Dale Stainbrook was sworn in as the mayor of the City of Crookston on Monday night to open the City Council meeting. Stainbrook had been the acting mayor since Guy Martin resigned in September. Stainbrook had been the Councilmember for Ward 5 on a term that was to expire in November. He will now serve the remainder of Martin’s term expiring in 2022.
The council held three public hearings for 2020 street improvement projects and a resolution ordering the improvement and preparation of plans and specifications for those projects. The three projects are Radisson Road from the cul-de-sac to University Frontage Road; 5th Avenue South from South Main Street to Sunflower Street; and Sahlstrom Drive from Fisher Avenue to North Acres Drive.
Two residents Cynthia Fahser and Kim Goosen both spoke during the public hearing for Radisson Road. Fahser was looking for additional information on how the assessment was applied because she was aware her proposed assessment is higher than some neighbors and added she didn’t want a sidewalk on her property if that was being talked about because it would like result in the loss of her trees. Crookston Public Works Director Pat Kelly told Fahser that he’d go through the assessment map with her to show her how the assessment is calculated and that there are two assessment methods, one for corner lots, and a second for all other lots that could impact her assessment. Goosen asked what the work that was being proposed was and Kelly explained it was a full reconstruction of the street.
Jess Bengston spoke on behalf of the residents on 5th Avenue South about not wanting the city to add additional sidewalks to the street, and if they were planning on tearing out the current sidewalks, that residents didn’t want them replaced. Stainbrook said that if the majority don’t want sidewalks the city wouldn’t put them in, siting a prior similar occurrence on Euclid Avenue. Ian Tiedemann also said he didn’t want the reconstruction at all saying he’s never had issues with water or potholes on the street and had lived there for 17 years. The council then passed a resolution ordering the improvements and preparation of plans and specifications for all three projects.
Interim City Administrator Angel Weasner said there are fewer street improvements than normal this year because other projects were removed during the 2020 budget process. “During the budget season last year, we had removed some of the projects, so they are a little smaller than they have been in the past,” said Weasner. “Eickhof Boulevard will be brought forward later, it’s been agreed to (tonight). It will be brought forward later once everything is finalized.”
Two public hearings were also held for Nature View Estates, one to vacate the existing gravel stretch of Eickhof Boulevard, and the second, for the Development Agreement between the City of Crookston and Nature View Development LLC. The board then passed resolutions approving the preliminary and final Nature View Estates Plat 5. And the Development Agreement with Nature View Estates.
The council was unable to act on the vacation of Eickhof Boulevard, however, as the City Charter requires seven councilmembers to vote a vacation. Currently, the council only has seven councilmembers and Steve Erickson was absent explained Weasner. “We had one council member that was absent,” said Weasner. “And until the next meeting when we have Mr. Joe Kresl seated with his oath of office, we (didn’t have the required) seven council members present. We were short one, so we were unable to provide the charter requirement for street vacation.”
The council should be able to vote on the vacation at the next meeting as Joe Kresl will be sworn in to fill the final open seat in Ward 5 at the next meeting after a resolution was passed appointing him to the seat. That will give the City of Crookston a full council for the first time since August 2019.
The City Council also approved a resolution to declare surplus property and to dispose of ten firearms after the resolution was removed from the consent agenda. The guns are a combination of police firearms and those forfeited through the court system and the sale of the guns to a licensed dealer provides the Crookston Police Department with credit to the purchase of new firearms. “Over the years these firearms are forfeited from a variety of cases,” said Police Chief Paul Biermaier. “As the case progresses, it comes to the end and the court determines if we should retain them as forfeited. So, we become owners of them through the courts. What we’ve done in the past is traded these guns in towards the purchase of new firearms, so it works really well. It’s through a federal firearms licensed dealer, so when they take ownership the city is done with it. If something should happen down the road there is no liability, nothing else that comes back to the city. They buy them from us and sell them on their own. We get a dollar amount back when we want to purchase new firearms for our guys.”
The rest of the consent agenda was passed unanimously.
