December 10, 2026 Regular Council Meeting Minutes

Call to order:

The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob

Roll Call:

Present were Mayor Marie Jacob

Council Members Tony Price, Randy Ferguson and Keith Sande

Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro.

Also, in attendance was Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer

Approval of Agenda:

Motion to approve the agenda with the deletion of Jessica Willems under new business and move the water rate item under old business before Water Tower Funding, was made by Jacob and seconded by Haro.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Public Comments:

None

Prior Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the November 12, 2025 regular council meeting minutes was made by Price, seconded by Ferguson.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Treasurer's Report and Payment of Bills:

On the list of payments it was noted that the payment that is listed as Bolton & Menk is actually to Northland Grading.

Motion to approve the payment of bills was made by Price, seconded by Sande.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Old Business

Water Rates

We had a discussion regarding water rates and the need to increase them since they have not been increased since 2022. We could use tier increases in the gallons but should do a 10% increase overall.

Here is what we propose for rate increases: The minimum 0 – 1,000 is $15.96

1,001 to 5,000 is $15.96 +.00483 per gallon

15,001 to 50,000 is $15.96 + .00531 per gallon

50,001 to 100,000 is $15.96 + .00584 per gallon

100,001 + is $15.96 +.00632 per gallon

We will also increase the $20.00 Water Tower Repair fund to $25 per quarter.

We will notify the households regarding the rate increases with the next water bills that will be going out in January and the increases will be effective on the next water bills in March 2026. Motion to approve Ordinance No. 2025-02 was made by Jacob and seconded by Ferguson and also increasing the Water Tower Repair Fund from $20 to $25 per quarter.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

New Business

Deputy

The Deputy noted that they are reporting to calls for people getting scammed out of large sums of money. Just a reminder that anything involving purchasing gift cards to strangers are too good to be true and investment opportunities are most likely scams. Anybody pretending to be law enforcement over the phone and demanding money is 100% of the time trying to scam someone. They responded to several vehicles crashes during a recent snow storm – just a reminder to slow down.

Cannabis Public Hearing

Mayor Jacob closed the regular meeting and opened the public meeting at 7:10 p.m. for public questions or comments. Motion to approve Ordinance No. 2025-01, An Ordinance Amending Title XV: Land Use, Chapter 152 Enacting Distance Buffers for Cannabis Businesses in the City of Randolph was made by Mayor Jacob, seconded by Ferguson.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Clerk Haro made a motion to approve Resolution 25-15, A Resolution Delegating Authority to County of Dakota for Cannabis Registration for City of Randolph, seconded by Price.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

The public hearing was closed at 7:15 p.m. and the regular meeting was reopened.

Final Budget for 2026

It was decided to not make any changes to the 2026 budget. Jacob made a motion to approve Resolution No. 25-14 approving the 2026 final levy at $225,075 and the debt levy at $0, seconded by Haro.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Pete Schaeffer – Permit Fee

Pete and Joyce Schaeffer owns a house in town that they rent out and they re-roofed it on a Saturday and indicated they were going to come in to get a permit; however, the inspector stopped by and asked about the permit. They asked why the invoice was so high which was because they did not get a permit before starting the work so they are charged a penalty. He did ask about the re-decking fee and what was listed on our website for permits. We 2 will check on the re-decking fee because you don’t know if you need to replace boards until you tear off the shingles. He also asked about the permit fee per structure. He was told that you are supposed to pay the permit fee before any work is even started. We also told him that the inspector could have put a stop work order since they did not get a permit before the work started. Pete indicated that the fees are excessive. Also we need to make sure to get a completed application. We also need to check on the per structure permit. We should make it clear in the fee schedule what the fees for permits are. We will revisit this. He was told to make sure to get the completed application in.

Dave Fellon

He discussed a public team track and the companies that use the railroad tracks. He is asking for a letter from the City supporting the railroad. He will reach out to Mayor Jacob regarding the letter. He also discussed the Durango Silverton Railroad which does scenic train rides. They are trying to get them to come to our area.

Water Tower Funding

Matt reached out to their grant people and noted there is a Clean Water Revolving Fund which is administered by the PFA. There are grants or low interest loans available and Bolton & Menk will complete an application for the city at no cost for the repairs that we need done at the water tower. They will submit the PPL in March and that ranks us and give us points based on the project and then in mid-summer they usually have an idea on how far they are going to fund. Then if we are in the funding area, they would proceed with the project and then submit an IUP (Intended Use Plan) which indicates if we get the funding and then decide if we want to do the project. We would find out by the Fall if we qualify. If we are fundable, then they look into the affordable index which is a worksheet to determine if we get a grant or a low-interest loan which is in the 1-1/2 to 2% range. Since this is a federal grant or low-interest loan, it falls underneath the prevailing wage, buy America, and has administrative costs. After the PPL, Bolton & Menk would look at the numbers to see if it’s worth going after. We told Bolton & Menk to pursue this. They will discuss this with Byrce on what all needs to be done for the repairs. They will put together a proposal and hopefully we get a good score to move forward. We should let Bryce know that we are going to do and that his help will be needed.

Sewer Project

Matt indicated that all of the sod was laid and the mailboxes were put back up. Streets signs were put back up; however one stop sign was put up incorrectly so it was covered. There were some signs laying on the ground. They were going to start cutting down the pipes but we got the snow so they will wait on that until Spring. It was noted to Matt that Soctt Mortenson indicated that he has a lot of standing water by his place. It was told to Scott that he should take pictures and send them to Matt or the city so that we know what is happening. It was asked regarding the two new school houses and what is happening with their septic/sewer. Clerk Haro noted that they got a permit to install a holding tank in the older house but are not installing a drain field because they plan to hook up to city sewer when it is available. With this installation they are hoping it will be easier to sell the house The plan is for hooks up to the new sewer system to happen in June assuming they that Northland is able to start right away in the spring. The Historical Society is thinking about putting in a septic tank but Dakota County would need to get our approval to install it.

Council Member Reports

It was noted that the fire department addition will be pushed to the Spring.

Randy gave a recap of the watershed management meeting. The MPCA gave a presentation on the water discharge permitting because of the data centers, etc. Waterford Township is being sued regarding of the quarry proposal. Eureka Township is declaring that Chub Lake Road become a maintenance road because it low lying, its gets flooded, and the beavers create problems. He also noted that they found zebra mussels in Lake Byllesby mostly on the east side.

Northern Salt is in the whole of $8300 – we need to invoice them. Send them a letter. Be detailed of what they paid and what is being charged. This needs to be reviewed to make sure it is correct. Clerk Haro will get together with Sandy to review.

Mayor Jacob has purchased the TV to be installed at the City. She noted that Cannon River Tree Service did take down trees by the water tower. They will also grind the stumps. He also noted that there are two dead ash trees behind the garage so he will take those down as well. In the spring we will take a drive around and see if there are any other trees that need to come down on city properties. Marie has been working on the website and she will start posting all of the past minutes and hopefully get caught up soon.

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Price, seconded by Sande, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.