The
Hampton City Council met on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at the Hampton City Hall for
the regular scheduled meeting. Present
were Mayor Skog; Council Members Jennifer Budrow, John Knetter, Ron Endres, and
Amanda Jensrud. Also present were Marlin
Reinardy, Water and Sewer Superintendent; Chris Meyer, City Treasurer; Steve
Hamilton, Planning Commissioner; Linda Holty, Deputy Clerk; Nick Meyers and
Cory Bienfang with Bolton and Menk.
Regular
Meeting called to Order - Mayor Skog called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
Disclosure
of Interest – Council Member Knetter stated that he had applied for the Water and
Sewer Superintendent position and would recues himself from any decisions made
regarding the subject.
Approval
of June 10, 2014 Workshop and Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes – Motion by Knetter seconded
by Jensrud to approve the June 10, 2014 Workshop and Regular Meeting
Minutes. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Approval
of Disbursements – Motion by Knetter seconded by Budrow to approve the July
disbursements. All voted in favor. None opposed.
Motion passed 5:0.
Public Comment – None
Petitions,
Requests, and Communications - Council agreed to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday,
August 13 before the regular scheduled meeting to review the budget. The regular meeting was scheduled for
Wednesday due to the Primary Election.
Mayor
Skog stated that the Township of Hampton had requested to use City Hall for a
waste tire collection that Dakota County was funding and that the City would be
able to participate as well. Skog
explained that the Township felt that City Hall would provide a central location
for a roll-off and restrooms, if needed.
Motion by Knetter seconded by Jensrud to allow the Township use of the
City Hall building for the tire collection.
All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Ordinances
and Resolutions
Resolution
2014-05 - Appointing Election Judges - Motion by Knetter seconded by Endres Appointing
the Election Judges for the Primary and General Elections of 2014. All voted in favor. None opposed.
Motion passed 5:0.
Reports
of Officers, Boards, and Committees
Engineer
Report – Cory
Bienfang with Bolton and Menk stated that he was working on a variance for the
old municipal well and provided an update on the CDBG Grant. Bienfang explained that the CDA was required
to show cost reasonableness by going out for proposals on the GIS database and
that the RFP was formulated using the proposal submitted by Bolton and
Menk. Cory stated that the deadline for
all proposals was July 16, which at that time, Lisa Henning with the CDA would
be working with Wendy Carpenter, City Clerk, to evaluate the proposals. The evaluation process consisted of looking
at the relationship and knowledge of the City of Hampton as well as cost,
although as these are proposals, the best fit would not necessarily need to be
the lowest quote. Carpenter would also
be working with the CDA as to who would be administering the contract. Bienfang stated that the CIP Improvement
update would be handled in the same manner.
Jensrud requested Carpenter forward a copy of the RFP to her and
confirmed it was not a conflict of interest to request assistance from Bolton
and Menk if there were to be any questions on the proposals received. Cory stated that after the deadline,
proposals were public record and that the information will be brought to the
August meeting and that the Council could make a decision at that time.
Nick
Meyers, GIS Specialist with Bolton and Menk gave a presentation on the GIS
Database and explained the benefits to the City. Meyers stated that the maps of structures
would be entered into a GIS web application and that data is obtained from
City, County, State, and Federal records.
Nick confirmed that there was no software to purchase or install as the
internet and a web browser was all that was required and that the information
would be updated as projects were completed with no monthly maintenance fee as
long as Bolton and Menk was the City Engineer.
Knetter confirmed that hard copies of maps, etc. could be printed. Meyers went over key functions of GIS
including basic uses in areas such as utilities, market values, city tax
information, land use, making labels required for public hearings, and creating
PDF maps. Skog confirmed that the City
would have their own copy of the information in the GIS system in a PDF file.
The
Deputy Sheriff reminded residents to keep their doors locked as there had been
some burglaries in the area and that they had been passing out flyers
recommending everyone keep garage doors shut and car doors locked. Steve Hamilton mentioned that the Roundup had
a strange individual enter the bar and needed to be escorted out. Jensrud commented that she had heard of a few
young adults looking in the windows and hanging around the area of the Roundup
after hours.
Water
/ Sewer Report - Marlin Reinardy, Water and Sewer Superintendent stated that he had begun
treating the algae problem in cell #1 at the sewer ponds which was a four week
process and that he would be trying a different product in cell #3. Reinardy said that he did calibrate the lift
station and it had gone well, but did need to clear two chunks of concrete out of
it. Marlin stated that the #3 pump was
back in operation. Jensrud asked if
there had still been complaints on the dumping by ESI. Marlin stated that he had done some work on
the cover and that it was going better.
Reinardy mentioned that he had done some chlorinating as a couple of
residents had complained of the smell of their water, however; he did not feel
that it was a city water issue as the smell seemed to be only in the kitchen of
the homes.
Park
Report – Knetter
commented that the mowing at the Heights of Hampton should be addressed as the
contractor did not seem to be mowing the full three acre area as the contract
requested. Carpenter said that she would
contact Todd Anderson on the issue.
