The Crookston City Council met Monday evening in the Crookston City Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting started with the public forum. David Regimbal, who owns property on 609 North Broadway, said his driveway hasn’t been repaired to his satisfaction. He said there is an asphalt overlay over cement that was busted up when they originally took it out a year ago. Regimbal also questioned why the water main in the front of his property hasn’t been repaired after a month. Crookston Public Works Director Pat Kelly, said they were waiting to get it bored, but recently they have decided the city will dig the water main and take out the curb next spring as part of the construction project. The last complaint Regimbal brought up to the council was a 10-day notice he received to remove a diseased Elm tree in his yard. He received the letter Friday and after calling around, the earliest he could get the tree removed was sometime in September. Mayor Wayne Melbye said it was his understanding that Regimbal had 10 days to make arrangements and he is good as long as he has plans. Regimbal didn’t want to be recorded for an interview but told KROX he didn’t want to be the bad guy coming to the meeting, but when he has been waiting over a year for work to get done on his property he was upset when the City of Crookston said he had 10 days to get his tree taken care of. Kelly said they will look at his driveway and see what they can do and the response from the council and department heads pleased Regimbal.
The consent agenda included the approval of City of Crookston bills and disbursements in the amount of $328,693.36, a resolution for the Certificate of Support to USDA Rural Development on behalf of Riverview Health for the building project loan, a resolution supporting the Red Lake River Corridor Joint Powers Board application to the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission for the RV campground grant request.
A resolution approving the Crookston City Code of Conduct was tabled when Ward 6 City Councilman Tom Vedbraaten made a motion for it to be removed and go back to the ways and means. Councilman at large, Bobby Baird seconded the motion. Vedbraaten, Ward 1 Councilman Jake Fee, and Ward 2 councilman Steve Erickson all agreed that the wording was too broad and would cause more trouble than good. Erickson added that he has heard from board and commission members concerned about the vague wording and not sure if they would volunteer on the boards and commissions if this was implemented. At-Large Councilman Bob Quanrud, Vedbraaten, Ward 3 Councilman Clayton Briggs, Fee, Erickson, and Baird voted to table the topic, while Ward 4 Councilman Dennis Regan and Ward 5 Councilman Dale Stainbrook voted nay. Crookston Mayor Wayne Melbye wasn’t happy with the late notice of questions from some of the councilman. “I told the guys if they have some questions to let me know because we have been at this for a month and a half,” said Melbye. “Things pop up all of a sudden and we have learned our due diligence to slow down and take time if see if we have something that needs to be reworked, it is a lot easier to rework it now and bring it back and everybody is happy with it.”
There were public hearings to consider amending the current franchise agreement with Ottertail Electric Company, Red Lake Electric Cooperative, and Great Plains Natural Gas Company, which all passed. Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority (CHEDA) Executive Director Craig Hoiseth was asked if they agreed with the caps and he said they did. The electric caps would be $2,500 per month and Great Plains customer cap would be $1,000. No businesses in Crookston would be affected by the cap, although some are close. The companies will have time to comment and the public hearing will be continued to the City Council meeting on November 26, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. “We are trying to get ourselves in position for something that comes up, whether it is really big or not so big,” said Melbye. “It is just like when Wal-Mart came in we tried to do some things in advance, so it doesn’t look like you are doing it for anyone in particular. We are trying to be proactive and we have some folks that are looking into economic development in the city and we needed a few things to be adjusted and these aren’t really changing much, just dropping the limits down and we would have to get some pretty big guys to make it work.”
There was also a public hearing scheduled to consider a new additional economic development rate to the City of Crookston Water and Wastewater rates and a Business Subsidy Policy. When CHEDA Executive Director Hoiseth was asked if CHEDA agrees with the water rate and business subsidy policy, he said he wasn’t in agreement with the wording. Councilman Steve Erickson said setting the cap at a $15 million dollar facility and 20 acres is Digi-Key-like and wouldn’t affect many businesses looking to come to town. Councilman Vedbraaten said it should go back to the Ways and Means committee and made a motion and Baird seconded. “That was a little foggy for some of us on what the limits were and what we were getting our toes into,” said Melbye. “So, we decided to step back and get a little more explanation and hopefully it won’t take too much longer.”
Councilman Erickson said it was a good crazy days on Thursday with a lot of people, vendors and food trucks in downtown and the Chamber of Commerce did a good job. Councilman Vedbraaten asked if the street sweepers could be run more often down South Main Street by SunOpta. Kelly said they go by four times a year and with all the gravel in the area, it looks like they hadn’t done something two or three days later, but they can look into it.
