MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE ORTONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
COUNTY OF BIG STONE, STATE OF MINNESOTA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2004 12:00 NOON
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL:
Mayor Dinnel called the reconvened
January 26, 2004 regular meeting of the Ortonville City Council back into
session at 12:00 Noon. Roll call was taken with the following being
present: Mel Reinke, Lenore Sellin, Mike Dorry, Dan Oakes, Artie Arndt
with the following absent: Lisa Berkner. City Staff Present: Char
Grossman, Curt Hormann. Media present: Kris Goehring Street. Others
Present: None.
The purpose of this meeting is to
begin the process of reviewing individual line items of the budget and
determining where reasonable cuts can be made. With the concerns that the
public brought to the Council’s attention at the January 26th
meeting this was the format that might work the best to do the needed
cuts.
Mayor Dinnel’s proposal was reviewed,
there was some agreements among the council members as to a few small
cuts, which don’t make much impact. After much debate, it was
determined the capital items would not be reduced.
A motion was offered by Oakes and
seconded by Arndt to reduce the City Attorney Budget by $5,000. Motion
passed 5-1 – Dorry voted no.
The next area of discussion was the
police department. Meetings have been conducted between County and City
representatives. The question that has been brought to the Council’s
attention is if the City is receiving its fair share of County policing.
If the City of Ortonville didn’t have its own police department, then the
county would be obligated to police Ortonville.
A motion was offered by Arndt and
seconded by Oakes and passed unanimously to transfer the following
police services to Big Stone County by May 1st if an
agreement has not been reached between the County and the City: Telephone
Calls – 23,378, Radio Calls – 33,882, 911 Calls – 1,317, Complaints –
1,239, Investigations – 1, 053, Accident Reports – 85, Staffing and
Housing of 911 Equipment and all Dispatching Expenses. The City Attorney
will check on the legal issues of this type of agreement.
There also is an obligation by the
County to provide additional money to the ambulance, since the $7,000 that
the County provides does not cover the usage by County residents. The
base rate and mileage of the ambulance was discussed. The feeling of many
residents at the January 26th meeting is to increase ambulance
rates.
Dinnel moved and Reinke seconded
and the motion passed unanimously to increase the ambulance base rate from
$350 to $500 per call and all mileage to $10.00 a mile.
The City still doesn’t receive the
full payments for the ambulance calls due the reduction of the Medicare
and Medicade payments. The County should be billed for the uncollected
amount from the county calls. Oakes moved and
Dorry seconded and the motion passed unanimously to notify Big Stone
County that the City of Ortonville will on an annual basis bill Big Stone
County for the percentage of the loss the City incurs from ambulance calls
outside the City Limits in Big Stone County.
Council Member Arndt feels that the remaining ambulance
loss should be recouped from OAHS. No further action was taken.
The Street budget was reviewed. Concerns as to idle hours of City
Employees when there is no snow was discussed. Should we be contracting
out from snow removal and other
street maintenance? Arndt
moved and Oakes seconded and the motion passed to check with the LMC as to
how other towns handle snow removal and street maintenance expenses.
Motion passed 5-1 – Dorry voted no.
The street lighting budget was
discussed. An idea is to shut every other light off. Check with City
Attorney if there would a liability issue.
Recreation programs were discussed.
The park board is reviewing the programs and will provide
recommendations. A record of skating rink activities will be kept for the
rest of 2004.
The sale of city lots and some parks
was discussed. This would be a saving due to reduced cost of maintenance.
The EDA position and the future of the
EDA was discussed in length. Should the EDA be relocated into the City
Office with City staff to take over the responsibilities of the position.
ADJOURNMENT:
Dinnel adjourned the meeting until
12:00 Noon on February 2, 2004 at the City Office.
