For now everything is still in accordance with what we are looking. Going forward we may swap the planning portion of what their max is and the general engineered but as long as the full portion is still $87,000 that’s the most important part.
10. VCFD Building Update-covered in Fire Chief Magnuson’s department report.
11. Discuss Utility Bills Staying with the Property.
PW Manager Jacobson reported we have customers that don’t want to pay. Looking back to 2017, since then we have turned over $71,700 of bad debt to our collection agency. In our current process the fees we pay if they collected everything for us would be $25,000 that we would be out of the money that we shouldn’t have been. Currently we have collected just over $17,000. Even if we collect it or they collect it, if we sent it to them they still get their fee. We still have $54,000 remaining in debt and the older it gets the less chance there is of us collecting.
City Administrator Crawford continued that a lot of this comes from people moving out and not paying their final bills. I would like to propose that we do an ordinance change that the bills stay with the property. So if someone rents the home and moves out and doesn’t pay the bill that is on the homeowner, not the City. If you’re looking at it from a taxpayers viewpoint, that’s $70,000 that could have been going through the City helping with other things. The other part is that if someone gets their water or electricity shut off and no one lives there for a couple years that has to get caught up before it gets turned back on so you’re guaranteed to get that money back. Another thing that may be a little different is if a realtor is looking to sell a certain property they would call over to check if there was an outstanding balance on utilities and put it as part of the closing.
12. Discuss Resolution for Modifications to the Electric Rates.
PW Manager Jacobson stated that we are asking for a change to the resolution on the electric rates. We are not asking to increase the rate. We just want some housekeeping type changes. The only change to a rate is on page 3. We’re asking to change the Green Energy Adder rate. Moving it from 0.5 cents per KWH to 0.1 cent per KWH based on what we are getting charged from MRES. The other changes are just to wording on the lighting rentals and putting back in wording for the large power demand credit.
City Attorney Martineck added that the last paragraph of the resolution should be taken out.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 4:24 PM.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Erickson, and Commissioner Gulmon, City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck.
No Changes
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve the minutes from the May 4th meeting seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Open Public Hearing regarding the Rezoning of the undeveloped land located west of 8th Ave SE and south of 10th St SE west of Waterfront Meadows Addition.
President Carlsrud declared public hearing open.
Commissioner Bishop move to close the hearing, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1080, an Ordinance Rezoning the undeveloped land located west of 8th Ave SE and south of 10th St SE west of Waterfront Meadows Addition.
Commissioner Gulmon move to close the hearing, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Second and Final Reading of Ordinance 1079, an Ordinance Amending and Reenacting Section 12-02-01 of the Valley City Municipal Code re Property Maintenance definitions.
City Attorney Martineck stated there were no changes from the first reading. This is an ordinance to expand the definition of junk.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance No. 1081, an Ordinance Relating to the Annexation of Territory.
City Attorney Martineck stated we received a petition for annexation for Meadow View Estates.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve First Reading of Ordinance 1082, an Ordinance approving Hidden Ponds Estates Planned Unit Development.
City Attorney Martineck stated the Planning and Zoning Committee received an application to create a PUD. They Committee recommended approval with several conditions listed.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson.
Roll Call: Gulmon-aye Magnuson-aye Erickson-nay Bishop-aye Carlsrud-aye
Motion carried.
Approve Resolution No. 2295, a Resolution Approving Final Plans & Specifications for Master Lift Station Upgrades and Authorizing Engineer to Advertise for Quotes/Bids.
Chad Petersen from KLJ stated plans are included in the packet. These have been reviewed with Public Works. As part of the engineering contract we did have Moore Engineering do a peer review. They have been submitted to the NDDEQ for approval before we can go for bids.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried
Approve Resolution No. 2296, a Resolution Approving Final Plans & Specification for West End Lift Station and Authorizing Engineer to Advertise for Quotes/Bids.
Chad stated this is the same as the last one but for the West End Lift Station.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson.
Roll Call: Magnuson-aye Bishop-aye Gulmon-aye Erickson-nay Carlsrud-aye Motion carried.
Approve Resolution No. 2298, a Resolution Approving an Application to Amend a Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Replat land located between 3rd Ave NE, and between 4th St NE and 5th St NE (Outlot Y Harvest Valley Townhomes Subdivision-a Replat of Lots 5-8 Block 2 Original Townsite).
City Attorney Martineck stated the Planning and Zoning Committee received an application to replat some lots with in the PUD for the purpose of building some additional residences and parcel off the garage sites. Planning and Zoning is recommending approval with several conditions listed.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Site Authorization Renewals for Valley City Hockey and Figure Skating Club at Youth Sports Complex and Valley City Town and Country Club from 7/1/2021 through 6/30/2022.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approve Valley City Barnes County Development Corporation request for funds.
