The Crookston City Council met on Monday night inside the City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting began with Crookston Police Department Chief Paul Biermaier swearing in new officers James Brandon and Loren Edevold.
Biermaier talked about what Brandon and Edevold bring to the department. “The maturity in both of them sticks out,” said Biermaier. “They’ve both been around and are both excited to be here and love what they’re doing here with us. That spreads throughout the department, and I like what they have to offer with their demeanor and personality.”
Brandon began in March and Edevold in August. They are both certified to work for the department and have been doing so up to this point, but it’s a tradition for the Police Department to swear in all officers. Family members and other Crookston Police Department Officers attended the ceremony to support Brandon and Edevold.
The swearing-in ceremony and pictures can be found at the bottom of this page. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the beginning of the video down below.
The Consent Agenda included approving the meeting minutes from September 27 and City of Crookston bills and disbursements in the amount of $405,883.22. The Consent Agenda also included approving the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority agenda for their upcoming meeting on October 19 and a resolution approving a partial payment for federal-funded street improvements. The board approved all consent agenda items unanimously.
The regular agenda began with approving a dance permit and dispensing of intoxicating liquor and food on the premises of the Crookston Inn for the University of Minnesota Crookston Homecoming tailgating party taking place Saturday, October 23. UMC wants to have a tailgating party before the UMC Hockey game that day and will have a dance afterward.
The board approved both resolutions unanimously, and City Administrator Amy Finch spoke more on the process of approving these types of resolutions. “The alcohol consumption for a community event acquires Council approval because the licensing puts the city on notice if additional patrol is needed,” said Finch. “The dance permits are a little bit outdated. Because it’s a part of our ordinances now, what triggers the dance permit is if it’s open to the public or not. Again, the main intent of these resolutions is to put the city on notice if more patrol may be needed.”
The next resolution was accepting and awarding a contract for cleaning, repairing, and painting two filter pressure vessels. Public Works Director Brandon Carlson explained the process and who received the bid. “The filters will be sandblasted and re-coated,” said Carlson. “They’ll also be re-painted, and Classic Protective Coating got the bid for $491,958.”
The board approved the request unanimously.
The final resolution was to approve the Crookston Public Works Department’s purchase of a Motor Grader for 2022. The board approved the request unanimously after discussing the need for the Motor Grader and the condition of current Motor Graders the department already has.
Public Works Director Brandon Carlson talked about the timing of the purchase. “The company we’re purchasing it from contacted me and said at the end of the month the contract will be going up about 5%,” said Carlson. “They said if we purchase the Motor Grader before then, they’ll honor the quote that they had initially given me. It’s budgeted to be purchased in 2022, we won’t receive it until then, but we just needed the approval to sign the purchase order a little early.”
The department was due for a new Motor Grader, as one hasn’t been purchased within the last ten years.
During the reports from Board Members, Finch provided an update on a meeting earlier today with MnDOT and other members from county agencies for possible short-term solutions to the intersection of N Broadway and Robert St. in Crookston. Finch expects these discussions to continue in the coming weeks as she and the community believe a solution is needed to the intersection.
MnDOT will also be conducting a Corridor Study in the near future and will evaluate possible solutions, which could include closing the right turn lane on Roberts Street and changing lead time with signals for pedestrians in the crosswalks. All board members discussed and agreed that changes would need to be made to the intersection moving forward for the safety of everyone.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, October 25.
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