Street Report - Endres stated that he had been collecting
quotes on sealing the Heights of Hampton and was hoping to finish contacting
the contractors this coming week and mentioned that they were all very busy
this time of year. Knetter suggested
that Belmont Street be included as well.
Unfinished
Business –
Water
/ Sewer Operator Position- Skog confirmed that the Council had received the
memo from the City Attorney and asked if the applicant, Dan Hinz, was still
interested in the position as he was willing to hire Hinz. Carpenter said that she had not heard
anything from Hinz. Jensrud stated that
as we live in Minnesota and have winter weather to travel in and deal with,
that she agreed with Marlin that it was important to have someone in town
filling this position. Jensrud addressed
the memo provided by the City Attorney which stated that he did not recommend
hiring a Council Member and requested Carpenter remind the Council of the
advice received from the League of Minnesota Cities stating that this would be
a grey area, however; may work in this situation if the Council Member was not
involved with anything that may be perceived as a conflict of interest such as
setting the salary or evaluating himself or herself. Carpenter pointed out that it was not illegal
but that the Council would need to be comfortable with their decision. Jensrud suggested that Knetter could recues
himself from water and sewer disbursements.
Steve Hamilton stated that as a resident he would be upset knowing that
the City hired someone else when there was an option of hiring someone who
cares about the City and lived in town so that they could be available
immediately in case of a winter freeze up.
Budrow stated that the memo from the Attorney was in great detail and
that the bottom line was that this would be a conflict of interest. Marlin Reinardy commented that this was not
necessarily true and that there was nothing in the memo stating that hiring a
Council Member was illegal and the Attorney had failed to add state statute had
been changed to allow the Fire Chief in Miesville to also be Mayor. Jensrud felt that this situation could work
as long as the Council follows the guidelines provided and that Knetter would
need to answer to the Council and that he wouldn’t be able to make decisions on
his own. Skog asked Knetter if he would
consider resigning from the Council as that would allow him to be hired for the
position. Knetter said that he would not
step down from the Council. Endres felt
that the memo from the Attorney seemed more like an opinion without current
examples and reminded the Council of the state statute that allowed Miesville
to have the same person Mayor as well as Fire Chief. Skog said that he would not be comfortable
with that situation and would have to vote no.
Budrow stated that the Attorney said just the Superintendent wasn’t an
option but the Operator was. Jensrud
commented that it was only incompatible if certain perimeters were not
followed. Chris Meyer suggested
obtaining a legal opinion from a firm specializing in employment as the City
Attorney was providing only general council and commented that John Knetter
seemed very qualified and that it should be possible to follow guidelines to
allow him to be hired. Cory Bienfang said
that with the complexity in Hampton’s infrastructure, an aging water tower, and
with the City running its own lift station and ponds, that the Water and Sewer
positions were an important spot to fill and should not be rushed into. Bienfang commented that taking the time to
acquire a third opinion would be a good idea.
Motion by Jensrud seconded by Skog to have the Clerk obtain a recommendation
on hiring a Council Member from a legal firm specializing in employment. All voted in favor. None opposed.
Motion passed 4:0.
Radio
Read / New Water Meters - Knetter confirmed that the new water meters had been
ordered and that the City had found a couple of individuals to switch the
meters out. Knetter asked for the
Council’s thoughts on who should be responsible for the cost of the new meters
as they are replaced. Council agreed
that the City would pay half of the cost and the homeowner would be responsible
for the other half. Motion by Knetter
seconded by Budrow to bill the homeowner for half of the cost of the new meters
and have the City pay the balance. All
voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
City
Attorney Services - Knetter stated that he had a couple of issues with the
current City Attorney and had heard from three different people that he had
given three different answers to a question.
Jensrud commented that Campbell and Knutson was the most expensive out
of the quotes provided. Budrow felt that
there was not complete information and couldn’t make an educated decision based
on what was provided. Jensrud stated
that the City Council packets were available for almost a week if anyone wanted
to request additional information. Skog
felt that the savings were minimal at $30 an hour when you were paying for the
best and didn’t know enough about the other firms where he was familiar with
what Campbell and Knutson could do such as the Tilsen assessment trial. Knetter stated that the City had lost tax
money as Campbell and Knutson settled on that case. Skog questioned if someone at Lampe Law was
Knetter’s attorney or a relative’s attorney.
Knetter stated that Lampe Law was the lowest out of the five quotes
collected. Motion by Knetter seconded by
Endres to replace Campbell and Knutson with Lampe Law Firm as City
Attorney. Knetter, Endres, and Jensrud
voted in favor. Skog and Budrow
opposed. Motion passed 3:2. Knetter requested the Clerk contact both
Attorneys on Wednesday as the decision was in effect immediately.
Endres
requested Council approval to have the option of selecting a contractor to seal
coat the streets discussed when all of the quotes were sent in as it was
getting late in the season. Motion by
Knetter seconded by Jensrud to allow Endres to choose a contractor for seal
coating. Knetter, Endres, Skog, and
Jensrud voted in favor. Budrow
opposed. Motion passed 4:1.
Adjournment - Motion by Knetter
seconded by Jensrud to adjourn the meeting.
All voted in favor. None
opposed. Motion passed 5:0. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Wendy
Carpenter