Jennifer Feist from VCBCDC stated the request is in order for us to help secure engineering services to address a pretty significant issue in the SE corner of the community. There is a portion that is experiencing hill sliding.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Approve Amendment to Engineer-Owner Agreement for Construction Engineering for 5th Ave NW Reconstruction.
Chad from KLJ stated this project was to be completed in 2020 but the contractor did not complete the work in time. Our contract was based off salary work up to Oct. 17th. They started back up in April. There will be approximately 4 weeks of time that was added. That’s what the request is for which is $32,750 which is an hourly request.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson.
Roll Call: Bishop-aye Gulmon-aye Erickson-nay Magnuson-aye Carlsrud-aye
Motion carried.
Discuss Urban Roads Project on 12th St N from 9th Ave NW to 5th Ave NE and 8th Ave SW at Winter Show Road.
Chad from KLJ stated back in December of 2016 the City requested a mil and overlay be programmed on 12 St N. in 2021. Since that time other projects have happened so we reprogrammed that to 2022. As part of the Petro Serve project turn lanes were supposed to be installed but were not. Those will be added to this project.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon.
Roll Call: Magnuson-aye Bishop-aye Gulmon-aye Erickson-nay Carlsrud-aye
Motion carried.
Approve MOU for Sheyenne River Water Trail.
City Administrator Crawford stated this is to make sure everyone is on the same page. The City has no responsibility.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve Site Authorization renewal for the Thundering Saints, Inc. at Boomer’s Corner Keg and Woodland Steakhouse from 7/1/2021 through 6/30/2022.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve Request for Concurrence of Award.
Chad from KLJ stated the DOT opened bids for the seal coat on Main. The estimate that was programmed for this project was approximately $140,000 the total project cost is approximately $121,000. The City is required to pay approximately 10% which is about $12,000 with about $6,000 being special assessed.
Commissioner Gulmon moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Bishop. Motion carried.
Approve purchase of future Public Works building.
City Administrator Crawford stated she had Clint layout what they were looking at for the cold storage.
Operations Superintendent Klemisch stated this is a need. Everyone will be under one roof.
Commissioner Gulmon questioned why the layout of the building ran from east to west rather than north to south.
OS Kelmisch stated it worked better this way to get the storage building in salt tank in there.
Commissioner Bishop moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
City Administrator Crawford reported there is a lot of construction going on. The first week of any project is learning curves. We do have meeting with everyone on the project so we can try to make sure some of the bumps are covered. We’ve added extra communication by sending press releases to Kay and Jennifer and MaryLee so they can use their contacts to help get the word out. There are about four properties that will be affected for clean-up week but Clint has a plan.
Included in the packet are designs from the Sheyenne Valley Career & Tech Center students. These are the final three designs and locations they will be placed.
We received the signed purchase agreement for 5th and 5th so that will be started this fall with the school.
Cold storage meeting last week. There weren’t questions so I think they saw the value of it.
At the department head meeting last week we discussed the garbage on the boulevard. We understand some have been there for 20 years but there have been some new ones being added it doesn’t look nice. In order to take care of it we have to be fair if we make one move we have to make them all move. So you will probably get calls. It is in our ordinance that we aren’t supposed to have anything in our boulevards for longer than that day.
Police Chief Hatcher reminded pet owners if your pet is not in your yard or dog park you need to have a leash on them. The fee is $20 for a tag. It can also help you get your dog back faster and not have the vet fees if we have to impound your dog. The current cycle right now, if you pay $20 per animal it will expire March of 2023 and that $20 would be in lieu of a $50 ticket if we catch your dog out and about or if they are not on a leash. $50 for the first offense and $100 for the second. The licensing fees go to the Friends of Animals so you are also helping them out. The Peace Officer Memorial Day was Saturday, remembering all those that have fallen.
Chad Petersen from KLJ updated that every two weeks we are inviting the business owners to construction meetings to they can be informed and ask questions.
Commissioner Gulmon stated the April financial report shows the City is strong.
Commissioner Erickson reminding everyone clean-up week is next week. Please separate your piles.
Commissioner Bishop thanked the VCFD and VCPD. Stated he did received a request to leave the four way stops in place of the lights.
Mayor Carlsrud thanked everyone for all the extra work being done. We grateful to all of our employees. Clean up week, please respect the requests to the items can be picked up easily by our crew. Thank you to Brenda and Avis for their advancements at the NDLC Leadership Training.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:43 P.M.