Call to order:
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob.
Roll Call:
Present:
Present were Mayor Marie Jacob, Council Members Todd Carlock and Tony Price, Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro. Council member Jacob Friedrich was absent.
Also, in attendance was Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer.
Approval of Agenda:
Motion to approve the agenda as written was made by Mayor Jacob, seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Public Comments:
Wade Murray thanked the council for working with them to obtain their Certificate of Occupancy on their new building. They also wanted us to know that our building inspector, Mark Ceminsky was very easy to work with and the R Bar also seconded that.
A Dakota County deputy was present and asked if we had any concern and it was brought to his attention about a person in town that has been using business bathroom facilities and looks like they are on drugs. He will look into the matter.
Prior Meeting Minutes
A motion to approve the September 13, 2023 regular council meeting minutes was made by Jacob, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Treasurer's Report and Payment of Bills:
Sandy indicated that she did not include two checks on our report that she cut after the reports were run. One was to League of Minnesota Cities in the amount of $705.00 and the other for Bolton & Menk for the sewer project; however, it was noted that the check should have been written to Northland Grading in the amount of $584,923.65.
Motion to approve the payment of bills with the correction of the check written to Bolton & Menk to be changed to Northland Grading and to switch that the money is to be taken from the general account rather than the water account was made by Jacob and seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Old Business
Change Orders for Sanitary Sewer Project
We will table this for a future meeting.
Fire District Bylaws
Marie indicated that Greta our legal counsel recommended some items for the Bylaws. Mayor Jacob had a discussion with Chief Whitson and discussed the bylaws with him and they suggested that we form a committee to work on the bylaws. We should have two members from our council, two members from Hampton's counsel and two firemen to form the committee to work on these bylaws. They would review the bylaws, make notes and recommendations and then bring it back to the councils to be approved. Mayor Jacob and Councilmember Price volunteered to represent the City of Randolph. We will contact Hampton and ask them to participate and have them appoint 2 members from their council and the fire department will also appoint 2 members from the fire department. This is a work in progress.
Surge Protector in Well House
We will table this until we can get more information.
New Business
Liquor License
Nate Icaza and Ashley Gergen were present to request a liquor license for The R Bar for 2024. They have prepared the paper work and submitted it to the Sheriff's Office. They are waiting for the Certificate of Insurance and will forward that to us once they receive it from their insurance company.
Motion by Haro to approve the liquor license for R Bar for the period December 1, 2023 through November 30, 2024 pending the submission of all paperwork and approval from the Sheriff's office, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Sewer Rates
We had a work session on September 27th and discussed sewer rates that were compiled by Ehlers. Ehlers presented an updated price list due to the fact that not everyone will be able to hook up to the system so they needed to rerun some of the figures. We need to pass a preliminary budget for sewer rates for submission to the state. This is not set in stone and we can change before the project starts. It was noted that Woody's is interested in hooking up to the sewer. He should reach out to Matt to discuss it. Motion by Carlock to set the proposed preliminary budget for sewer rates using Option 2 that was presented by Ehler's, seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.
Bolton & Menk Sewer Update
Matt noted some good news. The State is going to let us do some work before the November 12th date for such items that are not sewer related such as the storm ponds which could start on October 15th. They can work on the storm sewers on the south side of Dixie Avenue. They can also pave the road. They will be grading late this month / early next month and then they will be paving. They are looking at doing the lift station in the city hall parking lot after we get our permit. When they get firm dates they will send out the information to the public. We got our application into Randolph Township for the conditional use permit. It was reviewed and they received some comments and resubmitted it and its supposed to go in front of their planning commission on November 7th. It was noted that they will move the materials on the roads to the land where the holding ponds are going once the crops are removed. They are going to install a few sidewalks before the winter so kids will have access to them for walking to and from school.
Council Member Reports
It was noted that there are chickens roaming around. Clerk Haro indicated that she talked to the person and she noted that they will be moving them out of town for the winter.
There is a recycling bin at the park that is being used for everything besides recycling. Wade Murray and Todd Carlock went through the bin and sorted it out but we should move it and store it for the winter and find another useful place to put it next year.
Clerk Haro noted that the event held by the Cannon Falls and Dakota County libraries on Saturday, October 7 in the park was a very nice event. The magician had the audience participated and was very good with children. They were introducing all the libraries that are available in the area for Dakota County and the Cannon Falls library. They are going to plan another event in the Spring/Summer of 2024.
Dakota County has a Township Officers Association which encumbers the townships in Dakota County. They want the small cities to get involved. They are having their annual township meeting on November 1st at Dakota County Extension Building and she plans to attend. She wants to see what it is about. She will ask that we are informed of future meetings.
The hydrants will be flushed the week of October 22- 28. We will post a notice on the bulletin board as well as on our website.
Jim Heiman will prepare an estimate for us for the remodeling of the restrooms in City Hall. We need to get an estimate to apply to grants or to budget for the cost.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Jacob seconded by Carlock, the meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.