The Crookston City Council met on Monday night inside the City Hall Council Chambers.
The Consent Agenda included approval of the October 25 meeting minutes and approval of all City of Crookston bills and disbursements in the amount of $353,249.01. The council approved both items unanimously.
The regular agenda began with a resolution calling for a public hearing to authorize the abatement for housing incentive programs on three properties. The three properties are 616 5th Ave South, 705 Euclid Ave, and 1609 Hoven Lane. City Administrator Amy Finch explained to the council what the proposed resolution would mean if accepted. “A home builder, if they apply, can qualify for a two-year tax abatement on the city’s share of their taxes,” said Finch. “This resolution was simply setting the public hearing date to consider the three properties that have qualified.”
The Council passed the resolution unanimously, and the public hearing to consider the three properties will take place on Monday, November 22, at the next City Council meeting.
The next item on the agenda was a resolution to declare seven police impounded vehicles as surplus vehicles. The funds received from the vehicles must go back towards DWI enforcement or training in some capacity. An example of what the Crookston Police Department could use the funds for would be body cameras for patrol officers or other equipment while training officers during DWI enforcement. The board passed the resolution unanimously.
The Crookston Police Department was also seeking the council to approve allowing them to pre-order two budgeted vehicles for 2022. Crookston Police Lieutenant Darin Selzler said that the availability of vehicles has been limited with the shortage of electronic parts. “Typically, we order these in January after the first City Council meeting,” said Selzler. “It’s nice to get a couple of months head start on this knowing how long the process and delivery can take, and this will hopefully speed the process up, and we won’t be waiting a long time to get these vehicles in like we have been in the past.”
The Council passed the resolution unanimously after some discussion. One vehicle will be ordered from Christian Brothers Ford in Crookston, and the other from Brost Chevrolet in Crookston.
The next item on the agenda was a resolution to renew a cash farm lease with Edward Helgeson for the Lagoon Property. The previous lease with Helgeson expired on October 31, and the new lease would run effective immediately until October 31, 2024. The Council passed the resolution unanimously.
The last item on the agenda was a resolution for adopting a policy for naming city-owned lands and facilities. The resolution would allow the public to have a say in the re-naming of parks and facilities within the community. Council member Tom Vedbraaten motioned to table the matter for the time being and explained why. “I felt that a lot of the things that were in the resolution could cause us some problems down the road,” said Vedbraaten. “The way the world is today, it very easily could cause some problems during the process of re-naming a park or facility, and I’d rather held off on it for the time being.”
After some discussion from the council, they approved the resolution 6 to 1. Council member Joe Kresl was absent from the meeting, and Vedbraaten voted against it while the rest of the council approved the resolution.
Finch provided some more details of what the resolution means. “This encourages the public to help with the renaming of a park or new facility based on substantial contribution,” said Finch. “There will be an application process where we will ask for information and the reason for the nomination. The more information that can be provided will help, and the application along with the policy will be posted on our website sometime later this week for the public to view for those that are interested.”
The next City Council meeting will take place Monday, November 22.
