The Crookston City Council met for a regular meeting on Monday night inside the City Hall Council Chambers in the lower level of City Hall.
CHEDA SPECIAL MEETING
Before the meeting began, the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met for a special meeting to approve their payables for November. The CHEDA Checks and EFT totaling $2,750. They then began approving the CHEDA half checks for December, which included $63,057. The board approved the payables unanimously.
CROOKSTON FORUM
After the Call to Order, the council opened the forum to the public on any issues not listed on the agenda. Andy Hall of Sweetlight Gallery approached the board about the Night of Stars held by the Crookston Area Chamber on Friday, December 2, in the Crookston Eagles. He reported that there were still tickets available and asked the city to support the event.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
The council then invited Crookston Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dave Kuehn, who had a presentation on the Crookston School District’s Proposed Multi-Use Outdoor Complex. Kuehn gave a brief history of the referendum project, saying it was voted on in August during the primary elections but lost by nine votes. So, he was now presenting to the city and other local organizations to start an informational campaign to help spread information about it before another vote for it in February. “In the next couple months, we’re going to be out trying to get our information out as we did this past summer but hopefully doing a better job at getting out to our district stakeholder,” Dave Kuehn explained. “We asked tonight to get some support from some of our councilmembers about setting up meetings with the different wards that make up the Crookston community, but we’re also looking to do the same thing with people that live outside the city limits in their area, ward, or township so we can share the information about this project so that we can inform as many people as possible for this referendum, the benefits, the whys, and the cost of the project.”
The school district is looking to add a large multi-use outdoor complex behind the Crookston High School, which would have a turf field, a concession stand, and it could seat over 750 people. Kuehn explained that the school district has used the University of Minnesota Crookston field and track, but the University stopped maintaining the field and track. Any school district is not allowed to conduct any maintenance or make any upgrades to the field as they do not own. That is why the district wants to build a facility on the Crookston High School grounds. Kuehn explained they had options to finance it internally to keep the school competitive with other schools and help benefit the district and community. The complex could be used for the school’s Phy Ed class and by many of the sports teams for practices and competitions. It would use artificial turf to make it easier for them to maintain, would last longer for multiple games, and make it easier for people to park close to the game. Kuehn said that the project’s total cost would be about $4,965,000 and that the Ag2School Credit State Aid would cover 36% of the project’s costs while the other 64% would be covered by residential, Ag land, and commercial/industrial taxes.
After giving the council the information, Kuehn opened it up to the council for questions. One question asked was if all home matches for football and track were not held at Crookston High School where would they be held. Kuehn answered that they were held at East Grand Forks High School for track events while football was still played on UMC’s field, and without them at the school, it took away from the community and district when they host state tournaments or matches. Councilmembers Dylane Klatt and Kristie Jerde forced his support for the referendum and that it was a project that the school and community were lacking. Kuehn requested each council member to create a resolution for the city’s support of the referendum, which the council approved City Administrator Corky Reynolds to create.
CONSENT AGENDA
The council’s Consent Agenda consisted of approving the City of Crookston’s Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $135,401.77. It also included a resolution to accept a ONEOK Foundation Grant of $1,800 to the City of Crookston Police Department. The council approved the agenda unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The council then opened the meeting to a public hearing regarding the proposed assessment on project 984 First Avenue North, from Stearns Street to Albert Street by street reconstruction. City Clerk Ashley Rystad reported that the project cost $355,946.04 with an amount to be assessed of $37,720, with a recommended term on the assessment for two to ten years with a 3% per annum.
The council then held a public hearing regarding the proposed assessment on project 985 Second Avenue North, from Stearns Street to Albert Street, by street reconstruction. Rystad reported that the project cost $420,847.03 with an amount to be assessed of $35,360, with a recommended term on the assessment for two to ten years with a 3% per annum.
The council then held a public hearing regarding the proposed assessment on project 986 Sunflower Street, from 3rd Avenue SW to Crescent Avenue, by reclamation and bituminous paving. City Clerk Ashley Rystad reported that the project cost $223,021.84 with an amount to be assessed of $27,400 with a recommended term on the assessment for two to ten years with a 3% per annum.
The council then held a public hearing regarding the proposed assessment on project 987 South Washington Avenue, from Brower Street to East Robert Street by bituminous mill & overlay. City Clerk Ashley Rystad reported that the project cost $68,002.22 with an amount to be assessed of $10,500, with a recommended term on the assessment for two to 10 years with a 3% per annum.
The final item the council held a public hearing for was a proposed assessment for unpaid water and sewer charges and for current charges. The amount was $5,956.74, with code enforcements costing $3,538.60 and mowing charges at $1,041.67 with each assessment for a one-year term. No one came forward for the hearing, so the council closed the public hearing.
REGULAR AGENDA
The council’s Regular Agenda included adopting the assessments for the five items they held for the public hearing, which they did unanimously. However, Councilmember Kirstie Jerde asked what they could do to involve the landlords earlier for people that did not pay their water bills after 60 days. The city discussed a variety of suggestions for it and would look further into if anything could be done.
Final Reading of City Code Chapter 117
The council then began a discussion about the second and final reading of an ordinance amending the City Code Chapter 117 Entitled “Peddlers and Solicitors” The council approved the amendment unanimously.
