Call to order:
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 6:59 p.m. by Mayor Robert Appelgren.
Roll Call:
Present:
Mayor Robert Appelgren
Council Members Sarah Podritz, Jacob Friedrich, and Todd D Carlock
Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro
Public Comments:
None
Prior Meeting Minutes
A motion to approve the August 10, 2022 regular council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Appelgren. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Treasurer's Report
Sandy noted that we took in approximately $5,000 in water payments this month. The CD's are earning .3% interest. The CD was renewed in July. They are currently paying 1.1% for 9 months or 1.6% for 19 months. The penalty would $32.42 if we pulled it and reinvested. Sandy will check Castle Rock Bank to see what they are paying for interest rates and she will get back to us.
Sandy indicated that the fraudulent check was cashed at the Bank of America in Chicago. Merchants Bank is aware and they have a case number and are working with the sheriff. It was noted that whatever bank takes the check is responsible for the money. They are working on refunding the money to us.
A motion to approve the Treasurer's Report was made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Approval to Pay Bills
Motion to approve the payment of bills was made by Carlock and seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Old Business
There was no old business this month.
New Business
Preliminary Budget for 2023
After review, Haro made a motion to approve Resolution No. 22-11 setting the 2023 preliminary levy at $172,842 and the debt levy at $4,279, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
City Hall Restrooms
Todd Carlock passed around the Title II of the ADA rule governing ADA compliance.
It was asked what is wrong with the bathrooms and what needs to be changed. He said they are not compliant for people with disabilities. He said a contractor can tell us but he noted the doors, the handles and the sinks and need to be changed. A wheel chair needs to spin around and everything has to be at a certain height. The stalls should come down. Because we are a public entity, we have to have it accessible for people with disabilities.
It was noted this could cost about $50,000 - $75,000. We should have estimates so we can budget it. Carlock asked the Clerk to publish an ad to get some bids but he was told to get some estimates so we have some costs before we do any further work on this. It was asked when we have to set the final levy which will happen in December but since we already approved the preliminary levy we cannot raise it for 2023.
It was asked that Carlock get an estimate of what needs to be done to bring them up to code and the cost that would be involved. Since legal counsel was present we asked if she will check into the legalities of this code.
2040 Comprehensive Plan
This is the final piece of getting our comprehensive plan approved for 2040. Motion to approve Resolution 22-10 to adopt the 2040 City of Randolph Comprehensive Plan made by Friedrich, seconded by Appelgren. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Joint Powers Agreement with Dakota County re Highway 88 Project
Matt Blazer discussed the joint powers agreement with Dakota County for the Highway 88 project. They want to do this project when we do the sewer project.
He presented an agreement that should be added to the Sanitary Sewer project. The county gives the city the funds for the construction and the design. It will start off with the design funds and once the bids are approved then the funds for the construction will be paid. The city pays the contractor, engineering firm, and other costs associated with the project. This is open for input but the county has the final say. The county is planning to hold an open house soon regarding this project. The agreement was reviewed by our attorney and she approved it.
Motion to approve the Joint Powers Agreement with Dakota County made by Friedrich, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Reed Kosir
Reed submitted a data practice request to the City Council for documents from the Fire Department. We asked him what he was looking for. He would like to see how they came up with telling him he had to go to counseling. They should have records from their meetings. What role does the City have in this request. The city is responsible for the data it has under the request unless it is confidential. It was asked of the fire department if they fall under the same guidelines as the city for data request. They believe so but they are not completely sure since they are a fire district. We asked if they have minutes available. They indicated there were two meetings that did occur that they will provide the meeting minutes to him.
The city has had little involvement with the fire department and we feel they should manage themselves. We noted we would like to stay out of this and the fire district just give him the documentation he is requesting which is:
1. Written documentation of the Fitness of Duty Evaluation done by Randolph Hampton Fire District that states the requirement for me to contact a
counselor.
2. Written documentation and meeting minutes regarding my disciplinary process in the Randolph-Hampton Fire District bylaws.
Until our attorney tells us what we can and cannot do, we are asking that they work this out among themselves so the city is not involved. If that is not possible we will have to address it at a later date when we learn more as we will be having a meeting with the Fire Department. The Fire Department indicated this was the first that they learned he was asking for meeting minutes. We asked that he be given to him. We asked that they give the minutes to Clerk Haro and she will get them to Reed; however our counsel that was present advised against the plan of Clerk Haro as we should only give him the data that the city has in its possession. If we don't have any documents that he requesting them we don't provide anything to him. We were advised that he make a data request directly to the Fire Department. Clerk Haro advised Reed to send the data request to them indicated what he wants. He indicated that he already did that verbally and via a text message. They were asked to move the discussion outside so we can move forward with our meeting.
Randolph/Hampton Fire District
Chief Kevin Whitson indicated that they plan to start attending our council meetings going forward. He expressed his concern of some issues recently in the paper regarding moral issues and some response times issues and he did not nor did any assistant chief get a phone call on those issues from the City. They have had some struggles over the last several years do to COVID – do they have a meeting or not have a meeting. He indicated they have an average of 4 firemen per call and they currently have 27 active members and 80% of the calls are medical. They are strictly volunteer. They are short on personnel but so are the neighboring cities. They would like to have 32 members. He also noted that they received a $177,000 federal grant which they are going to use to upgrade 32 SED's which is just under $180,000.
Sewer Update
They have been working on the railroad crossing. They are working on the final design and still hoping to have the meeting in January or February to announce the joint powers. They have been working on the county portion as well. The County is planning on having another neighborhood meeting especially for the properties along the county road and will be sending out some notices within the next month. We asked that Bolton & Menk schedule another meeting to update the public. They are moving forward with the appraisal for the land. It was asked what kind of fees will be involved for the sewer fees. One of our bigger costs will be the maintenance person. Also we will need to start saving for future costs of updating, repairs, etc. Do we do that right away or wait until more people are hooked up? We need to keep the costs low. There are companies that you can hire to take care of the system or you can enter into a joint powers agreement with another city or hire someone. It would be nice to start getting some numbers. He will bring some numbers to next month's meeting.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Podritz, seconded by Carlock, the meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.