May 13, 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 and legal counsel Greta Bjerkness of Kennedy & Graven.

Approval of Agenda:

There was one item added to the agenda - Chris Sande fence permit. Motion to approve the agenda with the addition was made by Jacob and seconded by Price.

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

Public Comments:

None

Prior Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the April 8, 2026 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:

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

Building Inspector

We looked at his contract from 2020 and thought it was a good time to review it. He noted that he never increased his fees since he has been with us. It was indicated that we need to do our due diligence when there is a contract involved. This came up because of the decking permit from a homeowner. Mark explained the project. He noted that it was rental property so it needed to be done by a licensed contractor who failed to pull a permit. He received a call that work was being done without permits and the foreman showed him pictures that they had to redeck the roof because of some rotting wood. When you change the structure, you need a permit. They had the roof almost completed when he showed up. Mark could have put a stop order on the project but didn’t.

Abandoned Vehicles & Public Nuisance

Mayor Jacob would like us to go through our ordinance on public nuisance and update it but she feels it should be a work session. We need to be clear on our actions on this ordinance. We may have to do one meeting in June and another in July. We will have a work session at our next meeting and start at 6 pm to discuss this further.

Delinquent Water Bills

Greta created a memorandum of what we can do regarding homeowners who do not pay their water bills. Sandy did hand deliver some of the delinquent bills and they set up payment plans. Everyone has made progress except for one of them. They are just paying a minimum but we will see if they stick to it. We could always assess them or we could disconnect their water if we wanted to do that. Greta did note that if we do not assess their property taxes and if they were ever to sell, we may not be able to recoup the amount owed. We cannot go after the new owners for the unpaid invoices. We will wait a few months and see if they are paying their past due invoices.

City Emails

Clerk Haro discussed with Midco regarding setting up separate email addresses for each council member. She was told it will cost $1 per month for each separate email address. Clerk Haro was given the go ahead to have them create separate emails for each councilmember. She will let everyone know once it is completed and what their email address is and we will update the website with the new email addresses.

New Business

Dakota County Deputy

He indicated that there has been wire thefts from irrigation systems. Land owners who have these systems should regularly check their systems and report any damage or suspicious activity. He said if you see anything suspicious, call it in. There is a new Minnesota school bus stop arm violation law. Starting March 27th, drivers must stop at least 20 feet away from the school bus when the bus’s red lights are flashing. Must remain stopped until the red lights are no longer flashing. The stop arm does not need to be extended for this to be a violation.

He noted the Spring/Summer curfew times of - Ages under 12 Sunday – Thursday - 9 pm to 5 am Friday – Saturday - 10 pm to 5 am Ages 12 – 14 Sunday – Thursday - 10 pm to 5 am 2 Friday – Saturday - 11 pm to 5 am Ages 15 – 17 Sunday – Thursday - 11 pm to 5 am Friday – Saturday - midnight to 5 am

We asked if we could get a speed trailer by the railroad tracks heading west into town. Randolph Trailblazers

Bob Romanowski and Tom Larson asked if the City would again sponsor the Randolph Trailblazers for the 26-27 season. The DNR requires them to use a government entity to funnel the money through. This is an in and out for the funds. A motion to approve Resolution No. 26-04 Authorizing Sponsorship of Snowmobile Trails by Randolph Trailblazers for the 2026-2027 season was made by Haro, seconded by Price.

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

R Bar Special Event

Ashley and Nate Icaza came before the board with an application for a special event they will be holding on Saturday, May 16th. The road will be closed between Divers Path and Distad Path from 8 am until sometime in the evening. They did get permission from Dakota County for the road closure. There will be a barbeque competition, bean bag competition and two live bands, one at 1:30 and the other at 6 pm. Mayor Jacob made a motion to approve the special event permit for the Blues, Brews and Barbeque for the R Bar, seconded by Price.

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

Resolution Regarding Speed Study

Mayor Jacob noted that she received a notice from Dakota County regarding they will be doing a speed study on County Road 88 by the school. They did an informal speed study and indicated the average speed was 30 mph which helps them to go to the state for them to do a speed study. Even if they don’t get the speed limit lowered, they can put in for a school zone. They want the city’s support for the speed study. Motion to approve Resolution 26-02 for Dakota County in Support of the Authorization of the Commissioner of Transportation to Perform an Engineering and Traffic Investigation to Determine the Reasonable and Safe Speed Limit was made by Price, seconded by Ferguson.

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

Resolution Regarding Comprehensive Plan

Clerk Haro noted we qualify for a grant from the Met Council to assist us with the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Motion to approve Resolution 26-07 Authorizing Participation in the Met Council’s Small Communities Planning Program for Assistance with Preparation of the 2050 Comprehensive Plan was made by Jacob, seconded by Haro.

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

Water Tower Aerator

Mayor Jacob discussed that she received some complaints about the noise from the water tower and it was asked if the aerator could be shut off for the summer. We had received some information previously that we should have it running all the time to prevent the sediment from settling at the bottom of the water tower but that was misunderstood. The consensus is that we will tell Bryce to shut if off for the summer and we will start it back up in the fall.

