CITY OF CLAREMONT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2024
7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Claremont, Minnesota was held on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at Claremont City Hall.
Members present: Mayor Tasha Dahl, City Council Members: Jacob Klejeski, Krystal Sultze, Deb Ellis, and Ryan Hedberg. Council Members absent: None.
City staff and others present: Administrator Elizabeth Sorg, Maintenance Director Casey Dahl, City Engineer Derek Olinger, Mike Bubany, Matt Durand, Jamie Sultze, Jarrod Sultze, Ethan Reed, Alec Vaughn, and Donna Gregory.
AGENDA
Motion by Ellis to approve the agenda, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC INPUT
Donna Gregory asked the council to consider adopting or clarifying an ordinance relating to decorative overhead lights by pools.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda consisted of: Minutes of the June 4, 2024, Regular City Council Meeting. Motion by Sultze to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Motion by Ellis to approve the financial reports, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Klejeski to approve the amended list of bills to be paid, second by Ellis. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE
Peter Hanson applied to be on the fire department. Motion by Hedberg to approve Hanson to the fire department, second by Sultze. Mation carried unanimously.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
EDA
Matt Durand gave the council an update on his housing project. The basements are almost finished. The houses are completed, and they are planning to bring them in in mid-July.
MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
Nothing at this time.
PARKS COMMITTEE
Hodgman Drainage submitted an estimate for expanding the ball field parking area in order for buses to come in and park. The council tabled it in order to get another estimate.
Three companies submitted electric bids for the scoreboard and lights. The bid request was to put the scoreboard in now and place conduit where the lights will go for installation later on. The council tabled to review how many lights they want and where to place them.
Ethan Reed has planted the food forest in 3 areas by the walking trail very similar to the food forest flyer he had presented to the council. He also planted some raspberry bushes. He has removed a lot of the invasive garlic mustard.
PEOPLESERVICE
Their monthly reports were in the packet.
They sent the city a refund of $2025 for the unused maintenance and chemical budget.
CITY ENGINEER
All but 40 properties have completed their water service inventory. In mid-July Bolton and Menk will submit a draft copy of the lead service inventory to MDH. The final inventory will be submitted in August.
There are 134 properties that have compliant sump pump connections, 40 have not been completed yet, and a few are non-compliant. For those that don’t have a compliant sump pump or will not schedule an appointment, a $100 surcharge per month will be added to their water and sewer bill. Motion by Hedberg to set a deadline of 14 days to schedule an inspection, and 30 days for those that need repairs and schedule a reinspection, staff will send the notices and apply the $100 to non-compliant properties, second by Ellis. Motion carried unanimously. The Administrator can give individual waivers for more time, if requested.
Previously, the city has discussed having a larger street project in 2025 (in order to get a better price) and financing the costs with a loan. Mike Bubany was here to explain funding options. A new 15-year bond will create annual payments which will need a revenue source. The city will have approximately $90,000 in new revenue available in 2028 from the Al-Corn TIF. In order to do the street project in 2025 some amount of tax levy increase will be necessary until that revenue can take its place. Per a standard amortization, the project will cause an impact of $16 per month for $100,000 of residential value. The city could ignore the fact that there will be a large tax base coming in 2028 from the Al-Corn TIF or the city could design the current bond issue to be interest-only payments for a few years so that the ethanol plant tax capacity prevents any impact on this current project, or the city could do a blend of these options. The council would need to make a decision by September. Council will set up a workshop to discuss this further.
Bolton & Menk submitted a response to MPCA regarding the new sulfate limits. The city can’t achieve consistent compliance with the proposed sulfate limits as it is not technologically or economically feasible at this time. The city will ask for a variance from the sulfate limits.
On May 22, Bolton & Menk engineers toured the wastewater treatment facility with some city staff. They looked at the various pieces of equipment that need attention or replacement. They had a prioritized list of improvements with anticipated costs and budgeting suggestions which will be worked into the budget in future years.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
The council asked Casey Dahl if he would like the meeting closed for his annual performance appraisal summary, he said it can stay open. Mayor Dahl abstained from this part of the meeting. Administrator Sorg evaluated Casey Dahl and came up with an average of “meets or exceeds expectations” in the requirements of his position. He has been helping PeopleService with some of the water and wastewater duties. Motion by Hedberg to increase Dahl’s wage 4%, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
The pavilion has been rented 6 times in the month of June, which is the highest amount of reservations so far.
MetroNet has discontinued video services so they will not have any more franchise fees.
CITY ATTORNEY
The sump pump ordinance will be reviewed next month.
A public hearing will be held next month for those non-complaint properties that have been issued administrative fines.
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Motion by Ellis to let the Ameriprise investment auto renew, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Klejeski to cash in the CD with Luminate Bank since the bond payments are all due August 1 and the levy has not been received yet, second by Ellis. Motion carried unanimously.
Administrator Sorg prepared job descriptions for a Maintenance Supervisor, Maintenance Worker and a part-time maintenance worker job ad. Motion by Hedberg to approve the part-time maintenance worker job posting with an anticipated wage of $18-$21 per hour, depending upon qualifications and applications will be accepted until August 8 or until the position has been filled, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
The council will have a workshop for July 23 at 6 p.m. to start discussing the budget and the items for the ball field that were tabled.
Motion by Ellis to adjourn the meeting at 8:32 p.m., second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
ATTEST:
________________________________ ____________________________________
Elizabeth Sorg, Administrator Tasha Dahl, Mayor
