The Crookston City Council met on Monday night in the Crookston City Hall Council Chambers in the lower level of Crookston City Hall.
CHEDA SPECIAL MEETING
Before the meeting began, the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) met for a Special Meeting inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
After the Call to Order, the Board began the approval of the payables. The first item was the end-of-month payroll and bills for June 30 for a total of $23,149.04, and the disbursement for their Section 8 Rental Assistance for July 1, for $63,556.58. The Board approved all payments unanimously.
The next CHEDA meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 12, at noon at the Valley Technology Park.
CONSENT AGENDA
After the Call to Order for the meeting, the Council’s Consent Agenda consisted of them approving the City Council Minutes from their meeting on June 13 and the approval of the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $280,391.40. The Council approved all motions unanimously.
REGULAR AGENDA
The Crookston City Council’s Regular Agenda included a resolution to approve two Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program Mortgage Satisfactions to Willard and Linda Nephew, who had entered into a Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program Deferred Loan Repayment Agreement and Mortgage back in November of 2008. The first agreement was where the City had loaned them $12,052.14 for the rehabilitation of their property, and if they maintained the property and stayed in it without transferring it for over five years, the mortgage loan would be satisfied. The second agreement had them pay back the loan of $12,052.14 with interest to satisfy the mortgage loan, which they had done. Crookston City Administrator Corky Reynolds noted that while they could have done this back in 2013 at the end of the five years, but all of the loans were being handled by the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing back in the early 2010s, so now the procedure is for the Council to wait for a request by the person who has the loan. “One of the things is that the City would have to have tracked all of those types of loans, and the City had a number of them, in excess of 20,” said Reynolds. “Also, at the time, those loans were being handled by the Northwest Minnesota Multi-County Housing, so we only become aware of them when the person who had the loan and has satisfied the conditions contacts us, the City, which was now done by the Nephews.”
The Regular Agenda also included a resolution to amend the State of Minnesota Grant Contract with respects to improving sites along the Red Lake River Corridor, including Central Park. The amendments included extending the grant’s competition date due to the COVID-19 pandemic to June 30, 2024, and changing the City’s Fiduciary to Reynolds.
Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg approached the Board to explain the Campground in the park had opened today, and they had done some maintenance and cleaning on the bathhouse and had an inspection of the park done on Friday, June 24.
The Council also heard from Finance Director Ryan Lindtwed, who reported on the plan to make the bathhouse a storm shelter as the City now had access to more legacy dollars, but they would first need to amend the grant with Reynolds as the new Fiduciary. He also explained they are getting two park rangers to help monitor the park.
The final items on the Regular Agenda included a resolution to approve a Dance License/Permit for the Downtown Crookston Development Partnership Event on Tuesday, June 28, in the Wayne Hotel parking lot and to approve the dispensing of intoxicating liquor on the premises as well. Reynolds reported that the event would have a music group and a food truck during the hours of 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Council approved all motions unanimously.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS
Public Works Director Brandon Carlson reported that the Sweep Crew had begun the construction work on the sidewalk in downtown Crookston and had removed the trees so far and will begin removing half of the brickwork tomorrow. He reported that he had received many requests of trees that wanted to be cut down or trimmed but revealed that he could not due to many of the trees being diseased, and during the summer, there are more insects, and they can transfer the diseases to healthy trees when they are felled. So, he reported that they are taking inventory of what trees they’ll cut down or trim in the fall or winter.
The Council had asked him about a smell that was hanging over the City as they had received many questions and complaints about it but were not sure what was causing it. Carlson explained that it was due to the excess wastewater coming from American Crystal due to the high-water events that happened over the spring. “Because of the high-water event this spring, our ponds were unable to handle some of Crystal’s water because our pond levels were too high,” said Reynolds. “So, we couldn’t take some of their discharge, so they have retained a critical amount of water, and they’re having to deal with that and dealing with it as best as they can, working with our Public Works Director Brandon Carlson.” Carlson reported that they have begun working with American Crystal to try and clear the water and predicts that the process should be completed by the end of the summer but says that the odor should not last during the entire process.
The Council then heard from Reynolds, who reported that many Food Trucks were coming to the City, with five coming very soon and more coming over in the near future. He reported that they have been working well with the ordinance and will bring forward a revision to it by the next meeting on July 11. He also reported that there currently is no update on the City Administrator search.
The Council then heard from Chad Palm of the IT Department that the City has a permanent URL for the City’s YouTube channel, that there was new training for the City’s Website Committee, and that they are running a new advertisement for the open IT Technician position.
The Council also heard from Crookston Fire Chief Tim Frober, who explained that he and other firefighters had gone up and down the river to survey any more damages up the river and would discuss some solutions for heavily damaged areas with Interim Administrator Reynolds.
Crookston Chief of Police Darin Selzler reported that they had responded to over 300 service calls in the last two weeks and that State College enrollment has increased over the year, which could help with recruitment.
WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
Soon after the conclusion of the City Council meeting, the Ways & Means Committee met briefly to discuss the preliminary budget for the Parks & Recreations for 2023.
Ryan Lindtwed first explained to the committee that Parks and Recs Director Jake Solberg had dropped their Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) from $121,000 to $91,000 to try and get funding to make improvements to different parts of the community like the parks and arenas, including lighting out on the tennis courts, financing of the hut and bathrooms at the Ray Eckland Complex, and adding pictures by the playground in the main rink and small tables around the rinks in the Crookston Sports Center.
Solberg then mentioned that he was currently speaking with other communities to raise the revenues for each of the sports by $25 to help them cover their costs and expenses. “We’ll go through and talk with other communities and see where they’re at and bring back a proposal to the council here,” said Solberg. “So if you add $25 to baseball, for example, this year it’s $100, next year it’s $125 to add fees to cover costs and expenses.”
Solberg then reported that Club Kid had about 62 children participating in it, which was an increase from last year’s 57 children, and explained that he wanted some funds to purchase updated equipment. Such as new helmets for baseball and softball and new cones, pucks, and nets for hockey for some of the events the children would take part in.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, July 11, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
