The Crookston City Council met Monday evening in the Council Chambers in City Hall.
WRITING OFF DEBT OWED BY JACOBSON HOSPITALITY
The City Council discussed writing off the debt/loan of Jacobson Hospitality (Todd and Nicole Jacobson), the former owners of the Crookston Inn. The loan was originally worth $100,000, but over time, with interest, the new total reached $140,598.16. The individuals who were stockholders/shareholders in the corporation filed for bankruptcy individually and were discharged from their debts. This meant the debt became essentially uncollectible; the council went on to pass a resolution to write off the debt. “Item 8.01 involved a delinquent and essentially an uncollectible loan that the city made to the former owners of the Crookston Inn, that’s been on the books a long time, the corporation which held title to the facility has ceased business,” said City Administrator Corky Reynolds.
The council voted unanimously to approve the updated policy.
UPDATED FUND BALANCE POLICY
The council discussed updating the City’s Fund Balance Policy. Councilmember Kristi Jerde wanted to table the discussion so there would be more time to review it, but other council members quickly made a motion to approve the policy, stating there was plenty of time to review it.
“The city has had a fund balance policy for a number of years, but over time, the recommendations and best practices regarding what items should be included in your fund balance policy have changed,” said Reynolds. “What didn’t change was the old policy has a recommendation that the fund balance fell below 45% of your revenue, then you should bring it back up to 45%. Now, this policy keeps the 45% but says to use that 45% for expenditures for the subsequent year should keep 45% of the proposed and expected budget expenditures for the subsequent year.”
Councilmembers Tim Menard, Dylane Klatt, Don Cavalier, Clayton Briggs, Henry Fischer, and Morgan Hibma all approved the updated policy, while Jerde was the only one to vote no.
CAPITAL ASSET POLICY UPDATE
The council discussed updating the City’s Capital Asset Policy. Councilmember Kristi Jerde wanted to table the discussion so there would be more time to review it, but other council members quickly made a motion to approve the policy, stating there was plenty of time to review it. The original policy was created around 2004, and several things about the characterization of assets changed.
“Standards have changed, GASBs have changed, GASBs, meaning government policies regarding how you characterize assets. In the past, maybe a group of assets was characterized individually. Police department characterized their assets as firearms, radios, and computer equipment. The newer policy says you can still group, but you’ve got to make a more individualistic determination.”
NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR CONTRACT APPROVED
The council unanimously approved the contractual details of the new City Administrator, Jeff Shoobridge.
The contract includes a salary of $135,000 per year with a review in six months, up to $5,000 in moving expenses, and six years of seniority as part of his contract. Shoobridge stated he would start no later than July 15, 2024. “The contract terms were negotiated at arm’s length; our Baker Tilly representative, myself, and Jeff Shoobridge talked about what terms would be acceptable. We can come to a conclusion; we prepared a contractual document, sent it to him for his review, he signed it, and sent it back. What the council did tonight was authorize that contract to be approved,” Reynolds mentions.
The next Crookston City Council meeting will be on Monday, June 24, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
To watch the Crookston City Council meeting, click on the video below.
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