The Hampton City Council met on Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at the Hampton City Hall for a special meeting and the regular scheduled meeting. Present were Mayor Skog; Council Members Jennifer Budrow, Ron Endres, and Amanda Jensrud. Council Member John Knetter was absent. Also present were Marlin Reinardy, Water and Sewer Superintendent; Chris Meyer, City Treasurer; Steve Hamilton, Planning Commissioner; Linda Holty, Deputy Clerk; David Luhring, Planning Commissioner; Adam Elling, City Attorney; and Cory Bienfang with Bolton and Menk.
Special Meeting Called to Order - Mayor Skog called the special meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. The reason for the meeting was to amend the current budget, if needed, and prepare the city budget for the year 2015. Chris Meyer, City Treasurer, pointed out significant items to be discussed and confirmed with Cory Bienfang when the revenues and expenditures would be recorded in regard to the CDBG grant. Cory stated that the funding for the GIS would be received in 2014 and the CIP would be in 2015. Meyer explained that under the Sales of Investments the withdrawal of the CD for seal coating would no longer be present and recommended increases in areas such as the sewage dumping due to the current trend, Treasurer compensation due to increase in wage and hours, and snowplowing as well as weed control due to current contracts. Mayor Skog suggested allocating $1,500.00 for the installment of a city website and questioned the debt service amounts. Chris stated that the numbers seen were set amounts and as bonds are paid down, the interest amount would decrease and also mentioned that the water and sewer enterprise funds CIP was set for any future needs. Reed Kosir with the Fire Department addressed the Council and stated that the Fire Department retirement would stay the same, $1,000 per year per service, 1 . % interest rate. Koshier also stated that contributions would stay the same and that the Fire Relief should not require any additional funding. Council Member Budrow confirmed that Northfield WiFi was still interested in leasing the water tower space and recommended that the City retain funds in the Park account for ice rink repairs and updates.
No other public comments were made.
Adjournment - Motion by Jensrud seconded by Skog to adjourn the special meeting. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 4:0. The special meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.
Regular Meeting called to Order - Mayor Skog called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Present were Mayor Skog; Council Members John Knetter, Ron Endres, Jennifer Budrow, and Amanda Jensrud.
Disclosure of Interest – Council Member Knetter stated that he was an applicant for the Water and Sewer Position.
Approval of July 8, 2014 Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes – Motion by Knetter seconded by Endres to approve the July 8, 2014 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 August disbursements. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Public Comment – None
Petitions, Requests, and Communications - Introduction and Background of City Attorney
Adam Elling, City Attorney with Lampe Law, introduced himself and provided some background information. Adam stated that he was looking forward to working with the City of Hampton and thanked the Council for the opportunity. Skog questioned if Elling would charge a fee to attend the monthly Council meetings. Elling confirmed that there would typically be a fee if the Council requested his presence but there would be no charge for this evening as wished to introduce himself and asked the Council if they had any questions for him while he was present. Skog asked the City Attorney if he had an opinion on the hiring of a Council Member for the Water and Sewer position. Elling felt that the Water and Sewer Operator position would be compatible, but if the Superintendent position reports directly to the Council, that would be a conflict of interest. Marlin Reinardy explained that he reported to the Water and Sewer Commissioner before the Council and in the case of an emergency situation, would go to John Knetter who was in charge of the Water and Sewer Department at this time for direction. Adam stated that with a buffer such as a Water and Sewer Commissioner in place for the Superintendent to report to, that perhaps, it would be acceptable but could not say for certain without doing more research. Jensrud requested that Elling research this possibility and if this could then be considered a compatible position. The City Attorney had a concern of the reasoning behind why the commissioner of each department had the power to expend funds and if it was due to them being on the Council or just the Commissioner and if there was enough separation between the two and also stated that it would all come down to who the individual would report to. Jensrud stated that it was her understanding from other legal opinions gathered that this situation could be made to work if the Council Member would recues himself from certain votes. Elling confirmed that there were two positions being hired and asked if the positions could be blended and still have a separation of powers as John Knetter could be in charge of scheduling and certain activities but the other operator would handle the requests for financial needs and prepare the monthly report for the City Council meetings. Elling confirmed that it was fine that a Council Member was also a paid employee of the City as long as it was part time and didn’t have to do the direct reporting to the Council. Skog felt that it was too much of a grey area and asked Cory Bienfang if it could be an option to allow the Met Council to step in. Bienfang didn’t feel that it would be a quick fix and that Hampton didn’t need the capacity that would come along with that transition and the increased cost was also a factor. Endres felt that John Knetter was the most qualified applicant and that it should be a simple decision. Budrow stated the Council had obtained three legal opinions that pointed out the same issues, addressed the same legal cases, and had the same bottom line so the Council should be able to make a decision based on those. Jensrud felt that the City Attorney had offered an interesting compromise that should be considered. Motion by Skog seconded by Budrow to allow the city Attorney to work on a resolution to create a separation of duties for the Water and Sewer positions so that the hiring of a Council Member could possibly be acceptable. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 4:0. Motion by Jensrud seconded by Knetter to approve the City Attorney contract. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Reports of Officers, Boards, and Committees
