City of Dennison
Meeting minutes
May 2nd, 2024
The May Dennison City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Mayor Flaten Flaten on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 at 7:00 pm. Present were Councilors Councilor Ruddle Ruddle, Councilor Schloesser Schloesser, Councilor Cooke Cooke, and clerk Jessica Page. Councilor Nygaard was unable to be present.
The March meeting minutes were now completed for review. Councilor Schloesser move to approve the March meeting Minutes. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 3:0, Councilor Ruddle abstained as she was not present for that meeting. Councilor Schloesser moved to approve the April meeting minutes. Councilor Ruddle second. Motion passed4:0. Councilor Schloesser moved to approve the Treasurer’s report. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 4:0.
Old Business/Committee Reports/Building Permits: None.
Sheriff’s Dept, Deputy Eddie Matul was at the meeting asking if there were any concerns. He noted that Dennison has been pretty quiet lately. He said the department has 3 more folks starting in June after graduation. Once they are trained in, the department should be in pretty good shape.
Administrative Issues:
1. Update on the VSF (Vehicle Speed Feedback) sign. Is separate pole needed? New Feedback sign is different than the one that we got from Goodhue County. Much bigger than the Goodhue County one. Rice County willing to donate the pole, and we have to cement it in. Need to have it sited a little further in the ditch as it’s bigger. Councilor Ruddle move to buy the cement for the installation of the sign. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 4:0.
2. City website. Continue to keep eyes open for other options. Councilor Cooke found an option. Email forwarded to Council members. Ionos was the name. Several different types of subscriptions. Councilor Cooke will try it out to see what it’s like.
3. Chloride application for gravel. Northfield Township sent out the information. Cost has gone up quite a bit. From $512.50 to $630.00 for the same coverage. 600 feet by 12 feet. We could go with a 9 foot swath and the cost would go to $474.00. Councilor Schloesser move to go with the 9 foot swath. Councilor Cooke second. Moton passed 4:0.
4. SIU agreement between the City and Dennison Meats. SIU agreement was reviewed by Dori with minor corrections to hours, days, spelling. Dori has signed. City will sign and send it up to MPCA.
5. Opus and contract. Continue to work towards switch over for June 1. Opus is wanting to go with a billing date of the 7th and payments due at the end of the month.
6. Received a notice that the City of Dennison is out of compliance on our pay equity reporting, and potentially pay equity. Clerk will begin process to figure that all out and bring up to date. There is a process that has to be followed and approved by Council. Email from State forwarded to Council members.
7. Spring Clean up day will be June 1st 9-11.
8. Lions Club made a $2000.00 donation to the City. The donation was requested to go towards playing for the resurfacing of the basketball court for $1200. The second priority was for a new water heater for the City Hall. (Idea was brought up to transfer it to the Maintanance Shed/Fire Dept. as there is no hot water in there.) Rest to go to Park needs. Need to get a regular one. Maintenance shed has one in it already, but it was never hooked up. Mayor Flaten will look at pricing, etc.
9. Mayor Flaten submitted an application with the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation for a grant opportunity to help the community in updating our comprehensive use plan, zoning maps and ordinances on 4-12-24. The grant request is for $16, 500. Probably will be notified July if we are awarded any kind of grant money.
10. Dennison Pedestrian Analysis Results and Next Steps. Email sent out to the council regarding the pedestrian study. No cost to the community for the study work. Lisa Bender from Alta Group, sent an email to MnDOT District 6 Aaron Breyfogle and Kurt Wanyne and Mitchell Kiecker from MnDOT's central office regarding the study. Discussions are continuing with the Goodhue County Engineer. A temporary demonstration project could be installed with MDH support any time through the end of June.
11. Reconsider the estimate from Brians's Heating and Mechanical to replace the south tube heater in the city shop/fire station. For one Reznor UDX60 60K BTU Propane heater it was $3,147.00. Estimate is good until 6-1-24. The south tube heater is on it's last leg. Dropping soot on the cement floor. Safety issue, exhaust was plugged up, and if it hadn’t been caught it would have burned down the building. Turn fuel off to it, and replace it. No to the estimate as we don’t have the money. But will plan to replace before the next heating season. Unplug the south heater so it isn’t running, but leave the north one on.
12. Complaints:
Pete Lee Building. Discussions taking place between Pete and potential new owner. No formal agreement/contract has been agreed to yet. Have the Lawyer send a letter. That establishes a timeline for a concrete answer. 30 days for an answer as to what will happen, then 90 days to complete the task. Certified mail, etc.
Citizens Issues: Road grading. A resident didn’t feel that Duetsch Excavating can do the grading adequately. Resident stated that grading was done in the rain. Middle was hard, then the edges were soft, and felt it cre-ated unsafe conditions. Councilor Cooke talked to him and he said he would come back to fix it. Maybe ask Northfield Township if they would grade 5th Ave Way? Hold on to current check until it gets fixed. Mayor Flaten is going to talk to him. Clerk talk to Brian Peterson about if Northfield would be willing
Mayors Issues:
Utilities:
1) Update from Nate. Ready to do first discharge soon. Lots of stuff being flushed. Lots of grease (chunks/coagulated). It was suggested to put pictures on Facebook so the community sees what their actions may result in. Can talk about cost of replacing the pump if they are wrecked due to toweling, grease, etc.
Silt build up that needs to be moved and also a possible beaver dam. Nate asked Dan to talk to Bobby Flom to get those taken care of.
13. LMI fluoride pump has arrived. Has it been installed? ? Need pictures taken of the new pump in place so the city can submit paper work to be reimbursed by the state (MN Dept of Health grant).
2) Need pricing on the DO meter.
3) Request by Bollig Engineering to submit a cover letter to Minnesota Department of Health to put the City in the FY 2025 Drinking Water Revolving Fund Project Priority List. Deadline submission was May 1st.
4) Monday morning to calibrate lift pumps Pumpworks.
Councilor Ruddle moved to pay the bills. Councilor Schloesser second. Motion passed 4:0.
Mayor Flaten moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilor Schloesser second. Meeting was adjourned at 8:19.
Next meeting: Regular meeting is Thursday, June 6th at 7:00. Council will meet at 6:30 for performance review. Everyone going to fill out review form, combine everything, then Councilor Schloesser will meet with Nate and go over with him.
