Call to order:
The special Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Robert Appelgren.
Roll Call:
Present:
Mayor Robert Appelgren
Council Members Sarah Podritz, Jacob Friedrich, and Todd D Carlock
Clerk Mary Haro
Also present was Matt Blazer of Bolton & Menk.
Treasurer Sandy Nicolai was absent.
New Business
Feasibility Report from Bolton & Menk
Matt gave a presentation on the sewer project to accept the Feasibility Report. He noted there are two more reports that will have to be approved after the acceptance of the Feasibility Report which are the final plans and to authorize an ad for bids and then to award the construction contract which will be in early 2023. There will be another open house in early 2023 of what to expect during construction. The feasibility report is usually the halfway point.
Maintenance of the System
Who is going to maintain the system. – there are three options
1. Hire a city staff position to do it – they would need a Class C Waste Water license. 2. Hire a contractor to maintain it.
3. Create a joint power agreement with a surrounding community that has a similar system.
We asked that Matt look into how much a contractor would cost to maintain it. The cost to run it would be the person hired to maintain it and the electricity.
Also Ehlers will work with us to set up the rates for the fees to be charged to the households.
Estimated Project Costs
We had asked for $13.9 million from the state for the project and received $13 million and so we had a shortfall of $900,000 to start with. The costs estimates are $9,926,330 for the sanitary sewer which includes the water main replacement for areas the cross, $4,747,370
for the street/storm sewer improvements for a total of $14,673,700 which is $1.6 million over the $13,000,000 that we received. This includes engineering, construction, materials. They ran a couple of options to cover the short fall. The $1.5 million bond was issued for short term financing to pay for the land and engineering services since we do not have access to the money from the state until after the project is bid after which we can get
reimbursed from the state. The $4.7 million does not include any improvements for County Road 88 (292nd Street) as that is a project to be done with Dakota County.
Option 1 was to remove the Hereford Hills and Tolmie Additions from installation and repaying of the streets from the project which would include Cooper Avenue, Curtis Lane and Cynthia Path since they have no failing septic systems and some of the roads are only 3 years old and is not at the end of their useful length cycle. The streets still have 30$ of its useful life in the Tolmie Addition and 60% left in the Hereford Hills Addition. Cutting those streets out would save $875,000 but the total amount would be $1.6 million. We could start putting money aside to save to do those additions at a later date. We want to check with the homeowners before deciding because if the majority to the residents want to hook up immediately we feel we should move forward with those additions. Matt will prepare a letter to the residents in those additions and ask for feedback if they are interested in connecting to the system before our meeting on June 8th. Matt will send the letter to Mary via email and Sarah will deliver the letter to the residents. If the majority of the residents want to hook up then we will need to discuss this option further.
Option 2 is to do the entire project and secure a bond for the remaining amount which would be approximately $1,675,000 and we could assess property owners or increase taxes which would be approximately $660.00 annually.
If the bids come in even higher we will have to discuss if we want to decide to cut another street from the project to bring down the costs.
The watermain was installed in 1978-79 and depending on the type of material used it could be reaching the end of its life span especially if cast iron was used. It was noted to us that it is plastic that was used which could last longer. If it would need to be replaced this would be the time to do it when the streets are torn up to install the sewer lines as we wouldn't want to later have a break in a line and have to tear up a new street to repair the line and then replace a new street. The approximate cost to replace the watermain in its entirety is $3.6 million, which could be distributed to the properties in taxes in the amount of approximately annual increases of $1400 or this could be assessed to the homeowners.
They also looked into the costs of curb and gutters for the city which is estimated at $3.6 million and again an annual increase in taxes of approximately $1400. Curb and gutters do extend the life of streets; however we would also need land for a storm water pond.
Other Items to Note
When Dakota County does the Highway 88 project they will install storm sewer along the road and the ditches will go away with this project.
The Lift Station will be installed in the city hall parking lot.
If they need to remove culverts, trees, any part of the driveway these items will be replaced (the driveway will get replaced with the same type of materials as it currently is).
It was noted that it will be a 6 inch pipe that homeowners will connect to when discussing with a contractor for hooking up to the system.
It was noted that if we don't do the two developments (Hereford Hills and the Tolmie Additions) that they will be futured into the main going into the ground so nothing will change for those. Matt did indicate that was correct. They based the elevation pipes as such so those people will be able to get hooked up. They will be stubbed in. However there will be some updating such as cost to be done but the majority of the work is done. The pipe will be ready to be hooked into.
Matt noted that they did meet with Mr. Kelley of Randolph School and he indicated that the city has their full support for the project.
It was asked if there will be a connection fee and it was indicated that for the existing homeowners there will be no connection fee but that could change for future new housing. The homeowners will be responsible for connecting to the line and it will be their responsibility to maintain it from the house to the main line.
Matt recommendation from an engineering standpoint, the project is feasible, cost effective and necessary and can be accomplished by letting competitive bids for the project.
After further discussion, the acceptance of the feasibility report will be tabled until the June meeting so we can review the responses to the letter that was delivered to the homeowners in the Hereford Hills and Tolmie Additions and also to get further information on the costs of maintaining the system.
City Ordinances - Recodification
We discussed our codes and the email that the city attorney, Korine, sent to us regarding that we can purchase the model basic code from the League of Minnesota Cities for $880.00 and we can utilize the hosting services offered by American Legal Publishing for a cost between $200 - $450 a year. She also indicated a cost of $5,000 for her office to assist us in customizing the code. We also should consider if we can to form a subcommittee with 2 council members and her office to assist with that, or divide the code up into different sections and work on them or do it as a whole. The consensus was to do it as a whole.
A motion to approve the purchase of the Model Basic Code from the League of Minnesota Cities for $880 was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
A motion to hire American Legal Publishing to host our codes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
A motion was made to hire Levander, Gillen & Miller to assist us in customizing the Model Basic Code for the price quoted at $5,000 with the counsel as a whole was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. We will be notified immediately if the amount exceeds $5,000. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the special meeting made by Podritz, seconded by Carlock, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0
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