MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE ORTONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
COUNTY OF BIG STONE, STATE OF MINNESOTA
MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2004 7:00 P.M.
SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL:
Mayor Dinnel called the regular
meeting of the Ortonville City Council to order at 7:00 P.M. Roll call
was taken with the following being present: Mike Dorry, Artie Arndt,
Lenore Sellin, Mel Reinke, Dan Oakes with the following absent: Lisa
Berkner. City Staff Present: Char Grossman, Curt Hormann, Paula Reisdorph,
Angie Kriesel, Kate Heinecke, Mark Brown, Bob Loraff, Jason Mork. Media
Present: Kris Goehring Street, Holly Hilbrands. Others Present: Suzy
Dinnel, Nash Perrine, Elsie Perrine, Mel Ehlert, Norman Schultz, Irvin
Adelman, Vicki Grimli, Bob Barr, Audrey Trump, Don Wellendorf, Emil Swezey,
LuVerne Swezey, Jim Foster, Ken Simonitch, John Jurgens, Joan Jurgens,
Mary Zahn, Ken Archer, Jim Heinecke, Bud Haukos, Mary Gustafson, Marilyn
Lindahl, Mary Geier, Greg Peterson, Isaiah Longnecker, Richard Janke,
Terry Gere, Julie Kunrath, Dalen Roe, Bruce Swigerd, Howard Janssen,
Vivian Janssen, Arnold Amberg, Mildred Amberg, Roman Taffe, Kathy Oakes,
Terry Oakes, Neil Speckeen, Dan Nelson, Angie Larson, Jim Larson.
AGENDA
AMENDMENTS:
A motion was offered by Reinke and
seconded by Sellin and did pass unanimously to approve the agenda as
amended:
CONSENT AGENDA:
Dinnel asked if there were any
additions, corrections, or deletions to be made to the Consent Agenda.
Motion was made by Oakes and seconded by Arndt, to approve the Consent
Agenda which included the following items:
9.a Motion approving proposed council
minutes of January 12, 2004
10.a Oakes moved and
Arndt seconded that the following resolution be adopted:
RESOLUTION 04-004
RESOLUTION APPROVING AGREEMENT WITH ULTEIG ENGINEERS, INC.
TO PROVIDE CITY SHOP BUILDING ANALYSIS
BE IT AND IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED by the Council of the City
of Ortonville, Minnesota that upon the recommendation of the Street
Committee an agreement with Ulteig Engineers, Inc. to provide a
structural analysis of the existing steel frame of the City Maintenance
Shop in the amount of $2,500 is hereby approved and further that the Mayor
and Clerk-Administrator are hereby authorized to sign said agreement.
Upon roll call vote the following
voted aye: Sellin, Reinke, Dinnel, Oakes, Arndt, Dorry, and the following
voted nay: none.
Resolution 04-004 passed this 26th day
of January 2004.
APPROVED:
_______________________
David Dinnel
Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Charleen K. Grossman
City Clerk/Administrator
13.a Oakes moved and
Arndt seconded that the following resolution be adopted:
RESOLUTION 04-005
RESOLUTION APPROVING MOOSE LODGE
GAMBLING LICENSE RENEWAL
BE IT AND IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED by the
Council of the City of Ortonville, Minnesota that the request by the Moose
Lodge 407 for renewal of its gambling license is hereby approved.
Upon roll call vote the following
voted aye: Sellin, Reinke, Dinnel, Oakes, Arndt, Dorry, and the following
voted nay: none.
Resolution 04-005 passed this 26th day
of January 2004.
APPROVED:
_______________________
David Dinnel
Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Charleen K. Grossman
City Clerk/Administrator
13.b Oakes moved and
Arndt seconded that the following resolution be adopted:
RESOLUTION 04-006
RESOLUTION APPROVING AGREEMENT WITH MAXIMUS, INC. TO
PROVIDE HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES TO THE CITY OF ORTONVILLE
WHEREAS, an agreement with Maximus, Inc. to provide human
resource services for the City of Ortonville is hereby approved as
follows:
1.
Provide human resource management consulting
services as requested by the City of Ortonville. Preparation of job
descriptions and evaluating positions.
2.
That the Mayor and Clerk-Administrator are
hereby authorized to sign said agreement.
Upon roll call vote the following
voted aye: Sellin, Reinke, Dinnel, Oakes, Arndt, Dorry, and the following
voted nay: none.
Resolution 04-006 passed this 26th
day of January 2004.
