City Council Meeting December 14, 2020
The City Council met at 5:30 pm at the Emergency Center with the following members present: Mayor Willey and Council: Gentzkow, Hoggarth, Nogosek, Watkins, Sandness, and Pedersen; employees Haugen, Schaffer and Hanson, engineer Reber, newspaper Hagebock. Attending via conference call was Attorney Radermacher. Visitor Robert Flath was also in attendance.
Mayor Willey called the meeting to order.
Minutes: Watkins moved to approve November regular and December Special Council meeting minutes with an adjustment to wording under flood control from the November meeting. Pedersen seconded. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried
Financial: Hoggarth moved, Gentzkow second to accept financial reports as presented. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried
Bills for November: Pedersen moved and Gentzkow second to approve bills as presented with the correction of the amount to L&S Worrel Trucking from $5.00 to $50.00. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried.
Engineer Report: The water tower project work for the fall has been completed, they will need to put up a fence for the winter. Reber presented an invoice from the contractor for payment in the amount of $195,733.62 for work completed. Gentzkow moved, Hoggarth seconded a motion to pay the invoice as presented. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried. Also presented was an invoice from Moore Engineering for $20,422.10. Watkins moved to pay the invoice, Hoggarth seconded. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried.
Manhole installation: Estimate provided by Meyer Construction for the project is $50,770.29. Discussion included whether project could be done locally and the importance of the project. The previous plug was damaged last year and costs $5,000.00 to replace. Gentzkow made a motion to approve the bid for $50,770.39 with the direction to try to reduce costs where possible. Hoggarth seconded: Polled vote: Gentzkow, Hoggarth, Pedersen, Nogosek & Sandness: yes. Watkins: no. Motion carried.
Visitor Comments: Bob Flath representing the LaMoure County Commissioners requested assistance from the City of LaMoure for half of the $16,000 to install the railroad crossing arms on 1st St NE. Watkins moved that the city pay half of the $16,000 to install the railroad crossing. Pedersen seconded. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried.
Legal Matters: Radermacher is working on the purchasing of the lift station near the grocery store/hardware store. City will need to either survey the parcel where the lift station sits or do an easement across the property. Councilwoman Gentzkow will work with her to get the needed information.
Old Business:
City Office: The old Supervalu building is currently owned by LaMoure Community Development Corporation (LCDC). They have made a proposal to the city that they will gift the building along with $75,000 to the city to put in new offices, restrooms, council room, storage, a community room and kitchen. The received initial estimates from Builder’s Mart, Hometown Electric & B&K Plumbing. The overall estimate is $318,000. This estimate includes but is not limited to, insulating the ceiling, new tin roof, remove false ceiling, sheetrock walls, tile flooring, paint, install new door on east side, remove loading dock, electrical, install new restrooms and kitchen. The actual plan would be the discretion of the city and LCDC would have no further input.
Discussion points included: do we need a large auditorium for the few times a year that rooms is used? The city recognizes this is a generous offer and the location is ideal, but wondered with the high price tag, if LCDC would be willing to contribute more funds to the project? They are already committed to other projects and this is the maximum they have available for this project. What does the community want? Radermacher pointed out that at this level of expense, the city would by statute need to get bids on the projects. The other option discussed was to continue to use the Emergency Center, by building an office for the police chief in the bay.
Financing options were presented. It was then questioned that if this should move forward, who will manage this project, as this will require many hours of work from the city. Mayor Willey stated that he intends to the planning and work involved with managing the construction.
The concern with this project is the cost. Is this the best use of city money when the city has additional projects such as replacing the swimming pool and flood protection. Councilman Watkins suggested that we ask the people what they want. Haugen will put together a survey to send out to gather more information.
Liquor License Applications: Pedersen moved and Gentzkow seconded Liquor License applications for The Other Bar. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carries.
Property Tax Exemption:
-The LCDC presented a property tax exemption to the council for a 10 year exemption. Hoggarth moved to approve the application, Pedersen seconded. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried.
Police Report: There were 20 calls for service. Hanson renewed his POST board. The taser is irreparable, so he will need to purchase a new one. Cost is $1275 with no warranty or $1670 with warranty. The Dash Camera and body camera need to be replaced as well. The cost for the car camera is $4000 and the body cam $1000. Both the old ones are out of warranty and service is no longer provided for them. Pedersen moved to approve the purchases, Sandness seconded. Polled vote: all yes. Motion carried. Hanson will be attending the annual conference in Mandan later this week.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:05 pm.