City of Randolph
Regular Council Meeting
April 12, 2023
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob.
Roll Call
Present were Mayor Marie Jacob, Council Members Sarah Podritz, Jacob Friedrich and Todd Carlock, Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro.
Also in attendance from LeVander, Gillen & Miller legal counsel, Korine Land and Greta Bjorkman, and Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer.
Approval of Agenda
The following item is added to the agenda: County Road 88 easement questions. Motion to approve the agenda with the addition was made by Friedrich, seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0
Public Comments
None.
Minutes
A motion to approve the March 8, 2023 regular council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
A motion to approve the March 24, 2023 special council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Approval of Treasurer Report and Payment of Bills
No treasurers report this month.
Sandy noted that there were a few larger invoices from Bolton & Menk. Motion to approve the payment of bills as presented was made by Friedrich, and seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Old Business
Certificate of Deposits
Merchants Bank cashed them and Sarah is picking up a check on Friday. She will drop off the check with Castle Rock Bank.
Motion by Friedrich that the signers on the CD’s at Castle Rock Bank will be Clerk Mary Haro, Mayor, Marie Jacob and council member, Todd Carlock, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Let Sandy know when this has been accomplished so she can make sure she can access the information from Castle Rock Bank.
Merchants Bank Accounts
Motion by Friedrich that the signers on the bank accounts at Merchants Bank will be Clerk, Mary Haro, Mayor, Marie Jacob and council member, Todd Carlock, and remove Sarah Podritz as a signer from the accounts, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Joint Powers Agreement with Randolph/Hampton Fire Department
Mayor Knetter from Hampton was present before our meeting and he indicated they are not interested in doing any changes to the agreements. He indicated they can operate under the current JPA.
It was noted under the current JPA that we are supposed to be acting as a board, If we have one member from the Hampton City Council in attendance, we would have a quorum and we could adopt their budget and appoint the other officers as is noted in the JPA. They get to elect the chief but that is all. We indicated we would like to work on the JPA and get things on track with the way it is supposed to work.
Korine suggest that we create new agreements. She has contacted another law firm (so there is no conflict) that works with fire departments and could make recommendation to the fire department and to us on the new agreements. We can then hand them over to Hampton and ask them to come together and work with us to work on the agreements – we do are not trying to change anything we just want them to sync with what they do. This attorney would recommend some revisions and make recommendations to Hampton City. He is willing to do it at the rate that Korine charges. She will ask him to give us an estimate and present it to us at the May meeting.
New Business
Dakota County Deputy
Officer Eric Langgard was present and asked if there were any concerns. Concerns of speeding through the city was brought up.
Randolph Trailblazers
Bob Romanowski asked if the City would again sponsor the Randolph Trailblazers for the 23-24 season. Motion by Friedrich to sponsor the Randolph Trailblazers by Resolution No. 23-04 for the 2023-2024 season, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Randolph Fire Department
Jacob Toledo appeared on behalf of the Randolph/Hampton Fire Department to ask the council for permission to close the road in front of the fire hall and a one day gambling permit for the upcoming Chicken Barbeque set for August 19, 2023.
Friedrich made a motion to approve Resolution No. 23-05 authorizing the Road Closure of 292nd Street between Divers Path and Distad Path from 12 p.m. on August 19 until 1 a.m. on August 20; for the Randolph/Hampton Fire District Annual Chicken Barbeque, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Friedrich made a motion to approve Resolution No. 23-06 authorizing a One Day Gambling permit for the Randolph/Hampton Fire District Annual Chicken Barbeque, seconded by Podritz. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
All Hazard Mitigation Plan
Clerk Haro discussed the All Hazard Mitigation Plan that needs to be approved for Dakota County. Friedrich Haro made a motion to approve Resolution No. 23-04 for Adoption of Dakota County All Hazard Mitigation Plan, seconded by Clerk Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Mowing Contract
We received 3 proposals for mowing. Sam’s Lawn Maintenance’s proposal is the lowest at $640 for a month. It was discussed about the land that is owned by Progressive Rail that the city has been mowing. We will discuss this with Progressive Rail as we should try to get reimbursed for mowing their property. It was noted that we could assess the fee for mowing it.
