The Crookston City Council met last night in the Crookston City Council Chambers in the lower level of Crookston City Hall.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Council opened the meeting with a presentation by the Scruffy Tails Humane Society about an update on the organization. The Council heard from Board President Nancy Sykes, who introduced the organization to the City and explained their role in how they were an animal shelter that wished to help cats and dogs in the City and support the people that help and own pets. Humane Society Treasurer Diane Christianson briefly explained the history of the Humane Society and how it became an organization focused on taking in and caring for unwanted and lost animals. She then gave an overview of their Finances, revealing that much of their income over the last year has come in from donations, grants, and adoptions, as well as revealing that they used the money on purchasing items to help these pets in their time of need. Shelter Manager Nicole Heskin explained what the Society does to the animals that come into their care and how they partnered with the Crookston Police Department, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, and other animal rescue organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin to help animals. She then demonstrated the Society’s website and how people can use it to donate their animals or where people can go to find other shelters and pet medical centers. She then revealed some of the projects the Society had planned, hoping that they hoped to renovate their dog adoption area, impound area, and outdoor space for play yards for the dogs. President Nancy Sykes then asked for support from the community to help them grow and support the animals. Pictures of the three Scruffy Tail Humane Society representatives and their presentation can be seen below.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Council’s Consent Agenda consisted of them approving the proposed City Council Minutes from their meeting on May 23 and the approval of the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements in the amount of $390,541.95. The Council then approved a $100 donation from Douglas and Barbara Erdman for the Crookston Fire Department Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Program and a $7,000 donation from the Crookston Baseball Association for the Crookston Parks & Recreation Legion Coaches. The final items on the Council’s Consent Agenda were to approve a nuisance mowing bid and contract with Thunder Paws for an hourly amount of $50 and to approve the Agenda of the Crookston Housing & Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) Special Meeting on Monday, June 27. The Council approved the Agenda unanimously.
REGULAR AGENDA
The Council’s Regular Agenda included a Resolution authorizing the engagement of Professional Design Services for the Crookston Public Library. Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds reported that the Public Library had leaks in its roof and that they had received a request from Widesth Engineering to determine what is causing the leak. Such as an actual breach in the roof, something wrong with the skylight, or with the slant of the roof. “What the Council did tonight was authorize the employment of Widseth Engineering to prepare Design specs for the bidding process to remedy this particular situation,” Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds explained. “So, we don’t have any more internal damage to the library infrastructure,” he added. Reynolds also reported that the current speculated cost of the design and repairs would be around $12,900. The Council continued with a resolution to approve a City Administrator Employment Agreement for Charles “Corky” Reynolds to make him an official City Employee instead of just an independent worker. “The number of actions that I’m taking and things I’m doing for the City are encompassing a wide variety of activities, and I’m not able to be covered by the City’s Liability Insurance because I’m an independent contractor,” Interim Administrator Reynolds explained. “What they’ve done is taken the independent contract, moved it aside, and made me an employee of the City. As an employee, the Interim City Administrator, I now have the League of Minnesota Cities’ coverage if I make any errors or missteps,” he added. The Council approved all motions unanimously.
The final item on the Council’s Regular Agenda was a discussion about the Food Truck Ordinance that the City had begun to enforce on June 1. Many food truck owners had attended the meeting to speak on the issue and give their opinions on the ordinance. Mayor Dale Stainbrook reported that the ordinance has been in place for a long time, originally put in place back in 1926 and amended for Crazy Days and Ox Cart Days back in 2011. But now, with more predominant food trucks coming to the City, the Council felt that they needed to enforce the ordinance to get licenses to make sure the trucks are properly registered and have passed the proper health requirements to sell to the City (by clearing a background check with the Crookston Police Station) and that they have permission from the nearby businesses for them to sell outside of them. Reynolds explained that they were willing to help clarify any confusion about the ordinance and hear any suggestions added to it, such as if the trucks will be there for a single day, multiple days, or an entire season. Reynolds also reported that other local businesses supported the trucks as long as they had gone through the same licensing process that they did for their business.
