Randolph City Council Meeting - June 8, 2022

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City of Randolph

Regular Council Meeting

June 8, 2022

The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Robert Appelgren. 

Roll Call

Present were Mayor Robert Appelgren, Council Members Sarah Podritz, Jacob Friedrich and Todd Carlock, Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro. 

Public Comments

A citizen noted that there are potholes on Highway 88.  It was noted to him that Hwy 88 is a county road which Dakota County maintains.  Sarah indicated she would contact the County but it was noted that Todd already has. 

Minutes

A motion to approve the May 11, 2022 regular council meeting minutes and special closed meeting minutes and the May 25, 2022 special meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0. 

Approval of Treasurer Report

We took in $12,000 in water income.  Sandy with check with Bryce regarding installing more water meters. 

Todd asked what the balance of the $1.5 million bond is still available.  Clerk Haro will send him a copy of the statement. 

A motion to approve the Treasurer's Report was made by Friedrich, seconded by Podritz.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0. 

Approval to Pay Bills

Ekstrom Consulting sent us an invoice for assistance with the website and the domain and membership fees which are currently set up to auto renew with her credit card and she would like to have that be switched to the city’s credit card so she will not have to invoice us in the future. 

Motion to approve the payment of bills was made by Podritz, and seconded by Carlock.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Old Business

Feasibility Report by Bolton & Menk

Matt gave a recap of last month’s meeting indicating that the $13,000,000 that we received from the state will not be enough money to do the entire project.  So Bolton & Menk came up with possible options (1) trim the scope of the project which eliminates doing the Cordell Court and Hereford Hills areas (anticipating doing them at a later date in the future) or (2) we bond for the extra / overage amount. 

The citizens in Cordell Court has had their septic systems installed for about 20 years and the average life of a septic system is about 30 years so if we decide to eliminate this area we should plan in the future to do that area first.  It was asked what the cost for Cordell Court would be and it was noted that it would be about $800,000 - $900,000 for that area.   

Matt has asked for approval of the feasibility report and the direction on the funding whether we want to do all of it or scope it back.  We are over budget to do the entire project. 

It was noted that the city’s water pipes are plastic.  They will only be replaced if they are hit or need to be relocated.  They will make notations of where the water lines are when they are working on this project so that an as-built water line map can be created. 

It was noted that we did send a survey to the residents in Cordell Court and Hereford Hills asking if they were interested in getting hooked up to the system.  We received nine responses, two in favor of including their area and seven were not so therefore we based our decision on the responses we received from the residents who replied.

Mayor Appelgren made a motion to accept the Feasibility Report and go with Option 1 and adjust the scope of the project to meet state funds, seconded by Podritz.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0. 

It was asked about the land and Matt indicated he will come to next month’s meeting with a motion and a decision for that.  The Feasibility Report needs to be approved before we can move toward the land. 

New Business

Dakota County Deputy

Officer Posterick came to our meeting to introduce himself and asked if we have anything to be brought to their attention.  They indicated that catalytic converters continue to be stolen off of vehicles. 

We asked if he knew what happened to the boat that was Dickman Avenue as we noticed it was gone.  He did not know but we are happy that it is no longer there. 

It was asked how old the kids have to be to ride dirt bikes up and down the street.  Dirt bikes are illegal to be driven on city roads.  It was noted that as long as 4 wheelers have license they are legal to be on the city streets. 

Bolton & Menk Engineering Services

Matt discussed that the original scope and proposal for the project from over a year and half ago is done which was for the feasibility study.  He has presented a scope amendment that extends their contract for the final design.  He discussed what this all includes.  The first contract was for $369,000.  This amendment is up through the bidding process.  The next time they will extend the contract will be after it is bid which will include the construction. 

Friedrich made a motion to approve the proposal for professional engineering services at $377,764.00, seconded by Appelgren.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0. 

Randolph/Hampton Fire District Joint Powers Agreement

We held a discussion regarding some issues that may have had a conflict of interest with one of the firemen.  Upon review by our city attorney, it was determined that there was no conflict. 

If everything is working we can keep things as they are but we need to review the joint powers agreement.  First order of business should be to have a joint meeting to discuss the agreement or create a committee to meet with them.  We will invite the Hampton City Council, the Fire Department Executive Committee and our attorney. 

Friedrich advised the council that he investigated things and found there is a problem in Hampton and Randolph for response time.  It sounds like it has to do with moral.  He wants the entire department invited to the meeting.  We are not talking about discipline just want to discuss the issues.   

It was noted that they are not following the bylaws.  We need to meet with them and express our concerns.  There need to be some changes.  We should discuss this before our next meeting and ask Korine if we should have a joint meeting with Hampton. 

We will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, June 29th and invite the Hampton City Council and the Randolph/Hampton Fire Department Executive Committee to discuss the agreement.  This will be a fact finding mission.  It was also asked that they bring the last six months of service call logs for both Hampton and Randolph emergency calls. 

Election Judges

Motion to appoint the Election Judges of Colleen Taubman as head judge, Heather Siebenaler, Michelle Splichal, Mary Haro and Lisa Price for the Primary Election set for August 9th made by Podritz, seconded by Appelgren.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.  Haro abstained from the vote. 

Mowing Contract

We received notice that Ace Mowing will be closing their business due to the passing of Randy Thompson so we need to find someone to do the mowing for the city.  It was noted that Dave Blank has been mowing around the water tower in which we thanked him for doing that. 

We will add this to our special meeting scheduled on June 29th.  Mayor Appelgren will mow before we make a decision.  Our building inspector gave us a name of someone to check with to see if he is interested.  Mayor Appelgren will contact him.  If he is interested and has the insurance we should hire him temporarily.  Randy charged $600 a month.  Otte Excavating indicated they will mow inside the holding pond once a month. 

Motion by Friedrich to hire the temporary person if he is interested and has the insurance needed.  Mayor will mow until a decision is made.  Friedrich will do the land in Hereford Hills. 

We would like to have at least 3 bids by the special meeting and until then Friedrich and Carlock will mow the water tower area and Appelgren will do the rest. 

Recodification

Clerk Haro is having some trouble with getting someone to contact her to purchase the model basic code from MN League of MN Cities for $880.  This will be tabled until next month until Clerk Haro hears back from someone to get the model basic code purchased.

Bolton & Menk Sewer Update

Nothing further to discuss at this time.   

Miscellaneous

Clerk Haro noted we have a new email address of cityofrandolphmn@midconetwork.com.  She will forward this to Friedrich to post on our website.  It was noted that we could get an email address through Google and is $5.00 per user per month.  This is an option if needed.  We need to have the website ownership changed from Melissa to a city email address and set up a city credit card for the renewals.  Melissa indicated she can attend a meeting if needed.  Clerk Haro will work with her to get this accomplished. 

Cannon Computers will assist with the city to transfer the emails and also to talk about IT services. 

It was noted that land by the holding pond fence was being dug into by kids to create jumps.  We will contact Otte Excavating to put some rocks to fill in the hole. 

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Podritz, seconded by Appelgren, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.  All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Haro