The Crookston City Council met on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. 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 to approve their financials for September and their October Housing Assistant Payments. The board approved both motions unanimously.
CROOKSTON FORUM
After the Call to Order, the council heard from Michelle Christopherson, who invited the city to the University of Minnesota Crookston’s Homecoming week from October 2-8 and invited the city to come to any games and events happening at the University.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
The council then had a presentation by Blake Carlson of Widseth Smith Nolting to inform the council about the flooding problems on the north side of Crookston, mainly by the Crookston Sports Center section. He noted at least two peaks caused by rainfall in the Sports Center section which flooded multiple streets, including Barrette Street and south of Fisher Avenue. He noted a few unique things about that section, such as County Ditch 99 running through the section and the Sports Center was at the bottom of a slope to the northeast that had a lot of water draining mainly to the west towards the Sports Center. He noted that County Ditch 99 was open across from Highway 11, but the water was high enough for it to flow north through the Highway, and some of it ended up going into the Barrette Street Storm Sewer. While the city has added a stormwater sewer to prevent a lot of water from going to the Sports Center, there was still an inadequate outlet to move a lot of water away if there is another storm or flooding event like that again. With the history of flooding and the potential for the development of houses and businesses in that area, he recommended that the city apply for a grant to help pay for a study to design a stormwater sewer system to create an adequate outlet for the section to drain and help handle water for future development for the area. When asked about what they could do to prevent any flooding from happening next spring before the study begins, Carlson noted that the ditch block was installed on the north side of the section to reduce the water the existing storm sewer had to handle. However, some other plans were being put in motion as well. “Brandon Carlson also mentioned that there is a plan to potentially pump water from the one side of the ditch plat to the east side into County Ditch 99. So if we had another event like the one we had this spring, there probably would be some water on the streets,” Blake Carlson explained. “Unfortunately, at this point, there’s not much that can be done. At some point, there needs to be a greater compacity for an outlet from the section to solve the problem.” Carlson reported that the state grant would help pay for the majority of the study and put construction plans together but did not know any dates as to when it would be confirmed, but the project was currently postponed until the spring of 2023.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Council’s Consent Agenda consisted of approving the City Council Minutes from their meeting on September 12, their Special Meeting on September 19, and the approval of the City of Crookston’s Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $236,999.01. The council also approved a $25 donation from Brost Chevrolet for Crookston Park and Recreations Youth Sports. The final item was also to approve a Dance Permit for the University of Minnesota for an event they would have on October 11. The board approved the agenda unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The council then held a Public Hearing for amending an ordinance of the City Code Chapter 111 entitled ‘Alcoholic Beverages.’ This would authorize any holder of an on-sale liquor license issued by the city to sell liquor at any convention, banquet, conference, meeting, or social affair conducted on the premises of a sports or convention facility owned by the city. However, no one came forward, so the council closed the hearing.
REGULAR AGENDA
After the Public Hearing, the Council’s Regular Agenda included an amendment to the City Code Chapter 117 entitled “Peddlers and Solicitors.” Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds explained that they had created an ordinance for food trucks coming to the city during the summer but now, to protect the health and welfare of the public, the city will set regulations to ensure that persons vending off of private property do not impede on public space. He explained that he had met with multiple vendors about the current ordinance and any changes they wanted to make to it. The main thing they had left to figure out was the amount for their fee schedule. They also wished to double-check the distance of 200 feet from local businesses to see if it was appropriate and about some exceptions to things like lemonade stands and events that occur in public parking lots. He noted that they would return for the next meeting with the change to the ordinance to be voted on.
Emergency Ordinance for Sale of Edible Cannabinoid Products
The agenda also included an Emergency Ordinance temporarily regulating the Sale of Edible Cannabinoid Products in the City of Crookston. Reynolds explained Councilman Tomas Vedbraaten had told him of an ordinance for it created by the city of Fosston, so he asked for the City Clerk to get a copy of the ordinance for the city to use, with there being a few notable terms that had to be followed. Mainly that the businesses must inform the city of where they would be selling the products at permanent sites, and sales could not be made in a movable business facility. When asked how this would be covered with the fees, Reynolds explained that they would contact the League of Minnesota Cities to discover the fee for a license to sell those products. Though he noted they could be similar to the sales of alcohol and cigarettes. Reynolds made a motion to have the council let him do research on the fees with other cities to come back with a sales fee to be approved at their next meeting.
416 Broadway Street North Hazardous Building
The council then went into a resolution ordering a repair of a Hazardous Building located at 416 Broadway Street North. Reynolds explained that the city had received numerous citizen complaints about the physical structure of the building, which has allegations of window failures and/or broken windows allowing rain, pests, pigeons, and various infestations into the structure, along with several missing shingles and a collapse of the roof structure on the southwest roofline. City Public Official Greg Hefta and building owner Eric Rudnik gave a presentation at the city council meeting on September 12. They gave Rudnik 60 days to repair the open sections of the foundation, broken and falling parts on the structure, replace the rotting roof and the asphalt roof shingles and associated underlayment, which do not cover the gaps in coverage on the roof. If he is unable to complete these tasks by the deadline of November 12, the city had various legal options to either do the repairs themselves or raze the building with court intervention.
Charles Reynolds City Attorney resignation and Tanner Holten designation
The council then went into a resolution to accept the resignation of Charles “Corky” Reynolds as the City Attorney for the City of Crookston to allow him to devote his efforts as the new City Administrator fully and designate Tanner Holten from Harbott, Knutson, Larson, & Holten, P.L.L.P. as the City Attorney for the City of Crookston, effective October 1. The council approved the motions unanimously.