The Council then opened the room to the public to hear any input on the ordinance from the food truck owners that were present at the meeting and listen for any suggestions or changes that City Clerk Ashley Rystad and Interim Administrator Reynolds could make to the ordinance. Chris Boike asked the Council who would pay for the fees of the Background fees and renewed licenses, which Police Chief Darin Selzler and Administrator Reynolds explained are covered by the City as a flat rate. Ox Cart Days Director Libby Boucher and Assistant Ox Cart Days Director James Pogatshnik came forward next to ask about the 14-day permit for events like Ox Cart Days for vendors coming from farther cities like Detroit Lakes. They asked if they could add options to the ordinance for one-off and festival events rather than have to pay the full $100 for the 14-day permit when they may not use all 14 days. “Our biggest concern is to make good on the contracts that we already have signed with the food trucks coming to City, and if it involves us taking a little bit of money and setting it aside for a sort of festival license. Which is something we have proposed to the City, then great!” Assistant Ox Cart Days Director James Pogatshnik explained. “What we don’t want is to be in a situation where every one of our vendors ends up having to pay, not an absorbent fee, but overall it becomes a lot of money. We have a lot of people who end up coming in for the Vendor Show and the Food Truck stuff, so it becomes an issue. So far, we have ten food vendors set up for three days for the festival.” Administrator Reynolds revealed that they would make that a part of their consideration of things to add to the ordinance. Landen Duckworth, co-owner of Lucky Duck Food Truck, then came forward with some issues and suggestions he had about the ordinance. His first suggestion was that it should make an exception for allowing ice cream trucks to play music over loudspeakers as they drive around the City, as it was a way to help people and children find the trucks as they were usually on the move constantly around the City. He then brought forth an issue he had with the ordinance, saying that trucks were not being allowed to stay overnight. He asked the Council to exempt this for trucks that served hot food in cooking oil since oil can remain hot for three hours, and it is illegal for them to move the trucks while it is still hot and/or in the fryers, so they would need to keep the truck in place for long hours into the night in order to move safely. Another suggestion he had was for directional signage to help people locate the trucks to be allowed as long they did not interfere with other businesses or inconvenience others. The Council said it would take these suggestions into consideration.
REPORTS AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS
Crookston Police Chief Darin Selzler reported that the patrols continued to be very busy with the summer and their participation in Safety Town at Washington Elementary School and expressed his excitement in being able to do outreach programs in person again. He reported that they needed two more police officers for the summer, though he has received additional support from some officers for patrol now that schools are out.
Fire Department Chief Tim Froeber reported that the Fire Department is still working on High Water events and cleaning up some of the clouts by the river. He also thanked Governor Walz for signing the Homeland Heroes Act Program bill signed to help firefighters with trauma and mental health for their job.
Public Works Director Brandon Carlson approached the Council next to report quotes for sandbag removals and reported that he hoped to have them removed sometime soon. He also reported that for road projects, they had completed all of the gravel roads and alleys while also hanging all of the donated baskets that were a part of the Crookston Area Chamber’s Apopt-a-Basket fundraiser around the City. He also reported that they had completed the spraying of misquotes last Thursday, and they will place mosquito traps around the City. He reported they did not have any more of the blocks to repair the sidewalks down at the end of Main Street, so they will have to redo the sidewalks completely.
Jake Solberg reported that Parks and Recs Summer activities fully began last week and that nearly all of the dikes around the parks. He also thanked the Crookston Blue Line Club, Pirate Booster Club, and Hot Stove for purchasing synthetic ice for the new Blue Arena in the Crookston Sports Center that opened last week.
The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, June 27, at 7:00 p.m. inside the City Hall Council Chambers. Pictures of the Scuffy Tails Humane Society presentation and the Public Hearing of some of the outspoken food truck vendors can be seen below-
