The Crookston City Council met this evening inside the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting began with Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler swearing in Nicholas Fladland, Corey Rich, and Derek Cox as new Police Officers. “Within the last two months we have been able to hire these three guys,” said Chief Selzler. “Officer Fladland comes to us with about 8 years of experience, Officer Rich has almost 2 years of experience, and Officer Cox comes to us with 7 years of experience. They’ll all do great and we’re excited to have them with us. We do have one more opening still and we’re hoping to get that filled within thirty days.” We have pictures of the swearing in ceremony at the bottom of the page.
CONSENT AGENDA
On the consent agenda was the approval of the City Council meeting minutes from the March 13 meeting, and a resolution to approve the City of Crookston bills and disbursements in the amount of $230,681.07. There was also a resolution to appoint Leah Winjum, Mike LaFrance, Mike Normandin, and Garret Kollin to the Charter Commission. Other items on the consent agenda were accepting donations to the Park and Rec Department in memory of Tom Hunt in the amount of $90.00, and from the Crookston Baseball Association in the amount of $10,000 for new uniforms for summer baseball/softball. The last item on the consent agenda was to approve the sale of permitted fireworks at Walmart. The Council approved all consent agenda items unanimously.
LABOR AGREEMENT WITH CROOKSTON FIRE FIGHTERS UNION
The main agenda began with Crookston City Administrator Corky Reynolds giving a summary of a closed Ways and Means meeting that was held on Monday, March 13 to discuss labor negotiations involving the Crookston Professional Fire Fighters Union Local #3394. Reynolds explained the final negotiated resolution and settlement involved a 6% increase for the year 2023 consisting of a 3.5% COLA and a 2.5% wage adjustment and a 3% wage increase for the year 2024. A consensus of Council Members was reached to recommend to the City Council the acceptance and approval of the tentative contractual agreement which had also been approved by the members of the Crookston Professional Fire Fighters Union. Later in the meeting, the council approved the resolution to approve the Labor Agreement.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA OCCUPANCY OF VALLEY TECH PARK
The next item on the main agenda was approving a lease with the University of Minnesota in order for them to continue occupying Suite 101 at Valley Technology Park. “The Small Business Development Center, provides services to businesses in the Crookston community and others with respect to business plans and business operations,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “They are currently helping us in terms of time management, best use of resources and things like that. We provide this entity to them for no cost as our portion of the deal.”
The lease will be in effect starting on April 26, 2023 and will expire on April 25, 2025. The council approved the resolution unanimously.
EASEMENT WITH OTTERTAIL POWER COMPANY
The next item on the agenda was a resolution to approve an easement with Ottertail Power Company. “This easement is for an electric power line that will go from Crescent Avenue, underneath the Red River, and into the woods edition to approximately Holly Avenue,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “It will provide additional service for those in the woods addition and auxiliary perhaps to other areas of Crookston as well.”
The council approved the easement unanimously.
PROPOSED 2023 STREET IMPROVEMENTS
The following item was a resolution to hear and approve the engineer’s report as well as call a Public Hearing on proposed 2023 street improvements. The following streets are the ones proposed for improvements, and the construction will take place in the summer of 2023.
- Houston Avenue- Hunter Street. to South Ash Street.
2. Alexander Street- 4th Avenue to 1200 Alexander Street.
3. Euclid Avenue – Guthrie Street to Ditch.
4. Guthrie Street – Euclid Avenue to 5th Avenue South.
5. Guthrie Street – DAC Bus garage approach to 5th Avenue South.
6. Blacktop Downhill Portion of Alley off Elm Street Between Central Avenue and Summit Avenue.
These six projects were deemed top priority due to their condition and that is why they’ve been selected. The council approved the resolution unanimously and the public hearing to discuss the proposed improvements further will be held on Monday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m. Citizens will be able to attend the hearing to share any concerns they may have. The cost for the street improvements is $675.00 a front foot. Public Works Director Brandon Carlson stated that assessments for the projects will be sent out soon.
AGREEMENTS WITH MNDOT, AND LOCAL PUBLIC AGENCIES TO RECEIVE FEDERAL FUNDS
Another item on the agenda was a resolution to approve delegated contracts process agreements between MnDot and Local Public Agencies eligible to receive federal funds. “This is a resolution where the city must designate the commissioner of the Department of Transportation as the individual who accepts federal grant money for and on behalf of the City of Crookston,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “We are awarded federal dollars for transportation and the commissioner must initially receive these dollars and then convey the money to us. This is required by statute and something that has to be done, and therefore is a formality for the council.”
The council approved the resolution unanimously.
OTHER ITEMS
The board then passed a resolution approving an intermediary relending loan program and mortgage satisfaction on the property owned by Bucky’s LLC. Bucky’s LLC is a Minnesota limited liability company that the City of Crookston paid $100,000 to as a loan back in 2014 for financing to assist with the purchase of an existing business and acquire inventory and working capital. The repayment of the loan agreement and mortgage indicated that the final payment be due on the intermediary relending loan before April 1 of 2024. a diligent and thorough search of County property records and City financial records indicated no presently existing financial or repayment obligations are necessary as they have already paid off the loan.
The last item on the agenda was a resolution accepting bids and awarding contracts for Agricultural Road Street and Utility Construction for a 10-ton road owned by the City of Crookston and adjacent to the Ag Innovation Campus across from American Crystal Sugar Company. “We promised a 10-ton road and that’s what we will be giving them,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds. “This was a bidding process and the bid from Spruce Valley Corporation was the lowest bid. We assessed if they are responsible and reliable, and have decided they are the best option for this project based on working with them in the past, being the lowest bidder, and being easy to work with,”Â
The council approved the resolution and awarded the bid to Spruce Valley Corporation in the amount of $1,044,077.90 for the project.Â
REPORTS
During staff reports, Crookston Fire Chief Shane Heldstab thanked Bob Magsam for his service as a fire fighter, and is hoping everyone comes to the fire hall this Wednesday to celebrate Bob with a retirement party from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Chief Heldstab also mentioned to the council that more CERT Training covering sandbagging techniques, and other preparation for emergency events will be coming up on April 12. The Fire Department will also be having their monthly training on April 6, and will be focusing on getting their staff prepared if there is another high water event this spring. The Fire Department is continuing to monitor the weather forecast from the National Weather Service and is prepared for flooding if it should happen this spring.Â
Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler also took the time during his report to welcome the new officers one last time, and let the council know that the water main leak at the police station has been fixed and taken care of.
The next Crookston City Council meeting will be Monday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. inside the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers. Pictures of the swearing in ceremony and the recording of the meeting are below.
