City of Bigfork

Special Meeting April 27th, 2004

Except for Motions made by the Council this is not a verbatim record of every statement made during the Council meeting. Discussions have been paraphrased to give general direction and understanding.

Members Present: Mayor Lonnie Kacon, Steve Grover, Jean Lexvold, Bob Zimmer and Amy Tendrup Absent: none Also Present: Julie Kennedy, Mark Maki, Ron & Char Bailey, Bill Loosbrock, Dan Odegaard, Marv Richards and Curt Tallman

The purpose of the special meeting was to discuss various City engineering projects, the hospital’s applications for building and sign permits, lifeguard training, the 2004 Bigfork Wilderness Celebration, donations for Christmas banners, and a donation request from Habitat for Humanity.

Mayor Kacon called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Engineering Update: Julie Kennedy from Short, Elliot, Hendrickson addressed the Cedar Street sewer project. She questioned how the City was intending to pay for this project. The options for payment include the City bonding for the project costs or using special assessments. In order to do special assessments, the City would need to adopt an assessment policy. Kennedy, City Clerk Angie Storlie and City Attorney Andy Shaw have drafted such a policy. Kennedy provided copies of the draft for the Council to review and bring back for discussion at the May 11th regular Council meeting. She also provided a timeline of events for this project. She requested that the Council order a feasibility report from her tonight. This would be prepared for the May 11th meeting and approved by the Council at that time. Then a public hearing would need to be held regarding the project and assessments. After the public hearing the Council could order plans and specs, obtain bids and, finally, open the bids and award a bid at the May 25th meeting. Kacon questioned the Council as to what the driving force behind this project is. Zimmer felt that it was being done to make the two City-owned lots more sellable, and that it made sense to do the project now, when Orbin Holt would already have contractors at the location. Kennedy explained that the reasons for the project would be identified in the feasibility report. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Lexvold to order a feasibility study from Short, Elliot, Hendrickson for the Cedar Street sewer project, Motion Carried Unanimously (MCU).

Kennedy’s next item was the relocation of the City watermain for the construction of the Fine Arts Center. The engineer for the Fine Arts Center had submitted plans for relocating the current line across their property. Kennedy strongly recommended keeping the lines in platted right-of-ways. Doing so would cost approximately $6400 more than their original plans. Ron Bailey was present representing the Fine Arts Center. He stated that they have a meeting on April 28th and he would bring up this issue.

Building Permit Application: Kennedy explained that during their work on the zoning ordinance, she, Storlie and Shaw had discovered that a building permit would not be required of the hospital. The only permit required is a water/sewer connection permit. Bill Loosbrock presented the Council with an application for water and sewer connections for the new addition. Kennedy mentioned that it would be in the best interest of the City to require the installation of a bar screen in manhole “A” to prevent solid waste larger than 2” from entering the sewer system. Motion by Grover, seconded by Tendrup to grant preliminary approval of the water/sewer connection application with the additional requirement of a bar screen to be installed in manhole “A”, MCU. Loosbrock next presented an application for water/sewer connection for the new daycare facility. Motion by Lexvold, seconded by Grover to approve this application as presented, MCU. Loosbrock questioned the ownership of the water and sewer lines. Kennedy and Maki stated that the property owner is typically responsible for everything located on the property and the City is responsible for it once it leaves the private property.

Sign Permit Applications: Marv Richards displayed pictures of the new signs that have been installed at the hospital and on CSAH #7. Motion by Tendrup, seconded by Grover to approve the sign permit application for the existing six signs, MCU. Richards then presented a drawing of the proposed sign for the corner of Golf Course Road and Hwy #38. He informed the Council that the sign conforms to the rules of the Hwy 38 Scenic Byway. The Council questioned if the sign would be lit in any way. Richards stated that it would not but some of the lettering would be reflective so that it was visible at all times. Kacon stated that there is power located at the nearby Veteran’s Memorial and asked the Council if they would be willing to have the City pay for electricity if the hospital installed fixtures. The Council was agreeable to this. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Lexvold to approve the sign permit application and allow the hospital to install lights and fixtures for the sign at their own cost. The City will be responsible for the cost of electricity and maintenance of the lights and fixtures thereafter, MCU.

Lifeguard Training: Storlie stated that she had called Hibbing Parks and Rec and signed the lifeguard up for training, however the class will be cancelled unless six or more people sign up. No other cities in close proximity are offering the class. Storlie questioned the Council as to how far away they are willing to send the lifeguard for training and are they willing to pay for a hotel room and meals if necessary. The Council was in agreement that they would allow the lifeguard to travel as far as she was willing to get the training needed. Motion by Tendrup to allow the lifeguard to attend training wherever necessary and for the City to pay all costs associated with the training, MCU. On a related item, Maki requested permission from the Council to move the gate at the beach closer to the road to try to put a stop to the vandalism that has been occuring. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Grover to allow Maki to do this, MCU.

Bigfork Wilderness Celebration: The Bigfork Wilderness Celebration Committee is considering planting some trees near the Veteran’s Monument and gazebo on the south end of Main Avenue. The Council had questions regarding what type of trees are being considered. They also had concerns about visibility. They would like to be informed of the type and exact location of the trees before they are placed. The Committee is requesting that the City declare no parking on the west side of Main Avenue for the day of the festival as they did last year. Motion by Tendrup, seconded by Lexvold to have no parking on the west side of Main Avenue on the day of the festival, MCU. The final item from the Committee was a request for ideas for the Centennial Celebration to be held in 2007. The Council was asked to let the committee know if they had any ideas or suggestions of things they would like to see for the Centennial Celebration. Zimmer asked if information was available about the founding fathers of the City. He suggested that Storlie contact the Minnesota Historical Society to see what information they may have on file.

Donations for Christmas Decorations: Maki explained that the current Christmas decorations are getting old and falling apart. It takes many man hours to repair them each year. He requested permission from the Council to request donations from local groups to buy new decorations. He suggested getting banners that will fit into the brackets being used by the Wilderness Celebration Committee. The Council was supportive of Maki’s efforts to raise the funds for this through donations.

Habitat for Humanity Request for Donation: This item was tabled at the last meeting. It was decided not to donate and to send a letter explaining the City’s fiscal situation.

Other Business:

Storlie has received one price quote from an appraiser to have the four city-owned lots appraised. The cost will be approximately $1600. Motion by Zimmer, seconded by Tendrup to accept this price quote, MCU.

Zimmer asked about the car parked at the City airport that has the windows broken out. He requested that Storlie get the name and address of the owner of the car and send a letter requiring that it be moved in 5 days or the City will have it removed and bill the owner for the charges.

Zimmer pointed out that there is no place near Bigfork to get rid of demolition waste. He asked what the process is for getting a demolition site and suggested that it could be located at the same place as the current County dump. Kacon suggested asking Terry Greenside from Itasca County Zoning about this and asking if he could attend a meeting to discuss the issue.

Due to all the projects taking place at this time, Kacon suggested scheduling two meetings per month. Motion by Tendrup, seconded by Zimmer to schedule two meetings per month, on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., until further notice, MCU.

There being no further business, Mayor Kacon adjourned the meeting at 9:14 p.m.

Angie Storlie City Clerk

These minutes are available on the City website at www.cityofbigfork.com. To sign up to receive the minutes by email, send your email address to ctyclerk@bigfork.net.