DRAFT – These minutes are not official until approved at the next regular City Council meeting.

City of Bigfork

Regular Meeting August 8, 2006

Members Present: Amy Tendrup, Jean Lexvold, Amy Pifher, Lonnie Kacon and Richard Salmi

Absent: None

Also Present: Julie Aakhus, Ann McGarry, Bob Zimmer, Gene Collins, Warren Welch, Greg Bertram, Gene Rajala, Farrell Gunelius, Gus David, Julie Kennedy, Roland Hamborg, Robert Johnson, Dan Infante, Dan Johnson, Gail Johnson, and Marv Richards.

Mayor Tendrup called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.

Public Forum: Mayor Tendrup asked that any members of the audience wishing to address the Council do so at this time. Danny Olson explained to the Council that Ottum Ave is in terrible shape. He said that it is being graded once every other week but needs it twice per week. Tendrup stated that the budget committee is meeting soon, and she will look at what is left for this year and what can be put aside for next year. Tendrup closed the public forum.

Tendrup addressed the agenda and replaced “Division Ave Assessments” with “Engineering Update” as Andy Shaw would not be attending the meeting talk about the assessments. Richard Salmi also requested that the Village Hall Roof be placed on the agenda in new business along with Fill For Cedar St Lots.

Consent Agenda #1- approval of the minutes of the July 11th regular and July 20th & 27th Special City Council meetings

#2- approval of the Police Report for July 2006

#3- approval of the City Clerk’s Office Report for July 2006

#4- approval of the Budget Report for July 2006

#5- approval of the claims for payment in the amount of $46,051.63 including the July 15th, and 31st payrolls

(copies of documentation relating to any consent agenda item are available at the City Clerk’s office)

Salmi asked that Claims be pulled from the Consent Agenda and moved to the Regular Agenda.

Motion by Lexvold to approve the Agenda with the removal of Claims, seconded by Amy Pifher. Motion Carried Unanimously. (MCU)

OLD BUSINESS:

Claims: Salmi asked about the Casper Construction bill. He asked why the bill was broken down and listed in two parts. Tranette Stevens replied that she broke the total amount down into supplies and labor for accounting. Salmi asked about the repair by Chernugal’s old house. Stevens replied that it was on their property and the City wouldn’t be billed for it. Motion made by Lonnie Kacon to approve the claims, seconded by Lexvold. MCU.

Delinquent Water/Sewer Account: Tendrup stated that the account was very delinquent and the special contract with the customer has not been kept by the customer. It is not in alignment with the City’s Ordinances. Andy Shaw has advised that action be taken in this matter. Amy Pifher asked if the customer could be assessed on their property taxes. Tendrup replied that the City’s Ordinance states that property taxes will be assessed for delinquent accounts. Tendrup asked if there was still service to the customer. Stevens replied that there was. Tendrup asked what the unpaid amount was. Stevens replied that it was around $1100. Kacon was concerned about the customer not being the property owner who would be assessed. Tendrup stated that it is the land owner’s responsibility. Kacon questioned whether the customer should continue to have service after the property taxes are assessed. Tendrup stated that it is the City’s policy to disconnect. Kacon asked if the City is within its rights to disconnect the service at this time. Tendrup and Stevens replied that it is because they are in violation of the contract. Motion by Kacon to disconnect the customer and assess the property taxes if not paid in full, seconded by Lexvold. MCU.

Liquor Store Funds: Tendrup stated that she would like to wait to decide on the liquor store funds until the budget committee has met, which is on Thursday. Kacon asked if the State Aid had come in, and Stevens said that it had. Salmi would like to see it put into a CD for 11 months at 5.30%. Tendrup replied that she would really like to see the budget first because if the money is tied up for a long period of time, it wouldn’t be available for 2007. Last year’s budget was very difficult to balance. Kacon suggested a short term CD. Tendrup stated that maybe half of the money could be put into a CD. Kacon suggested that the money could be placed into a money market account to draw some interest. Stevens stated that the interest rate was pretty low, that CD’s would be better for earning interest. Motion by Salmi to put the entire amount in an eleven month CD at 5.35%. Motion died for lack of a second. Motion by Pifher to table the issue until next month, after the budget committee has met, seconded by Lexvold, with Salmi opposing. Motion carried.

