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.
OATH OF OFFICE
After the Call to Order, the council invited Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler to conduct the swearing-in ceremony for new Police Officer Cody Peterson. Pictures of the ceremony can be seen below-
CROOKSTON FORUM
The council was first approached by Shirley Iverson of the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership (DCDP) to inform them about an event they did in partnership with the Crookston Area Chamber to hold an event called What the Buck… Save Some Doe on the weekend of November 5 and 6. She informed the council that many people came and filled many stores during the event, and everyone seemed to enjoy the beverages and businesses they invited. She said that during the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the DCDP would hold an event called Sip n’ Shop with the Crookston Rotary Club, which would begin with shopping at 9:00 a.m. and end with a tree lighting at 5:00 p.m. and invited the public to come to the event on Saturday, November 26.
CONSENT AGENDA
The council’s Consent Agenda consisted of approving the City Council Minutes from their meetings on October 24 and November 3 and the approval of the City of Crookston’s Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $651,769.12. The agenda will also include approving the Agendas for the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) meetings on Monday, November 21, and Monday, November 28. The next item on the Consent Agenda included canvassing the tabulation of votes cast for the mayor and four council member positions and declaring the results from the November 8, 2022, General Election. Reynolds took the time to introduce two of the general election winners who attended the meeting: At-Large winner Tim Menard and Henry Fischer, who had won the most write-in votes for Ward 2. The final items on the agenda included a resolution to approve the City of Crookston’s non-waiving of the monetary limits of Municipal Tort Liability established by Minnesota Statues Section 466.04 and approving the Partial Payment Estimate No 3- Final 2022 Street Improvement for $37,820.88 to R.J. Zavoral & Sons, Inc. The council approved the agenda unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The council then opened the meeting to a public hearing regarding the amendments to City Code Chapter 117, Entitled “Peddlers and Solicitors.” However, no one approached the council, so the council closed the Public Hearing.
REGULAR AGENDA
The council’s Regular Agenda included approving a resolution regarding Snow Loading of a Portion of MnDOT Trunk Highway 2 within the City Limits of Crookston. City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds explained that MnDOT had requested the city perform roadway maintenance work within the city and will provide locations on Highway 2 upon which the city will complete snow loading. “The city has a contract with MnDOT to snow load the snow on Trunk Highway 2 that goes through the city. It’s been there for many years,” City Administrator Reynolds explained. “The fee schedule is reviewed by myself and Public Works Director Brandon Carlson, and it’s a mutually beneficial thing. They plow the streets, we remove the snow, they pay us, and we pay for the loading. It works out really well, and this will go through until 2027.” The council approved the motion unanimously.
Rehabilitation Loan Program and Mortgage Satisfaction
The council then began a discussion about a resolution to approve Rehabilitation Loan Program and Mortgage Satisfaction on the property owned by William R. and Carol E. Montague, which they entered on April 7, 1994. The city paid them $38,576 as a loan for rehabilitation work on their existing business property. They had then entered the Loan Program on October 17, 1995, and filed with the mortgage lien on March 7, 1996, to make Montague Flower Shop. Reynolds explained that the building had since been sold and that the couple needed the satisfaction to complete the sale transaction. To satisfy the Mortgage for the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program Agreement and Mortgage, Reynolds recommended that the council sign the satisfaction to release and satisfy the mortgage. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Appointing Kari Kirschbaum as City Representative
The council then began a resolution to appoint Community Development Director Kari Kirschbaum to become the City Representative to the Polk County Affordable Housing Advisory Board to replace former City Administrator Amy Finch to represent Crookston. Reynolds explained that the City Administrator traditionally had filled the seat, but Kirschbaum had expertise in the field and recommended that she fill the seat. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Updated Fee Schedule for 2023
The council then began a resolution to adopt an updated Fee Schedule for 2023. “Corky” Reynolds explained that he, City Clerk Ashley Rystad, Financial Director Ryan Lindtwed, and the city’s department heads have reviewed the city’s costs related to the processing of applications with respect to permits, registration fees, etc., and recommended the adoption of a new annual fee schedule and would go into effect on January 1, 2023. “We worked with the department heads and asked them to come up with realistic costs for what it cost the city to process applications for licenses and administrative matters,” Administrator Reynolds explained. “So, we looked at our hourly costs and how many hours, or minutes it takes an individual to process a license request for an animal or liquor license. We tried to come up with realistic fees to cover our costs. There were some minor changes, but many of them stayed the same, but with some increased costs we have in the city. Most fees went up at most 10 to 20% to cover costs.” The council approved the schedule unanimously.
Crookston Umpire Association Payment
The final item on the agenda was for the council to approve a payment to the officials of the Umpires Association, where the city contributed money for umpires and officials and wished for them to approve payments to the umpires in time for them all to be paid before games began. “We want our officials to be paid before they step on the court or ice, and that money allocated to them will allow us to continue to do that because we have some upcoming events for Parks & Recs, officials, and hockey. This was a clean-up to get them the money to pay the officials so we can proceed with the games.” The council approved the motion unanimously.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATION
City Administrator “Corky” Reynolds reported that he had been in LELS contract discussions recently and would host a closed meeting at their next meeting to discuss them. He had also met with Scruffy Tails and had helped them raise over $10,000 for their fundraising requests.
Crookston City Clerk Ashley Rystad thanked everyone who came out to vote and the election judges for helping run the election booths, and 63% of the population came out to vote in the election.
Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler reported that they had responded to over 400 calls to service for the month and the Halloween Food Drive was a great success as they raised over 1200 pounds of food. He explained they had also been working on a body camera audit and would come back with the results in the future.
Community Development Director Kari Kirschbaum reported that they had followed up with Minnkota on the housing development they had discussed last week and other childcare discussions and would have more updates on projects soon.
Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg explained that the department was putting in ice for the Blue Rink and was working to prepare the outdoor rinks. They also planned to create more open swims at the Community Pool at least once a month or when the schools were off. They had also opened the Crookston Sports Center and had begun to play hockey games with the University of Minnesota.
City Public Works Director Brandon Carlson reported that Clean-Up Week went well at the end of October, and the snow did not pile higher than a foot, and they cleared the roads by noon on Friday. They were also preparing a new plow and grater to be ready for the coming winter and would have them all after Thanksgiving.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, November 28, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
