City Council met Monday, December 9, after Truth in Taxation at City Hall in the Council Chambers
The council meeting agenda included the approval of the meeting minutes from November 25, bills and disbursements of $334,421, approval of the 2025 liquor licenses for the Irishman’s Shanty, IC Muggs, Captain Crooks, Drafts Sports Bar and Grill, Crookston Inn, Minakwa, and the Crookston Eagles. They also approved 3.2 malt liquor license applications from Wal-Mart, Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor, Amerivu Inn and Suites, and the Golden Link Senior Center. The council also approved a wine license with strong beer authorization for the Golden Link Senior Center.
The council also approved tobacco licenses for Ampride, M&H, Hugo’s, Superpumper, Holiday, Wal-Mart, Casey’s, and Crookston Smoke.
The first item on the regular agenda was a resolution to approve the in-kind donation of 10 acres of the industrial park to Minnesota Northern Railroad. As has been reported on in the recent past, Minnesota Northern was awarded a grant by MnDOT to add a Rail Spur on the SE corner of the Crookston Industrial Park owned by the City of Crookston. City Administrator Jeff Shoobridge explains the significance of getting this resolution signed. “We have a rail spur project coming into town and this is just 10 acres that is part of an in-kind contribution to meet the match and it provides the railroad with a piece of land that they need in order to bring that spur into our Industrial Park.”The Council voted unanimously to approve the in-kind donation.
The next two items on the agenda concerned cash farm leases. The first is at the Industrial Park with BTB Farms, and the other is around the Crookston Sports Center with Ryan Richman. Shoobridge explains how these contracts work. “It’s just city-owned land that’s not currently under development and doesn’t have buildings on it,” says Shoobridge. “We lease them out, normally on a three year lease but one of these is a one year lease because of anticipated future development.” The lease for BTB Farms is $11,735.50 annually for two seasons, which began with the 2024 season. The lease with Ryan Richman is a three-year lease starting the 2025 farm season with the annual sum of $16,500.
Next on the agenda was a resolution regarding amending MnDOT contract number 1053917 to ADA retrofit and lane reduction of Truck Highway 2. We asked Public Works Director Chuck Getsman what the amendment involved. “What MnDOT is doing is having SRF Contracting, Engineering Firm, go back and do a study on the traffic lights to make sure the ones they would like to remove are validated as well as the ones they would like to keep,” says Getsman. “No extra cost to the city, its MnDOT request and because we were part of the original contract we have to sign it as well to keep it moving forward.”The resolution was approved unanimously by the council.
The council was also asked Monday night to approve a request for subordination for Building Vision Crookston, located at 509 North Main Street. We met City Attorney Tanner Holten for more on this agenda item. “This was a request for a subordination for the Opticare Building,” says Holten. “The City of Crookston had a forgivable loan in the amount of $40,000; Opticare requested that we subordinate our loan, which means we give up our higher priority for the loan.” This means that in the event that the business fails, Frandsen Bank and Trust would get paid first, and the city would get paid second. “ Given that this loan was of a forgivable nature and to show Opticare that we appreciate them coming and rehabbing that building and making it look really nice, the council decided to approve that subordination, and we wish Opticare the best going forward.” The approval of the subordination was unanimous.
Also on the agenda tonight was a resolution for approving a Small Cities Development Program rehabilitation loan funding with respect to Gold Insiders, LLC, from local income. It has been explained in the last few meetings that some funds from the SCDP still needed to be spent down so that the city could receive funds for the upcoming year. City Administrator Shoobridge gives us some insight into Golf Insiders, LLC’s rehab project to take place on the property at 211 N. Main. “It’s an older building; the exterior walls are starting to deteriorate,” says Shoobridge. “ It’s a state funded loan that is forgivable after five years, we provide a portion, the property owner provides the balance and it funds them being able to upgrade and rehabilitate the older building.” This particular loan is just to reinforce some exterior walls that are starting to show signs of wear, says Shoobridge.
The council was asked to adopt the 2025 Calendar of City Council and Ways and Means meetings. A change was discussed, and the council agreed that it made sense to change the schedule for this year. Shoobridge told us what the change was and the benefits of going this route. “Our meetings are currently the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, and what we have found is that there are a few hiccups that happen with that,” says Shoobridge. “ One, we are meeting at the same time as the school board; second, that makes our second meeting of the month interfering with a lot of major holidays, you might think, Thanksgiving and Christmas?” The council decided that with a lot of people going on vacation and wanting to be able to have full participation from both the council and residents, it was decided to go to a 1st and 3rd Monday schedule. The council also saw a great benefit in being able to attend meetings such as the school board meetings to help build relationships and collaborate better with surrounding communities. The council adopted the calendar unanimously.
Last on the regular agenda was a discussion regarding changing the Council Meeting on December 23, 2024, to December 30, 2024. After a brief discussion, the council decided to change the next meeting date to the 30th of December. One council member would be out of town but would try to log on for the meeting.
Truth in Taxation took place tonight before the regular City Council Meeting. City Administrator Jeff Shoobridge gave a presentation to the council and public, which included some helpful information on fund balances, what different kinds of funds the city has, and which are available for what purposes. Shoobridge talked about Tax Capacity, and its effects on our city taxes. He also let everyone know that the council is working with two options for deciding the budget. One option would be a 22.2 % levy without the pool, and the other option is 27.45% with the pool. There were several in attendance who came with their Polk County assessments and spoke to the council about the increases they are seeing. The council explained to those in attendance that anything that comes from the County must be taken up with the County.
