November 12, 2025 Randolph City Council Regular 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.

Approval of Agenda:

Motion to approve the agenda with the deletion of Jessica Willems under new business, was made by Price and seconded by Ferguson.

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

Public Comments:

None

Prior Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the October 8, 2025 planning commission meeting minutes was made by Ferguson, seconded by Price.

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

A motion to approve the October 8, 2025 regular council meeting minutes was made by Price, seconded by Sande.

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

Treasurer's Report and Payment of Bills:

It was noted that we did not have enough checks to pay the bills this month. Clerk Haro ordered some checks and will ask the company to put a rush on them. Once we get them Sandy can prepare the rest of the checks.

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

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

Old Business

Water Rates

Greta prepared a breakdown of a few other cities and what they charge for their water rates. Matt noted that they usually assume 70 gallons per person per day so a 4 person household would be approximately 8,400 gallons a month. Sandy will look into what an average water bill is. We want to get this in place so we can impose the new rates in 2026. We would need to have the fee schedule ordinance amended and published in a newspaper before January which can be done. Greta will get the ordinance amendment prepared so we can move forward with this. Clerk Haro will contact Ehlers and see if they have anything regarding the water billing that we discussed in the past.

Resolution Denying North Pro Rail’s Zoning Amendment

Mayor Jacob made a motion to approve Resolution 25-13 Denying an application to Amend Chapter 152 of the City Code to and Transloading as Permitted Use, seconded by Price.

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

New Business

Deputy

A Deputy noted that is deer hunting season and if you hit a deer and are not injured there is no need to call the department but if you want a deer tag then you can call them as they can issue a tag. They are almost fully staffed. With the holidays coming the fraudulent calls are going to be ramping up again. The department does not ask for money, gift cards, bitcoins over the phone. When in doubt call them to verify the call. It was noted that there is speeding going through town before school starts.

Met Council

Met Council Representative Merritt Clapp Smith introduced herself to the council along with her co-worker Abby. She is our sector representative for this community from the local planning assistance team. She is our point person for comp plan update and environment reviews. We can reach out to at any time. She discussed the 2050 comprehensive plan update. They have a new plan (Small Communities Planning Program) that we are eligible for and it’s free They will assist with the comprehensive plan updates. Their team would take the lead on all the technical work, such as the data, research, maps and writing it. We would be in charge of our vision, and our priorities. It is our choice if we want to do this program. We will have to sign an agreement and what is everyone responsibility. We would have to host a community meeting. They will send out more information in the next few months. We asked if they assist with writing grants. She will check on this. She asked if we have any questions regarding the system statement that was sent to us which is basic information like roads, sewer system, etc. Our forecast of growth for 2020 through 2050 is estimated that we would grow by 38 households.

Northern Salt Land Use

O.J. from Northern Salt discussed that the track is going in and they should be receiving their first train load of product in December. They do not currently have any construction plans for the 20 acres to the south. They would like to utilize the 20 acre piece and generate some revenue before they have a solid plan for the property. They want to know how we feel about another project such as the windmill parts that would have a start and end date. They will come to us with a plan to consider such as either a CUP or IUP projects. He wants to know if he can continue to have conversations with potential clients. We indicated to him that we are open to conversations.

Parking on Dawson Avenue

Marie noted that the parking on Dawson by Felton’s is tight especially for buses. We could put up “No Parking” signs between 7:30 – 3:30 when school is in session. Let’s start with a sign for when school is in session and see how it goes. Matt will have a sign ordered and installed.

Sewer Project

Matt indicated that Dickman is supposed to get the final lift tomorrow. The sod installation will continue. Danel and Davisson is done but some seeding also needs to be completed. They will be putting the stripes on 83. Mailboxes and sign should be going up in two weeks – everything will be completed by Thanksgiving. If we note anything that should be dealt with make a note of it and send it to Matt. The pond will be worked on next Spring.

Council Member Reports

Cannon River Tree Service is coming to 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 8:12 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.