Motion to accept the proposal from Sam’s Lawn Maintenance for a one year contract was made by Mayor Jacob, seconded by Friedrich. Voting in favor is Jacob, Podritz, Friedrich and Haro, opposed Carlock, motion passed 4:1.
Resignation of Council Member
Sarah Podritz is resigning as a council member effective April 28th. She is moving out of the city.
Motion by Mayor Jacob to accept Sarah Podritz resignation beginning April 28th, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed 4:0, Podritz abstaining from the vote.
We can appoint someone tonight. We can have citizens apply and do interviews. The council position will run after her resignation until the next general election in November 2024. We could do a special election but would have to pay for election judges, Dakota County fees of printing ballots, etc. We have decided to go with the interview process.
Motion by Mayor Jacob that we post the vacant city council member position that will run from the appointment as a council member until the next general election in November 2024, and hold the interviews during the next city council meeting on May 10, 2024, with a deadline of May 3, 2024 to notify us that they are applying for the position, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
We will be accepting application until May 3, 2024 to replace council member Podritz and address it at our May 10, 2024 council meeting.
We need to appoint an acting mayor, Todd Carlock volunteered. Motion by Mayor Jacob that Todd Carlock will be appointed as acting mayor in place of Council Member Podritz, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Sarah also noted that the only members to have the code to the water tower is herself and Bryce. Sarah will give it Mayor Jacob after the meeting. Also change the contact for One Hour to Mayor Jacob, to grant them access to the water tower should repairs need to be made for the work that they did.
County Road 88 Easement
The county manager for the road project at Dakota County reached out to LeVander, Gillen & Miller regarding the acquisition of the city owned properties and she gave us a map of what the county will be acquiring as temporary and permanent easement as well as a large utility drainage easement for the storm water retention pond. The reached out to review the compensation that the county is seeking which they are asking the city to waive the compensation of $21,500. We do not have to waive it. The county did not appraise the property as they were under the assumption that we would waive the compensation. Legal counsel is going to ask for more details regarding what they are permanently acquiring and what they want to use the permanent easement for and come back to the May meeting with more details.
Bolton & Menk Sewer Update
Matt Blazer of Bolton & Menk discussed that the bids will get opened on April 13th at 11 a.m. He will then bring the bids to our May council meeting and consider awarding the bid. We have to take the lowest bid. He indicated that Bolton & Menk will have one more open house for the community. They will be sending out newsletters to homeowners during the project. He anticipates a start date in June this year. He indicated the land acquisition for the ponds is being appraised and they are talking with the land owner.
Council Reports
Todd Carlock mentioned that Dave Blank a long time resident passed away recently.
Community Service Projects
It was noted that the seniors are looking for projects they can do in the city on May 10th.
A few items noted is there are still bags of mulch that can be put down in the park; they could do some general yard work in the park; or we could reach out to senior citizens to see if they any needs some assistance with yard work.
Speed Bumps
We will contact Jason Otte to put them back in. Friedrich will reach out to him.
Pot Holes
There are several pot holes in the city that need to be dealt with. Options would be to fill them in ourselves or contact Bituminous Roadways or another contractor to see what they will charge. We should just fill in the biggest ones right now since the roads will be redone next year. We will do what is necessary.
Budget
Mayor Jacob asked about what the budget is for streets, etc. Sandy will spend some time on completing the individual amounts such as streets, park funds.
North Cannon River Watershed Management Organization
Since Harlan resigned it was asked if anyone was interested in being appointed as a representative of this organization. Todd Carlock volunteered to be a representative for the City of Randolph.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Podritz, seconded by Carlock, the meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Haro