APPROVED:
_______________________
David Dinnel
Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Charleen K. Grossman
City Clerk/Administrator
15. Motion approving
payment of bills as presented.
With all members voting in favor, the
motion carried.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Dinnel moved and Reinke seconded
and the motion passed unanimously appointing Tammy Archer to the Library
Board.
Mayor Dinnel asked for Council Member
suggestions as to who wants to be appointed to boards and committees.
Mayor Dinnel asked for audience
participation regarding the budget cuts.
Council Member Arndt had prepared
recommendations for the Ortonville budget. The information was handed out
and Arndt explained his concerns regarding our high public safety and
street expenses. Council Member Oakes had information as to the high
property taxes in the City of Ortonville in comparison to towns of similar
size. Meetings have been held between the City and County regarding not
receiving the proper funding from the county for police and ambulance.
Jim Foster, CFO of OAHS, had questions
about Arndt’s proposed cuts in comparison to the LGA cuts. Foster
questioned the use of the $4,000,000+ investments to deal with the LGA
reduction.
Ken Archer, CEO of OAHS, with concerns
of the proposed transfer from OAHS to the City of Ortonville. The new
outreach facility was discussed and any additional revenues will help to
pay the bond payments.
Mayor Dinnel reported of his wide
spread proposed cut in the budget. With increases in fees we would raise
additional revenue not requiring some of the cuts.
Audrey Trump is concerned that the
public safety is being targeted for the cuts. The public safety
departments do a wonderful job. She feels that the ambulance rates are
too low. She questions how many people sent money in for the fire
department dance tickets. Could an extra $1.00 charge be added to the
utility bills for the fire department?
Greg Peterson is concerned not only
with the upcoming budget cuts but also the need to check into the spending
of our police department and street department compared to other
communities of similar population.
Jim Larson questioned the City of
Ortonville investments and the questioned rates of interest.
Curt Hormann is concerned if the
comparisons that Arndt has provided are similar.
Terry Gere is confident that the City
Council will make the proper decisions.
Kathy Oakes would like to see the City
cut everything by the same percentage. And her thought is that the City
should hire a grant writer for between $25,000 and $30,000. There is
money out there to be had.
Mayor Dinnel responded to the
$4,000,000+ reserves. The reserves are due partially to the need for the
payment of bonds and the utilities reserves have anticipated updates plans
in the near future.
Mary Zahn feels that the fees should
be increased. Also restaurant, liquor and lodging taxes should be
implemented. Please don’t cut the Senior Center.
Bruce Swigerd questions the statues of
$278,000 windfall from the State of Minnesota. Increasing rates and fees
is his recommendation. He suggested that the city implement a $2.00 water
meter charge on the utility bills. Bruce also feels that the utility
rates should raise a little at a time.
Roman Taffe is not in favor of
increasing revenues by increasing rates. A benefit of living in this
community is low rates. If the City of Ortonville didn’t have the
utilities then our property taxes would be substantially higher.
John Jurgens is in favor of
implementing a 1 % City sales tax.
Mayor Dinnel stated that he thought a
sales tax has to be designated for a specific purpose.
Irvin Adelman feels the property taxes
in Ortonville are very high compared to the past farm taxes he has paid.
Angie Larson stated that Milbank has a
community foundation that benefits the health care and recreation. Would
this be something Ortonville can establish?
Mayor Dinnel thanked the public for
their attendance. Now the hard part is in front of the Council. The
discussion was as how to begin. Dorry feels that the City is not in bad
shape.
Oakes moved and Reinke seconded and
the motion passed unanimously to begin by dealing with the expense side of
the budget.
Arndt moved and Oakes seconded that
we should prioritize the expense line items of the budget. Motion was
withdrawn
Dorry suggested that the Council begin
the review by looking at each line item of the budget. The consensus of
the Council is to continue this meeting on Friday, January 30, 2004 from
12:00-3:00.
Oakes questioned the use of the City
street crew helping out in the City Office. Due to vacations and the new
computer program we were falling behind. This was an opportunity to
receive the needed help and for the city crew to understand the operation
of the City Office.
Oakes stated that the requested
$50,000 budget cut from OAHS and the police have not been presented to the
Council. He feels that the Clerk/Administrator has not followed this
request through. He wants to see the police budget by the January 30th
meeting. The OAHS will wait until they receive their audit report in
February.
ADJOURNMENT:
Dinnel adjourned the meeting until
12:00 Noon on January 30, 2004 at the City Office.