New Ringomatic Jet Vacuum Excavator purchase
The council then began a discussion about purchasing a new Ringomatic Jet Vacuum Excavator for the Crookston Public Works Department and recommended the acceptance of a quote from Trenchers Plus for $97,513.56 and would use the Water General Reserves fund as their revenue source. Reynolds explained that it was an item requested by the Public Works Water Department and met the requirements of the state bid. It would also cause significant savings for the city if they purchased it now rather than later. Carlson reported that he had budgeted the item to save them $30,000 in the future. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Crookston Wastewater Treatment Plant PFAS
The council then began a discussion on a resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding for the Crookston Wastewater Treatment Plant. Reynolds explained that the Wastewater Facility was a receiver of PFAS, and to protect human health and the environment, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency established goals to identify and reduce PFAS through its 2022 PFAS Monitoring Plan by taking multiple samplings to identify sources of PFAS within Crookston. “The state of Minnesota has requested that we, as an identified industrial user community, test our water for these chemicals, which negatively impact our environment,” City Administrator Corky Reynolds explained. “It is $600 per sampling and analysis, and the state has allocated funds for two of those tests and is seeking other funding for the remaining two. If they do not find the funding, the city would have to pay $1,200 for this testing to identify if we have any of those chemicals in our water.” He explained the MPCA funding would help with a portion of the sampling and analysis cost of the monitoring plan for two sampling events. Reynolds explained that the Plant would continue to work to find other methods to pay for the other two sampling events, and Carlson approached the board again to explain it would cost them $600 per sampling event, totaling $1,200. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Intermediary Relending Program Loan Documents
The council then began a discussion on a resolution approving the Intermediary Relending Program (IRP) Loan Documents for the city. Reynolds explained that the Crookston Development Policy and Review Committee reviewed a proposed revised Intermediary Relending Program loan application document and has $760,000 available to be lent to people and businesses who apply for it. He explained the committee had met for the first time in two years last week to create a new form that was updated with the latest federal regulations for the program and needed the city to approve it to allow them to accept applications for the program to help new businesses. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Updated Housing Study
The council then began a discussion on a resolution to authorize the city to conduct an Updated Housing Study that had been updated after some events after 2018, when the study was last updated. The Community Partners Research, Inc. had established a fee of $16,900 to update the housing study, including 2020 United States Census data. Reynolds recommended that the city enter a contract with Community Partners Research to authorize the studies. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Crookston Utility Rates Discussion
The final item on the agenda was the council began discussing the Utility Rates for the city. Public Works Department Director Brandon Carlson reported that he had collected more data on some revenues and expenses of each department and now had a new capital improvement plan for the department. He revealed that they had spent $699,964 on expenses for their wastewater reserves while only having collected $477,386 in revenues, which had them $222,578 in debt. He noted this mainly happened with there being a lack of maintenance and upgrades to the system. Carlson then came forward with a new capital improvement plan, saying it would increase the department’s budget but would give much-needed maintenance to the department’s system. The most notable change he made was the Wastewater Department required a rate change from $1.75 to $3.50 per 1,000 gallons, which will increase revenue for the department by approximately $450,000 to address infrastructure needs. Carlson reported that the street lighting department hadn’t been maintaining the expenses since 2013 as it lost $26,908 as they spent $123,531 in expenses and $96,623 in revenue, so its revenue rate would have to increase to recapture about $45,000 a year to support its expenses. For the garbage department, Carlson explained they only pick up residential garbage, which had a base rate of $5 for a water account and needed to increase to $6 in order to sustain itself as it was also in debt by $27,709, with them spending $159,907 in expenses and only making $132,198 in revenues. Carlson then came forward with recommendations for using the adjustments to help the departments break even for the year. Carlson then gave a proposed average utility bill with 6,000 gallons of consumption, which would be a total of $67.04 with a monthly increase of $19.51 (29%), making a new average bill with water, sewer, and storm sewer costs at $48.71. The council agreed to hold a public hearing on these adjustments at their next meeting on December 12.
Revised resolution on updated 2023 Fee Schedule
The board then made updates to the Fee Schedule for 2023, with some additions to the Crookston Fire Department for inspections and for the Crookston Sports Center to sell alcohol for University of Minnesota hockey games and curling competitions.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION
City Administrator Reynolds explained he had completed the process for the next Chief of the Crookston Fire Department to replace Chief Tim Froeber after he retires at the end of the year and that they had selected Shane Heldstab. “We posted that application internally, and Shane applied. There was an interview process by a committee of four members, myself, Chief Froeber, Jordan, our Human Resources Department lead, and a Fire Chief from another community. Shane also did some written examinations and an interview process. After the process, the committee met and made a recommendation, and we offered that position to Shane today. He graciously accepted, and we’re excited that he is going to be our new Fire Chief sometime in the future when the training with Chief Froeber has finished and Chief Froeber has moved on.” Reynolds said that the city is targeting January 1 as the date for his swear-in ceremony would commence.
Crookston Fire Chief Tim Froeber congratulated Shane Heldstab for receiving the position of Fire Chief and that he was training him to become the chief of the department. He also reported that Toys for Tots started this weekend, and the department would deliver all collected toys for it on Christmas Eve. They were also continuing their Hydrant Hero program soon.
Polk County Commissioner Gary Willhite reported that he had received a report on the Opioid Settlement, and Polk County would receive $1.9 million to go towards helping fight drugs. The county had also allocated $38,000 to the Scruffy Tails Humane Society to improve their center.
WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
Following the meeting, the Crookston Ways & Means Committee met for a closed session to discuss Labor Negotiations.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, December 12, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