Engineering Updates - Julie Kennedy: Kennedy has provided addresses for the Legacy Development Subdivision which she also gave to the Sheriff’s Dept and to Stevens who passed them on to the Post Office. Legacy will transfer ownership of the utilities to the City this fall after inspections are complete. The Hwy 7 project is complete. The striping was finished this morning. Mark Maki was in the process of televising all of the lines because of continued I&I entering the system. Gene Rajala spoke up and said that the I & I is coming from the Bigfork Assembly of God church. Kennedy stated that is what they were suspecting. Kennedy is working with Rural Water to pinpoint where the I & I is coming from. Kennedy presented options for the Cedar St road issue. She said that reconstruction would cost $9700 and an overlay would be $4700. She recommended the overlay based on the statements made at the last council meeting that the road had stabilized and was not continuing to sink. Salmi mentioned that Ottum Avenue needs to be graded. Kacon asked Jon Babcock if he thought the road had stabilized. He replied that he noticed no change in the last month. Kennedy said that if the road continues to settle, it would need to be reconstructed. Salmi asked if the county could patch it at no cost. Kennedy noted that the county may be able to repair it with a cold patch. Motion by Salmi to contact the county for a quote, seconded by Lexvold. MCU. Tendrup asked Kacon as the Public Works Commissioner to talk to the county. The MPCA NPDES/SDS permit is up for renewal. The City has until August 15th to provide any comments to the MPCA on the draft copy. Well #3 water line was repaired for $3800 and the line from Well #2 has been abandoned. The water main in front of Kocians was repaired for $5227. The road will be paved when a contractor is scheduled to be here already in order to save money. Kennedy thanked Roland Hamborg from the Army Corp of Engineers for extending the City’s grant for the Mound System rehabilitation. Kennedy stated that the City needs to get a full time Public Works Superintendent so that she is not called on things that could otherwise be taken care of at a lesser cost. She is continuing to work with the Bigfork Alumni and the Bigfork Valley Hospital. Danny Johnson said that the Fire Dept was not notified when the water was shut off for the Kocian’s water main fix. He said a note could be left on the door. Kennedy said that there are some legalities that need to be worked out having to do with penalties and forfeitures in regards to the Division Ave assessments. Andy Shaw and Kennedy will talk about this issue when they can both be present.

Bids on City Equipment: Stevens explained that the raft and the tractor had not sold at the Bigfork Wilderness Celebration, but that a bid for each had come in recently. She said that the bid for the tractor was $1055 because there were things that needed to be fixed on it. The bid for half of the raft was $400. The Council decided not to make a decision on the raft bid until after they had heard the proposal from the Bigfork Township. Kacon stated that he would like to sell it because the tractor does not meet OSHA standards. Motion by Salmi to sell the tractor to the party bidding $1055, seconded by Pifher. MCU.

Lonnie Kacon as Commissioner for Public Works & Clerk Supervisor: In light of the fact that the City is currently without a Public Works Superintendent, the city employees, including the clerk, need a supervisor. Kacon who is already the Water and Sewer Commissioner has volunteered. Motion by Lexvold to approve Kacon as supervisor, seconded by Pifher. MCU.

Kacon asked Tendrup if he could speak. She agreed. He went on to say that two separate parties had called him to say that a manhole cover was being removed on the west end of town. Because of the 911 Homeland Security issue, the subject becomes a concern. Salmi said he could address the issue. He stated that Alan LaTrace had called him complaining of a blockage in the sewer. Salmi decided to take the manhole cover off to look at the main line. He stated that it was fine. Barry Pigman came and cleared the line on LaTrace’s property. He said that he was trying to be a good Samaritan. That he thought because he was a Council Member that he had the authority. Tendrup stated that this cannot be done, that it is a huge liability. She said that Mark Maki was in town and working his contracted hours. Pifher said that Salmi received Mark’s schedule a week ago. Police Chief Jon Babcock wanted to make it clear that it is a crime to remove or tamper with wastewater fixtures. Tendrup also stated that Kacon is the Public Works Commissioner and that it takes a Council motion and approval in order to assign a Council Member to represent the City. Kacon also said that the two City employees are concerned about their situation and safety and feel like they are being scrutinized and watched. He went on to speak to Salmi and say that there have been other occurrences where citizens, not necessarily Salmi, have been taking advantage of the situation and over stepping their bounds. Kacon stated that he is concerned that the two employees may quit because of these circumstances.

NEW BUSINESS:

Resolution 2006-18: School Liaison Officer Contract: Motion by Pifher to approve Resolution 2006-18, seconded by Lexvold. MCU.

Propane Contract: The Council asked how much propane was used by the liquor store last year. Stevens stated that the Northern Star Co-op had not differentiated how much propane was used by each building. Motion by Lexvold to contract 4900 gallons at $1.53/gal, seconded by Pifher. MCU.

Missing Liquor From Liquor Store: Dan Infante said that before closing on the property, $1000 of inventory had gone missing and stated that the inventory sheet was given to Babcock. Infante mentioned that Service Master had been in the bar alone. Tendrup stated that the City would have to pursue an investigation. The City received a letter from Andy Shaw recommending reimbursing Infante for the missing liquor. Motion by Pifher to reimburse Infante $1000 for the missing inventory, seconded by Salmi. MCU. The entire inventory was valued at $41,000 wholesale and sold to Infante for $10,000. Gus David asked if $10,000 is one-quarter of $41,000, why the City isn’t reimbursing Infante one-quarter of $1000.

