The Crookston City Council met on Monday in the council chambers at City Hall.
WOOTEN SWEARING-IN
The meeting began with Deputy Police Chief Nathan Nelson administering the oath of office to the city’s newest police officer, Colby Wooten. Wooten is originally from Badger, MN, but moved down to Texas during his childhood. He attended Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls and earned his associate’s degree in criminal justice. Wooten served as a paramedic at Sanford Hospital in Thief River Falls for several years before changing careers and joining law enforcement. Nelson is excited to have Wooten on the job and commended the police force for attending the meeting to support their newest colleague. “The profession of law enforcement is very team-oriented,” said Nelson. “We stick up for each other, very family oriented, and having everybody here to support him is appreciated by me, being the leader in the department, but also just for him to see that everybody here is supporting him through his training as he gains experience and ultimately becomes a sole patrol officer on his own after the field training program.”
PARCEL 92 SALE AND CONVEYANCE
For the main agenda, the first topic of discussion was a resolution declaring a portion of city-owned Parcel 92, a 150 square foot green space located at 101 Main Street North, as surplus property and authorizing its sale and conveyance to the State of Minnesota for highway improvements associated with the Trunk Highway 2 reconstruction project. The sale of this surplus property is in addition to the temporary easement previously approved by the council. The purchase price is set at $800, based on the property’s assessed value. With this agreement in place, most properties along the Highway 2 construction zone have easements in place ahead of the planned construction starting in spring 2027, making this the only property to be sold. “I think this will be the only one. It’s at 101 North Main Street. It’s a green space, and it’s a small portion. It’s 150 square feet on that corner, just so they can do their build out or whatever they need for the Highway 2 corridor project.”
NORTH ACRES/CARMEN TERRACE WATER UTILITY DISPUTE
The final agenda item was a resolution certifying unpaid charges for the North Acres Mobile Home Park and the Carmen Terrace Mobile Home Park, which are more than 45 days delinquent on their municipal water utility bills. City Attorney Tanner Holten explained to the council that the resolution would allow the city to certify the amounts owed by the mobile home parks to the Polk County Auditor and have liens issued on the tax rolls until their debts have been paid.
Mike Nordin, the regional manager for North Acres and Carmen Terrace, presented to the council a discrepancy between the amount of water the properties have used and what they have been charged, following the discovery of issues with water meters on mobile homes in April 2025. Nordin believes that the city’s meter software led to misreported numbers, resulting in up to a 300,000-gallon water loss over a two-month span, and has not released the results of meter testing conducted by an independent, third-party company. He told the board that the bills for North Acres and Carmen Terrace can be paid, but they want to pay only for the water that they use, which he feels is not properly reflected on their bills.
The council decided to table further discussion of this matter until further information about the meter tests and at least five years of meter readings could be brought forward for review. Nordin felt the conversations were productive and is looking forward to coming up with a proper resolution. “We are more willing to pay for the water usage that we have, but the inaccuracies showed that the bill was much higher than what we actually consumed, so we need to rectify this with the city, and we are more than willing to have a great relationship moving forward.”
The consent agenda was approved by the council in a unanimous vote. Items on the consent agenda included approval of the proposed minutes from the August 3 meeting, approval of city bills and disbursements for $462,388.14, a resolution regarding the sixth payment to Gustafson and Goudge, Inc. for the 2025 Hangar Construction for the Crookston Municipal Airport, a resolution approving temporary construction easements for the Broadway and Main Avenue ADA retrofit and concrete pavement repair project, a resolution approving the renewal of a 2:00 a.m. liquor license for Two Captains, Inc., doing business as Captain Crooks, and a resolution to approve Commercial Rehabilitation Loan Program and mortgage satisfaction on the property owned by L&T Properties, LLC.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 8, at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall due to the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 7.