Randolph Fire Department

Mayor Jacob made a motion to approve Resolution No. 26-05 authorizing the Road Closure of 292nd Street between Divers Path and Distad Path from 12 p.m. on August 15 until 1 a.m. on August 16; for the Randolph/Hampton Fire District Annual Chicken Barbeque, seconded by Haro.

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

Clerk Haro made a motion to approve Resolution No. 26-06 authorizing a One Day Gambling permit for the Randolph/Hampton Fire District Annual Chicken Barbeque, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

It was noted that the Fire Department should apply for a Special Event Permit which we will put on the June agenda to approve.

Sande gave an update on the work to be done on the back wall and indicated that it will hopefully be started soon and we will be installing steel siding over the block.

Mayor Jacob talked to Chief Opelt regarding doing a controlled burn of the grass by where we will be putting in the holding ponds. They are looking into that and may use it as a training session for the firemen.

Fence Permit for Chris Sande

Keith Sande on behalf of Chris Sande indicated he would like to install a fence between his property at 4210 292nd Street and adjoining property owned by Laura Nelson at 4220 292nd Street. Since it is not going to be over 6 feet he just has to apply for a permit from the city. The set backs are 2 feet from the property line but he would like to put it on the property line. He needs to get written proof from the property owner to put it on the property line.

Sewer Project

It was discussed that no one is watering the sod right now as the contract indicated they should be watering it. Matt is going to do a walk through to look at the sod see if any of it needs to be replaced. He indicated that the sod warranty is up at the end of May. Any area that was seeded will to be reseeded. NGE made a request for an extra $2 per cubic yard which adds up to a large amount for the amount of earth work that is left. They are not giving us factual evidence for the numbers presented. B&M did an assumption and came up with $.16 - $.20 a yard. They will keep working on this to keep it moving. NGE’s reasoning is the length went up 2-1/2 4 times of the 719 feet of haul needed. They indicated they have 6 months left of work, which is on the conservative side. We will continue to push back on getting them to agree to the change work order. It was noted that MnDOT has to review the evidence that they provided for their claim and it is almost guaranteed it will not be approved. They want us to mediate the delay claim which we should think about but are not in favor of it right now. We do have approximately $280,000 left in contingencies. At this point we are too far apart in the amount in the change order. If they don’t start by June, we need to think about doing something. Matt will keep working on it and if we have to, we will have a special meeting before our next meeting. We have to look at if they are in violation of the contract. We are wondering why they will not get started on the holding ponds.

Council Member Reports

Since Mark was in attendance at our meeting, Mayor Jacob asked about the question from the Historical Society concerning the R Bar and Ordinance No. 155.22(D)(5) as they think there should be a fence installed on the patio. Since this was not put on the agenda this is not an actionable item. Mark indicated if it was a condition of the liquor license then it would be issued through the state but because the deck is not over 30 inches off the ground, it does not require a fence. Mark also noted there is an easement through the driveway so you can’t put a fence up. It was asked if it is a written easement and yes it one that is recorded with Dakota County. The ordinance indicates “Shall be located in a controlled or cordoned area with at least one opening to an acceptable pedestrian walk. When a liquor license is involved, an enclosure is required and the enclose shall not be interrupted; access shall be only through the principal building.” They need to have access to their garbage receptacles. Our legal counsel indicated they should apply for a conditional use permit. It was also noted that the Historical Society choose to build their building closer to the R Bar and that they need to work together. It was also noted that because of the age of the R Bar building that it may fall under as being a historical building and could be looked into.

Councilmembers Sande and Price were contacted regarding the need for gravel to fill in gaps by Doesdel’s on Davisson and also in the cu-de-sac in Duncan Court by Paavola’s. If NGE does not start working, we will contact Otte Excavating to have them fill the holes in with gravel.

It was also noted about the telephone cable in the park that runs through trees, on the ground, etc. Clerk Haro will contact Centurylink to discuss this with them to bury the line. Ferguson noted that he attended the watershed meeting and they talked about the quarry in Waterford Township. They, as an organization, sent a letter supporting the Township.

Clerk Haro noted that she applied for a Center Point Energy grant to replace the batteries in the weather/emergency siren. She also had a meeting with TextMyGov which is a system that sends out notices to everyone in the community when needed such as an emergency. The cost is approximately $2,000 per year and we would need to commit to a 3-year contract. It was asked if we could combine this system with Randolph Township. If we decide to move forward wit this, the company would present at a future meeting. She also talked about the speed bumps that we were going to install by the softball fields and talked about the cons against it – we decided not to install them this year.

Marie and Keith are going to drive around and look at trees on city properties and make notes. Marie asked what our responsibility is for trees in the right of way. We are responsible for 10-15 feet from the edge of the road. If it is along a county road, we should check with the county; however, it only needs to be removed if it is a hazard. What determines if it is a hazard, if power lines are in the area, if it could fall on a house. Dakota County does have a park department that can assist with determining if a tree should come down on the county roads, or we could hire a private tree company to have them looked at.

Mayor Jacob purchased paint and supplies for the senior class to paint the fire hydrants in town. It cost approximately $200 and we have some paint left which we could paint the picnic tables. A big Thank You to the Senior Class for painting the hydrants.

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Ferguson, seconded by Price, the meeting was adjourned at 8:58 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Respectfully submitted, Mary Haro