City of Dennison
Regular Council Meeting
May 4th, 2023
The May Dennison City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Jeff Flaten on Thursday, May 4th 2023 at 7:00 pm. Present were Councilors Nichole Schloesser, Kaylyn Nygaard, Heidi Cooke, and Diane Ruddle, and clerk Jessica Page.
Councilor Cooke move to approve the regular meeting minutes for April. Councilor Schlessor second. Motion passed 5:0. Councilor Schloesser move to approve the Treasurer’s report. Councilor Nygaard second. Motion passed 5:0.
Old Business/Committee Reports/Building Permits:
Mike Rowan applying to build a storage shed (45’x30’) behind his house. Councilor Ruddle move to approve. Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 5:0.
Administrative Issues:
1. Todd Greseth, Goodhue County Commisioner: Staffing is getting better, 12 vacancies instead of 28, Greg Isaacson retired, Jess Greenwood taking over. Pictures of 9 and Main Street where it dips in the street. Jeff asked Todd if they could paint curbs on 9. Broadband is a tough sell in Dennison, since it’s already available. Wireless broadband is a possibility, new company coming out that says they can do it.
2. Todd Hagen from Ehlers. Talking about financing future street and sewer projects. The bonds City sold many years ago to finance street and sewer projects are maturing in February of 2024. $ 42,000 levy will go off in 2024. Need to keep this on the levy rolls, either in a bond or in a general levy. Sewer can be levied for, but water cannot. There are “3 buckets” for money: levy, assessments, bonds. Special assessments are when something is a special benefit to someone. Ie, is there an increase in appraisal values? Should probably establish an assessment policy for the City. Special assessments have to have public hearings, there is a 3% levy limit on taxable property values. 20% special assessments let’s you go higher on bonding. (Looking at trying to reduce to 10-15% as those are getting really big). Cities usually charge 1.5% over the bond interest rate. Todd can prepare a tax impact sheet for Council to review. County can help? Piggy back on county projects for cheaper cost? Feasability study needed.
3. Dan Storlie and Mayor Flaten have talked to several contractors in the last month to get ballpark estimates for the future street work that needs to take place. We are proposing a two year plan. Year one would be to fix the cracks, repair holes and broken asphalt, replace sunken curbing next to several catch basins on 2nd and 3rd Avenues and fix the areas around a couple of manholes that are raised above the roads. Year two would be to put down a chip rock layer on all City streets. Back in 2019, City had received an estimate from Ellingson Companies to fix our I and I issues. The projected total then was $89,343.00. We anticipate the cost will be 20 to 30 percent higher now. We would like to see the City work with Ellingson Companies to resolve our I and I issues. More televising would be required because some of the areas need to be examined again (due to length of time since last televising). Empire Pipe could come in June. Clean and televise. Not sure on price, thinking it was 9-10 foot. Total might be around $15,000 to clean and televise. 1600 to 1900 feet of sewer line is the estimate from Dan. Can do a resolution to spend the money and then pay the city back with bond money when we get it.
Take care of sewer jetting and camera-ing. This year. Do streets next year? Street stuff needs to be done this year as the water is running into the road, the asphalt is breaking up next to the cement curbing.
4. Continue discussions regarding assessments placed on Marlea's. Review the bills, come up with a number to possibly give financial relief to the owners. Councilors Cooke and Ruddle will work on.
5. Bolstrom Property/Compliant. Letter has been sent to Joe Stanke. Joe received it on May 1. 10 days to get back to City/clean up. Who does the City hire to clean the place up. Met Con ? Take pictures to see exactly what the City is dealing with. And what needs to be cleaned up. Councilor Cooke will go. Mayor Flaten will call Joe Stanke. Go through Britt Olson’s yard to see what’s there and take pictures.
6. 6 complaints filed with the City last month. 4 Letters were sent to the property owners. Paul N.is working on it. Did Neal move his stuff? Paul maybe going to help him get the stuff moved.
7. Revised complaint forms were sent out to Council for review. Add the clerk email address. Councilor Ruddle has a 3 ring binder that she will donate. Councilor Schloesser move to approve the updated form. Councilor Nygaard second. Motion passed 5:0 Councilor Ruddle will send out the final one.
8. Discussion about ways to help Jessica send out utility bills and update/change the software system. Is there a way for people to pay their bills on-line? Heidi has ideas and ways to improve our billing system. Heidi has looked at a couple options. Meet with a company in the Cities who does everything with billing.
9. Pete Lee property. Pete will present a written plan to address his collapsed roof. Has been communicating with Goodhue County on the matter. He didn’t think he would have it by the meeting. More likely in two weeks. He is looking for a contractor to fix the roof.