City Administrator appointment
The council then made a resolution to approve the appointment and the employment agreement for Charles “Corky” Reynolds as the new City Administrator for the City of Crookston, effective October 1. Reynolds noted that he would be set to work for the city until the end of 2023, while the new City Council would work to find a more permanent fill-in for the role. “The City will continue looking for a more permanent City Administrator. I have indicated that I will continue. I’m always subject to their approval until the end of December 2023,” “Corky,” Reynolds explained. “I believe we’ll initiate a more formal search with the aid of a search firm after the new council is elected and has been seated. One of their first tasks will be to identify a search firm, employ them, and start the process of obtaining a City Administrator who can be here more permanently into the future, but I will continue through 2023.” The council approved the motion unanimously.
Clean-Up Week Policy
The council then made a resolution to adopt a new Clean-Up Policy to provide the citizens with identification and notification of items and quantities during Clean-Up Week. Public Works Director Brandon Carlson approached the council to discuss some of the guidelines they were discussing with the amounts of each category of debris to make up for the fact they only had one garbage truck to work with. The policy will have single-family dwelling clean-up items picked up only on its regular garbage pickup day and must be placed on the street boulevard by 7:00 p.m. to prevent any vandalism or people going through others’ garbage. Only household quantities of debris will be accepted, with items separated into separate piles. Bagged garbage, clothing, and cardboard must have a weight limit of 30 pounds per bag and no larger than 35 gallons, with up to 30 bags per household. Appliances will only have a limit of two per household. Bypass, furniture, mattresses, metal items, and demolition-bypass will have a limit of three furniture items, four mattresses, and a demolition-bypass pile with a maximum dimension of 15’x4’x3’, and a limitation of 4 tires and rims. These changes will help speed up the clean-up process, though Carlson advised people not to bring furniture, mattresses, box springs, or bed frames found on the street into people’s homes to prevent the spread of bed bugs. As required by State Law, video display devices (TV’s computer monitors) cannot be landfilled and not collected, along with concrete, batteries, partially full paint cans, chemicals, or large amounts of demolition debris. The final items should be placed on boulevards no more than 24 hours before each person’s collection day.
Preliminary Levy
The final item on the regular agenda was a discussion to establish the city’s 2023 Tax Levy and Preliminary General Fund Budget. Reynolds reported that at their last meeting, they had a consensus to have a preliminary levy increase of 23.45% from 2022. With the consent of searching out each department’s needs and using the city’s reserves. He reported that they had come up with a few suggestions. They would remove the Fire Department’s request for new radios and use the city’s reserves to purchase them, which saved them $18,100. They did the same with the Crookston Police Department by removing some emergency equipment and a new vehicle for the undesignated reserves for $55,000. The last item was to pay for a new truck with the city’s reserves rather than the budget, which saved another $55,000, which saved a total of $128,100, which dropped the levy down to 18.15%. Reynolds then explained that the levy increase would increase the taxes an individual homeowner would pay to the city by 3.817%. Reynolds recommended setting the preliminary tax levy at that amount, which is the highest the council can raise it for the remainder of the year, but they can lower it in the future and hear feedback from the public about its impact. “Between now and the end of December, our Finance Director, Department Heads, and myself will be looking at the impact of such a levee. More than one council member indicated tonight that we should be reducing that levy, while a number felt that was an appropriate levy. We’ll be looking at data and information over the last two months to offer information to the council members about how our expenses increased as we projected. Are we able to identify reserve funds that could be used to reduce that levy? We cannot go higher than 18.15%, we can go lower, but we want to make data-driven decisions.” Reynolds said he would work with the department heads on using revenues or reducing expenditures to give them a broad array of data-induced decisions on what they can do to the levy for future meetings. The board approved the levy with a 5-2 vote in favor. The final public budget meeting will be on Monday, December 12, at 6:15 p.m.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Interim City Administrator “Corky” Reynolds reported that he had a meeting with members of the CHEDA department and their insurance providers, and he had become the new Chair of the Airport Commission. He had also met with Chris Boike to discuss their roof repair at the Crookston Public Library.
Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg approached the board to explain that one of the condenser units with their spray pumps had broken, and they installed a new one on Thursday, and they thankfully hadn’t lost any ice during that time. With that, he was also preparing the Sports Center for hockey season.
Public Works Director Brandon Carlson approached the board, explaining that his street crews were working to repair potholes and sidewalk damages before the beginning of the winter.
City Finance Director Ryan Lindtwed reported that they would bring another budget proposal to the next meeting to give them a better idea of what to expect with the budget.
Crookston Fire Chief Tim Frober reported that Fire Prevention Week was the week of October 9 and would have an open house on the 15. Though he reported that he and the First Responders were starting a First Responders Academy on Tuesday, October 5, for students ages 12-24, which currently had about 50 students signed up for it.
Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler reported that they had partnered with RiverView Health to host the Ask a Pharmacist event which was a great success and that it would become an annual event for RiverView. He also mentioned that they would be holding a Public Vehicle Auction from October 3 and last about ten days.
The council then heard from Robert Silvers, who said he would be running for the Ward 4 seat on the Crookston City Council seat, and Lane DeVoge running for the Council Member at Large seat.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, October 10, at 7:00 p.m., inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
