Call to order:
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Acting Mayor Todd Carlock.
Roll Call:
Present:
Council Members Jacob Friedrich, Todd D Carlock, and Tony Price
Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro
Also, in attendance from LeVander, Gillen & Miller legal counsel, Greta Bjorkman, and Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer.
Approval of Agenda:
We will add voting by mail to the agenda. Motion to approve the agenda with the addition of the voting by mail was made by Friedrich, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0
Public Comments:
None.
Prior Meeting Minutes
A motion to approve the June 14, 2023 regular council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Treasurer's Report and Payment of Bills:
Sandy noted that we received 2 deposits from Dakota County - one for real estate taxes and the other for the easement acquisition fee of city land.
Motion to approve the payment of bills as presented was made by Friedrich, and seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Old Business
None
New Business
Chris Emerson Building Permit
Chris indicate he would like to add a 4 season porch to the back of his house. Our building inspector has approved it.
A motion to approve Chris Emerson’s building permit was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. It was noted to him that we need to look into the permit fee for the fireplace. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Temporary Easement Acquisition – Doug Duscher
The City needs to acquire one small temporary easement for the sanitary sewer project. The landowner, Doug Duscher said he will be cooperative with the city. Our legal counsel indicated that they need our authorization to have a minimum damages acquisition report done which is like a mini appraisal. The temporary easement would be through June of 2025. They got an estimate for one at $1700 and that will tell us the value of the easement. This is necessary in the event there is an audit. It was suggested to check with Patchin Messner that did all of the appraisals for Dakota County along Hwy 88 to see what there cost would be. We just have to pay for the usage of the property. Matt will look into whether the cost the easement will be reimbursable.
Motion to authorize an appraisal or minimum damages acquisition report of the property, authorize the City Engineer or City Attorney to extend an offer to purchase the easement based on that valuation and authorize the appropriate officials to negotiate and execute the easement was made by Friedrich, seconded Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Voting by Mail
Clerk Haro noted there was a new legislative change that allows cities under 400 registered voters to conduct elections by mail. Are were interested? It was indicated no we are not interested so we will not opt in to do balloting by mail.
Dakota County Deputy
Deputy Eric Langard. Asked if we have any questions. Councilmember Carlock asked if he feels they are adequately staffed. He indicated they are fighting for more deputies. He indicated part of the problem is getting qualified candidates. They are looking at creating 3 more patrol spots that will travel all over and not be designated to a certain area to offer relief to deputies. They will need to be trained and hopefully the spots will be filled soon.
It was noted that there appears to be homeless people in town. There is only so much they can do. The deputies are aware of some of them and know their names. They are being watched.
Bolton & Menk Sewer Update
Construction has started and it was a slower start than expected due to equipment breakdowns. The contractor hired a different company to assist with the project.
It was noted that the Chicken BBQ is still going forward despite the rumors that were going around that it was cancelled. There was never any intentions of cancelling or
changing the dates for the BBQ. They are not going to work on the area in front of City Hall until after the BBQ. Jake will post something on Facebook that we received confirmation that the BBQ is going to be happening the 3rd Saturday in August.
Bolton & Menk put out weekly emails on Friday with construction updates so if you are not signed up for them you can go to the website and sign up. The site is randolphsewerproject.com. There is also a link of the city’s website that will take you to this website. They also put the same information on this site.
Matt will bring in a preliminary budget for sewer rates from Ehlers for the sanitary sewer project which is required for the state funding application.
Matt indicated that citizens should reach out to him or Jon with any concerns or questions. Jon is here as long as the contractor is here working. He has an orange hard hat so you can approach him if you see him in the area. He is available for questions.
Matt indicated that next week they will start digging to put down the pipes. He also indicated that they will be hooking households up to the temporary water in the areas they are working on.
Matt asked how we want to handle the change orders that come up for the project. He doesn’t want to hold up the project and the contractor is supposed to get approval before they can do any of the work. Do we want to set a limit for Matt to approve or do we want all of them to come before the council? All change orders are submitted to Matt and he will inform us of them. We could do special meetings if needed. We decided we will discuss change orders at our next meeting
Randy Ferguson indicated he was approached by the contractor to use property he owns for a staging area. He asked if he needs a contract and was told that this is between him and the contractor. Do we need a temporary easement to use this property? A Right of Entry agreement could be prepared. He is willing to help out the city.
Greta, our legal counsel, gave an update on the holding pond property. There have been no responses from the landowner's attorney other than a question regarding a MPCA permit and nothing regarding the land value. The hearing on the petition is scheduled for July 26. If the judge enters the order, then August 28th is the date that we will take title and possession of the land, as long as we make the required deposit with the court. We will have to deposit the appraised amount.
Council Member Reports
Friedrich asked if there were any other potholes that should be filled. He said just to let him know.
It was indicated that more traffic is coming through town since 292nd Street is under construction and we have the speed bumps in place in two intersections. Do we need the speed bumps in place right now? We could pull out one set or both. Friedrich will contact Otte’s to take both sets out at this time because of the increased traffic.
Mayor Jacob was going to discuss with Sam about weed whipping around the fence at the holding pond since we are not mowing the lawn because of the dry conditions and we are not sure if has been done.
The fire department mentioned that since part of the apron in front of the fire department will be torn out and replaced because of the sewer project should we replace the entire portion since there are several cracks in the cement and in need of repair. It would be better to do the whole area now since it will be torn up. Do we want to add this to the project or get separate bids? We will add this to the agenda for next months meeting.
Also Matt indicated that there will be a two week period where the fire department will not have access to their doors and they will need to make arrangements for the trucks.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock, the meeting was adjourned at 8:09 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
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