10. Mayor Flaten talked to the lawyer about condemning the building. She is looking at who would be responsible for this. Walls are ok, still intact. If the roof can be replaced, the building should be ok. Jeff needs to contact the county inspector to see how long the roof can be not replaced before it is condemned.
11. Two estimates presented to the council to clean and inspect our water tower. Travis recommended the two companies and has used both in the past. KLM Engineering was at $3,000 and Central Tank Coating came in at $3,500. Projected time frame for the work would be after Dennison Days and before we start discharging in mid-September. City has 10 days to dispute the bill, someone involved with the cleaning needs to look at the bill asap so we know if it’s ok or not. Councilor Rudlle move to hire KLM to do cleaning and inspection, Councilor Cooke second. Motion passed 5:0.
12. Street sweeping, mowing quote from Charlie Terpstra. $925 street sweeping, 5th Ave way ditch cut $100, storm sewer waterway $175 (per time) Councilor Schloesser move to accept the street sweeping ($925) and the mowing for 5th Ave ditch cut ($100) and storm sewer waterway ($175 per time). Councilor Nygaard second. Motion passed 5:0.
13. Portable toilets Dennison Days. Will the City help pay for a portion? In the past City has done $400. Councilor Schloesser move to pay $400 for toilets for Dennison Days. Councilor Cooke second. Councilor Ruddle obstaining. Motion passed 4:0.
14. Email sent out to the council from the Fire Chief about potentially moving a bigger/newer fire truck to the fire station in town. Mayor Flaten will send follow up question to Joe, and will send out there response. It’s possible, but there’s electrical and plumbing that would need to be moved. Outlets, thermostat, etc. Lions are donating heavily to the Nerstrand Fire Department for the Dennison Fire Department, specifically. Would need to be lots of conversations. City needs to keep it at least half for the City Maintenance.
15. Email sent out to the council regarding the Small Cities Assistance Program with the DOT. We don't need to do anything from the City's perspective to receive these funds. If the Legislature decides to fund the program, then we will get our share (based on population). For example: 2015 the City received $10,770, 2017 $6,850, 2018 $6,763, 2021 $15,073. The funds are dispersed twice a year. This is on top of what we normally get from Local Government Aid. I haven't been told yet if the Legislature has funded the Small Cities Assistance Program this year. Contact is going to send more information on when it would be coming.
16. Clean-Up Day is going to be May 13th. Councilor Schloesser has handed out the flyers. Anything else we need to do before then? Councilors Ruddle and Schloesser are available to help.
17. I talked with the Planning Program Supervisor last month in regards to applying for Source Water Protection grants. If we want to replace the fluoride pump and gauges, applying for either a competitive or implementation grant wouldn't be eligible for that purpose. When it comes to fixing the bent post at the water tower, the Source Water Protection grants couldn't be used for that either. She said the well house needs to be close to the water tower in order to receive a grant.
18. Clerk review for next month. Jess to forward the job description. Jess need to look at and update before it goes out.
Citizens Issues: Farmers Market will not be going on this year. Can the City buy new bases for the ball field. Mayor Flaten will look at prices/options. There is a tree that is becoming a hazard. Counci-lor Ruddle move to purchase new bases as long as it’s not over $300 and Lions will pay for it. Councilor Schloesser second. Motion passed 5:0. City will look at pricing for the bases.
Mayors Issues:
Utilities:
1. Update from Nate and Travis: Need to buy a new fluoride pump. Councilor Nygaard move to buy new pump for $1300 to replace the borrowed pump. Councilor Schloesser second. Motion passed 5:0.
Will start second discharge. Nate pumped 100 gallons in for this discharge. It has been working well. It is very pH dependent and doesn’t work well at lower pH. Usually works well at 7-9.
2. Nate passed his C sewer license test! How does the council want to proceed with Travis? Keep on through the end of the month? Hourly consultation fee as needed? Discuss on June 1.
3. First discharge at the ponds. We used approximately 160 gallons of aluminum sulfate. System is fully functional and no leaks reported. Another 600 gallons delivered on April 28th.
4. Date for flushing hydrants? After the middle of the month. Give a 7 day notice?
5. Date for changing out meters? Kaderliks, Jeno’s both old meters. Nate needs to pick a day. Jeff will help. Or Nichole will help. Koesters isn’t working again. After the middle of the month.
Councilor Schloesser move to pay the bills. Councilor Ruddle second. Motion passed 5:0.
Mayor Flaten move to adjourn the meeting. Councilor Schloesser second. Meeting adjourned at 9:26.
Next meeting: Regular meeting is Thursday June 1st, 2023 at 7:00.
