The Crookston City Council met on Monday night at the City Council Chambers in the lower level of Crookston City Hall.
Within the Consent Agenda, the council approved the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements for $335,009.52, the display of fireworks and pyrotechnics in the City Limits during Ox Cart Days, and the approval of both Irishman’s Shanty Inc. and Drafts Sports Bar dispensing intoxicating liquor on the premises during Ox Cart Days.
Crookston to provide Building Official services for Ada
The council approved a contract for Building Official Services between the City of Crookston and the City of Ada. The City of Ada needs to ensure that it complies with state and local building codes, administers inspections, and supports safe construction within the city limits, and this contract will ensure it does so. In the approved contract, the City of Ada will pay the City of Crookston a monthly amount of $1200 for all building permit fees. Additional fees will be charged for additional services as needed. City of Crookston Building Official Gregg Hefta is happy to be able to help out the City of Ada. “They need a Certified Building Official to do their inspections and or permit reviews. Basically, it will be on a fairly limited basis, running over there, probably twice a month,” says Hefta. In the long term, it’s mostly having an overview and oversight of the permitting process and the actual construction going on over there.” The City of Ada has agreed to $1200 a month for building permitting fees, and Hefta says those fees will stay within the Crookston Building Official Department. “That basically is the processing, overview, and oversight,” says Hefta. “That would stay in the Building Department budget and would offset some of Crookston’s costs for the Building Department itself. We’re trying to add more resources to the City of Crookston’s Departments, and that was one way we could do that.”
Ward 1 City Council seat opening
On the regular agenda was a resolution declaring the vacancy for the Ward 1 Council Member seat. The council unanimously approved declaring the vacancy, which came after Council Member Kristie Jerde resigned due to moving out of her ward. With the approval, the process can begin to fill the seat. “The next step in Ward 1, because it is just one ward as opposed to an at-large seat; at-large we had, and we did expect a large number of applicants,” says City Administrator Jeff Shoobridge. “We did get more than we expected; however, Ward 1 being one ward, we are not anticipating a very large number of applicants, so we are going to fall back to the original, normal process.”
Shoobridge says the process will open Tuesday morning, and people can apply at City Hall for approximately 10 days.
You must be a resident of Ward 1 and an eligible voter to apply. You can visit City Hall and speak with Ashley or Tina. Once the application period closes, interviews will be scheduled. “The council will call for the interviews. You will be scheduled to come in for council interviews at the next workshop on the 18th, where council will interview the candidate and make an informal selection, and then move forward to ratifying that selection.” The vote will be a voice vote, Shoobridge says, and fully transparent, so there won’t be any hiccups in the process.
To watch the meeting, click on the video below.