Fire Relief – Amending the Annual Benefit Level: Motion by Pifher to amend the annual benefit level for the Fireman’s Relief from $1400 to $1650, seconded by Lexvold. MCU.

Bergquist Request for Use of Airport Hanger & Picnic Tables: Motion by Kacon to allow Bergquist to use the airport hanger and picnic tables on August 18th from 10 am - 4 pm, seconded by Pifher. MCU.

Appoint Election Judges: Motion by Lexvold to appoint Laurel Laudert, Ann McGarry, and Tranette Stevens as election judges for the coming general election, seconded by Pifher. MCU.

Bigfork Township Operating Public Beach: Mike Larson spoke to the council of the Bigfork Township’s interest in buying the City Beach for $1. Their plan would be to fix it up, maintain it, insure it, and find a lifeguard. Larson stated that the Township would not sell to anyone else and could sell it back to the City in a few years if they wanted. Gail Johnson stated that the Township would not be able to insure it unless it was in their name and that their insurance would be cheaper than the City’s. Tendrup asked if the Township understood the costs of owning and maintaining the beach. Larson replied that the kids in the area need a beach. Kacon said that the new system of having the beach open is not working because it is unsupervised. Tendrup stated that earlier in the summer, the beach gate was locked and the beach was still used. People are using it after hours even now. Larson explained that with the proper gates, that won’t be a problem. Tendrup suggested having a public hearing to see what the citizens would like to do. She had heard in the past that they were not in favor of selling the beach, but maybe they’d be willing to turn it over to another government entity. Lexvold asked how the Township was planning to gate off the area so that no one could get in after hours. Babcock said that he had asked the City a year ago about putting up a second gate and got approval for it. Mark Maki had said that it would be going up before he left, but it is still not up. Babcock went on to say that a proper gate at the end of the road would prevent cars from driving in and being partially hidden in the parking area. He said that there is a chain across the road for the time being. If there is a problem with kids or boats, Babcock requested that he be notified immediately so that he can deal with the problem. Gail Johnson said that they understand that they will not always be able to keep people out after hours but would like the opportunity to own it and operate it. Kacon said that he would like to see the City investigate this possibility. Babcock asked Gail Johnson if the Township was approached this year by the City for help in funding the beach. She replied that they were not approached. Tendrup stated that paying for a lifeguard can cost around $6000, but even then it’s hard to find a good lifeguard. Salmi suggested tabling the issue and sending out a questionnaire. Motion by Pifher to check into working with the Township on a possible sale and allowing comments from citizens at the next meeting, seconded by Kacon. MCU. The Council tabled the bid on the raft until the next regular Council Meeting.

Village Hall Roof: Tendrup stated that she is aware of the drainage issue around the building and that Julie Kennedy is also aware of it. Tendrup told Salmi that he could work with Kacon on the problem as it is a Public Works issue.

Fill From WilderNest For Cedar St. Lots: Tendrup said that the Council had already decided that they would accept any free fill as long as it meets the engineer’s requirements. Permits would be required. Salmi replied that the lots need to be cleared before any fill could be brought in. Salmi said he could check into seeing if someone would donate cat work. Pifher asked if Salmi would only be checking with Schwartz. Motion by Kacon to allow Salmi to pursue and act on cost estimates and donations for fill material for the two Cedar St lots at $1000 or less, seconded by Pifher, with Lexvold and Pifher opposing. Tendrup broke the tie with an Aye. Motion carried.

OTHER BUSINESS:

The VFW has asked for permission to fly the POW/MIA flag on the main flag pole. Motion to allow the flag to be flown on the main pole by Pifher, seconded by Lexvold. MCU

Lexvold asked if the City Hall’s tables and chairs are available to rent. Tendrup stated that there is an application form for that.

ATV Ordinance: Babcock spoke to the Council about the Planning and Zoning Commission’s decision to table the ordinance indefinitely. He stated that he had been operating on the 1984 ATV Ordinance allowing ATV use within the City limits and was recently advised that the ordinance had been repealed in 2004. As it stands now, ATV use within the City limits in violation of state law. Some type of ordinance needs to be in place allowing ATV use, or he will be required to give out tickets to anyone driving an ATV in City limits. Babcock requested that the old ordinance be reinstated. Andy Shaw has advised implementing a temporary ordinance until the state law can be figured out. Motion by Lexvold to reinstate the 1984 ATV Ordinance, seconded by Kacon. MCU.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 pm.

Angie Storlie City Clerk/Treasurer City of Bigfork ctyclerk@bigfork.net 218-743-3782