Engineer Report – Cory Bienfang with Bolton and Menk provided the Council with an update on the abandoned municipal well and as Hartman Well had prepared and filed for a variance request to the Department of Health, asked for Council approval to pay the $275.00 invoice from Hartman. Bienfang also recommended hiring Don Kimmes for the restoration of the old city hall floor as they were the lower of two quotes received at $3,600.00. Cory confirmed that all expenses could be reimbursed through the grant including the Engineer’s and Reinardy’s time. Motion by Knetter seconded by Jensrud to approve the variance fee to Hartman Well and to hire Kimmes to restore the floor in the old city hall including a decent size drain and to request reimbursement for the project as well as Bienfang’s and Reinardy’s time. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Bienfang addressed the drainage issue on Main Street and after some elevation shots felt that the Council had a few different options. The first option was to remove the existing pavement and repave the section which would repair the potholes but would leave somewhat of an issue of ponding along the sidewalks. The cost was estimated to be as much as $8,000.00 for 100 feet. The second option was to consider the storm sewer and to install pipe and catch basin which would be approximately $17,000.00. The third option was to put in a swale on Main Street to provide a valley to remove the ponding from the sidewalk and was estimated at $13,000.00. Cory stated that the Council could just plan to overlay the area to eliminate the potholes for less. Knetter mentioned that it would not alleviate the ponding. Steve Hamilton questioned if it was possible to put in a drainage pipe and repave for less. Bienfang explained that a catch basin would be needed and directional drilling was expensive and that all costs supplied were only approximate and could come in lower but wanted to prepare the Council for what the City could be looking at. Dave Erickson said that things like catch basins should have been put in at the time of the street project. Bienfang stated that the Council had directed the engineers to stop at the point they did and as there was an existing problem before, it had just gotten worse, unfortunately where the project ended. Marlin Reinardy stated that before the project there was a sunken ridge by the sidewalk which allowed for some drainage and now it was level. Knetter affirmed that this was a direct result of cutting that portion out of the project and recommended putting catch basins as they needed to get the water out before it caused further damage. Cory offered to work with Endres and the City Clerk to prepare a quote package for the work. Motion by Knetter seconded by Skog to prepare a quote package for Main Street repairs and to save time this late in the season, award the contract to the lowest quote. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Water / Sewer Report - Marlin Reinardy, Water and Sewer Superintendent explained that he was still working to clear up the sewer ponds and that he hadn’t seen a lot of improvement after applying the chemicals purchased and would need to make sure that it’s good enough to pass discharge. Reinardy said that there was a chance that a phosphorus input was coming in from somewhere and that he would be collecting samples from the sewage dumping. Marlin confirmed that the #3 well was in good working order and that he had filled in the ruts out at the park due to the work. Reinardy recommended painting the water tower and as the tower will need to be bypassed in the process, he felt it would be beneficial to proceed while he was still in Hampton to help with the project. Marlin provided two quotes and mentioned that he was still waiting for one more to come in. Motion by Knetter seconded by Endres to go ahead with the lowest quote and paint the water tower. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Park Report – Budrow stated that Marlin Reinardy had come across a used concrete water fountain that was free standing and was estimating a cost of $500.00 installed. Council agreed that the park was in need of a new fountain. Budrow said that she would be picking up new boards for the ice rink and stated that she planned to have the ice rink repaved. Endres suggested having the contractor that would be working on Main Street complete the project. Endres also mentioned that the entrance stub leading into the Heights of Hampton was not being addressed by the weed control contractor. Wendy Carpenter, City Clerk, stated that she had talked with Anderson and he would be spraying this fall for weeds still popping up. Knetter requested additional wood chips be ordered for the FESBA park. Carpenter offered to look up the information from past purchases and send it to Budrow. Council agreed to plan the improvement for spring. Knetter stated that the mowing contractor was not mowing the full 3 . acres required at the Heights of Hampton. Budrow explained that she had discussed the issue with Anderson and to catch up at this point he would need to rent special equipment and was requesting reimbursement for the cost. Knetter confirmed that the 3 . acres was in the contract and Anderson had actually been being paid for the whole area all summer when it hadn’t actually been being mowed and as all other contractors provided quotes on that full area, Anderson needed to honor his quote.
Street Report - Endres stated that he would proceed with the crack fill this year but would be waiting on the chip sealing due to high quotes received as contractors are busy finishing up the season. Endres explained that the cost of the project would be much less in early spring when the contractors are looking for work.
Unfinished Business –
Water / Sewer Operator Position- See Petitions, Requests, and Communications above.
New Business - Noxious Weeds - Jerry Beissel addressed the Council as there were now six to seven foot weeds growing by his place on city property and as this has been brought up before to Mayor Skog and Council Member Budrow as well as at other meetings, there has yet to be any action taken. Second Street, the old O’Brien building site as well as mowing along the fences in that area was brought up and Knetter requested the Clerk document the complaints. Budrow stated that she had scheduled a walk thru with the Contractor to address the concerns. Knetter also requested that the Clerk contact the owner of the property across from the Post Office that had been vacated. Endres questioned who on the Council was in charge of the weed control and Council confirmed it was Skog. The Mayor said that the issue would be addressed. Award GIS Database Contract - Motion by Jensrud seconded by Endres to allow the CDA to enter into a contract with Bolton and Menk for a GIS Database as they provided the lowest quote. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0.
Adjournment - Motion by Jensrud seconded by Skog to adjourn the meeting. All voted in favor. None opposed. Motion passed 5:0. The meeting adjourned at 8:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Wendy Carpenter