The Crookston City Council met on Monday night in the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers on the lower level of Crookston City Hall.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION
The council heard a presentation from Nature View Development Manager Robert Herkenhoff on the donation of the South Park in the Nature View Development. The park was a project they had started with the city back in 2020 and is now complete, and they will donate the park back to the city this year. “We started this development park in 2020. We donated the North Park, and we made an agreement that’d we donate the South Park when it worked out, and this summer is looking like the time to do it,” Herkenhoff explained. “The park is completed, the ponds are established, the trails are done, and I think it’d be a great asset for the city, and it’s probably time for me to turn it over and retire, so that’s my plan.”
Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds revealed that the development would next go to the Planning Commission to get their opinion on what to do with and based on what they decide, they’ll bring it back to City Council to be officially accepted in September. Herkenhoff thanked the council members for their help and if they or any of the public had any questions on it, they could contact him or Interim City Administrator Reynolds.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Council’s Consent Agenda consisted of them approving the City Council minutes from their meeting on June 27 and the approval of the City of Crookston bills and disbursements in the amount of $414,082.52. It also consisted of approving the agenda for the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority’s (CHEDA) meeting taking place on Tuesday, July 12.
The board accepted donations from Brost Chevrolet for Crookston Youth Sports and from American Crystal Sugar Company for the Crookston Fire Department. The council then approved a resolution to approve a dance permit and a permit to dispense intoxicating liquor on the premises of the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership community event.
The final items on the Consent Agenda were a resolution to declare police impound vehicles as surplus property and to receive a donation from Walmart for Night to Unite. The council approved all items unanimously.
REGULAR AGENDA
The Council’s Regular Agenda included a resolution to approve Charles “Corky” Reynolds as the City Attorney and an employee of the city. Reynolds explained that as he began to work for the city, the Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company communicated to him that if he wasn’t an employee of the city, the insurance wouldn’t cover any of the costs that would be covered for him or the city if there were any negative actions they happened because of actions he took.
TOWER LEASE
The council approved the American Tower/Verizon Wireless Lease, which was a part of a lease agreement they had made back in March 2003, and they now plan to amend the lease terms to extend the term. Reynolds explained the lease currently extends to March 31, 2029, and they now wish to make it a 30-year extension. Interim City Administrator Reynolds reported that they had negotiated with Verizon to come up with three additional terms to the contract. “We arrived at a mutually agreeable extension of the lease; they’ll be paying us a $25,000 kind of encouragement fee. They will be giving us an escalator clause each year,” Reynolds explained. “They will give us a 10% out of any gross revenues from any additional entities that they place on the tower, and they also gave us the ability for our law enforcement center to pre-approve any new entity that might be on the tower because it cannot interfere with any law enforcement communication. So, we were able to negotiate and get that passed this evening.” The council approved both motions unanimously.
FOOD TRUCK ORDINANCE
The final item on the Regular Agenda was to begin a discussion on the Food Truck Ordinance. Interim Administrator Reynolds and City Clerk Ashley Rystad explained that they had worked with citizens on the changes made to it and that they tried to establish a proposed fee consideration for how long the trucks would be in the city. For daily use, vendors would have to pay a fee of $50. For a five-day weekly permit, they would pay the amount of $200, and for a 90-day seasonal permit, they have to pay $500, but they will have to move to a new spot after 21 days. Reynolds explained that he had contacted multiple other cities that had food trucks stop in them all of the time, and the fees ranged anywhere from $20 to $100. They chose $50 after comparing them all and found $50 to be around the average of all of the cities and seemed like a reasonable price.
The council debated on the daily cost thinking they should raise it to $100 or if it would scare some vendors away because of the prices. “Consensus among the council, I believe, was that a daily fee should be between $50 and $100. There was not as much discussion on a weekly fee, but there was more discussion on should we have an annual fee for a 90-day period, and if we should, what should that amount be?” Reynolds explained. “After some discussion from the audience, some said that the fee of $500 wasn’t high enough and should be higher, but others said that’s too high for food truck vendors to deal with.” The council then heard comments and was approached by members of Taco Johns, Lucky Duck Food Truck co-owner Landen Duckworth, the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership, and Joe’s Diner.
A member of the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership approached the council and requested that they change the curfew of the trucks to keep them out later than 8:00 p.m. as she reported that she had to turn away customers that came after that time due to the curfew.
Lucky Duck Food Truck co-owner Landen Duckworth then addressed the council’s concerns about background checks, recommending that it might be unnecessary to do a background check whenever a vendor comes in to renew their license as they may be people local to the city or maybe local citizens.
Police Chief Darin Selzler approached the council to address the concern, explaining that the department will only use the check to see if they have a significant criminal record that makes them unsafe to be in the city and that they would not disclose any medical or sensitive information to anyone. Selzler also explained that they would only check the owners of the trucks.
A representative from Joe’s Diner explained that the diner felt the distance limit of 150 ft. from local businesses needed to be farther away as the diner is still closed due to the trucks coming to the city, and they don’t plan to reopen until the trucks are gone.
Interim Administrator Reynolds explained that they would use the ordinance until the end of the year and will continue to bring up any new changes and topics at future meetings and other changes they would make. The council decided to continue working on it and will continue the conversation on the Ordinance at the next meeting on August 22.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS
The council then heard from Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg, who reported that they are beginning preparations for the fall and winter programs and they are still searching for coaches and other employees for their programs. The council then asked him about what happened at the pool recently as to why it’s been closed so often, to which he responded that they had purchased a new feeding monitor for the pool, and they were currently testing it and trying to learn how to properly use the chemicals with it.
Public Works Director Brandon Carlson reported that the water leak in front of the Post Office on South Broadway will be repaired by Wednesday, July 13, and that road projects were moving ahead around the town. He also revealed that the final MnDOT Corridor presentation would be for a City Council meeting sometime in the future.
Fire Department Chief Tim Froeber approached to thank American Crystal for their donation to the department and that they will start gathering information from citizens about any information of damages they received from the spring high water events, winter snow melt, or sewage backup to be given to Homeland Security to be compensated for any damages. If anyone has anything they’d like to report to him, they should email him any information at tfroeber@crookston.mn.us, even if they have collective insurance. If there’s anyone outside of the Crookston City limits, they can contact the Polk County Emergency Management to receive any compensation for the damages.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, July 25, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
