REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
Monday, May 1, 2023
5:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER AND DETERMINATION OF A QUORUM .
The Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Olivia, Minnesota, was called to order by Mayor Hawkinson at 5:30 P.M.
Council Members Present: Jon Hawkinson, Blanca Ferguson, Matt Baumgartner, Landon Padrnos and George Ebbers.
Others present: Aaron Walton, City Attorney;}vlary Jo Halliday, Interim City Administrator; Jodi Gilberts, Administrative Assistant; Ross Okins, Renville County Register; Justin Black, SEH; Marissa Castillo, Planning/Zoning; Jason Krumheuer, Police Chief; Clint Olson, Fire Department; Travis Lubitz, Fire Department; Tim Seehusen, Fire Chief; Kevin Morse, Fire Department; 6 BOLD Students; 1 Resident; 2 Guests, Via Zoom .
PUBLIC FORUM
Mayor Hawkinson temporarily suspended the regular meeting arid opened the public forum at 5:31P.M. He clarified the amount of time allocated for public comments and the decorum expectations for those who participate in the Public For!,Jm.
No other public comments were offered. Mayor Hawkinson reopened the regular meeting at 5:32pm.
AGENDA APPROVAL
Motion by Padrnos, second by Ebbers: to approve the am, e n ded agenda with adding Item Bl Fire Department to a discussion item. Motion passed unanimously.
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion by Padrnos, second by Baumgartner: to approve the consent agenda with Item E moved to Item H under discussion. Motion passed unanimously.
DISCUSSION/ BUSINESS ITEMS
Pro ject Updates by Justin Black-SEH, Inc.
DePue Ave Project:
Project Update #11 just went out in the mail. The street has been closed, some curb, gutter and sidewalk have started to be removed. Will start Tuesday May 2nd to grind up pavement. The underground pipe crew is planning on starting the week of May 8th •
Letter of Warning MPCA:
Last fall when project was winding down the contractor mulched all open dirt and installed stabilizers at inlets. This spring there was a site visit by MPCA and they had a check list of things needed to be fixed they sent that to contractorwho came out and re-mulched and completed other items on the check list and submitted that to MPCA who says we are now back in compliance .
212 Watermain Project:
They kicked off this project about a year ago, so to recap it is the replacement of watermain along highway 212 road ditch. It includes about 2300 feet of watermain that will be replaced. The project will be directional drilling of the new main. They have received the permit from MNDOT and all the easements that were needed. Now ready to take project out to bid. He is asking the council to approve the resolution to take it to bid. He shared the estimated cost is $680,000. Would propose bid opening for Thursday June 1, 2023. Baumgartner asked size of the main, Black share about 1200 ft is 12 inches the remainder is 8-inch diameter. Baumgartner asked if this was in the budget and Hawkinson shared this has been forecasted for this project to happen.
Motion by Ferguson, second by Ebbers: to approve Resolution 2023-48 approving plans and specs and ordering advertisement for bids. Motion passed unanimously.
Ferguson asked Black if SEH would like anything to do with building project. He shared that they don’t have their own construction contractors that do the work so if that’s what we are looking for they are unable to help with that. If it is just managing contractors then they are able to do that .
Fire Department Armor y Buildin g Tour
Chief Seehusen shared his and the fire departments thoughts on the tour of the Armory building on west Lincoln Avenue. He shared that is approximately 52 feet wide by 102 feet long and that basically building a new building without building new st ruct ur e. He feels it would work really nice for Fire Department but would not be enough room for Tech Rescue as well. Has lots .of ideas on how to lay it out to make it
work. Says it would work for the fire department if it is ok for the trucks to pull straight out onto HWY
- Says it is a solid st ruct ur e. Would need to add on if want Tech Rescue out there as well.
Second Reading of Fee and Fine Schedule
Halliday shared the changes on the Fine and Fee schedule. She shared that the heads of the departments recommended what the fee increases should be updated to. Went through changes briefly to see if any questions. Baumgartner asked if available for citizens to rent and Halliday shared no this is the fees if City employees need to invoice for them doing a job. Padrnos asked what the justification of the building inspector increasing his rates and Castillo shared that this is his going rates for all towns he has contracts with and that was based on inflation.
Motion by Padrnos, second by Baumgartner: to approve second reading of Fee and Fine Schedule 2023. Motion passed unanimously.
Motion by Ebbers, second by Ferguson: to approve Resolution 2023-49, Authorizing Title and Summary Publication of Ordinance 2023-01. Motion passed unanimously.
611 East Lincoln Hazardous Buildin g
Walton shared that Castillo sent out a Certified letter to owner and that no response was received after the owner received that letter. Council question if she received the letter and Castillo stated she got a copy that the letter was received by owner. So, the next step would be getting the resolution passed of the Findings of Facts to move forward, the signed resolution then will be served to owner stating what needs to be done with the property for it to be up to code. Hawkinson gave a little background to the
property that it came to the attention by the exterior that it wasn’t up to code so a search warrant was granted for the Building Inspector to look inside on November 16, 2022. Inspector then gave a report of his findings.
Motion by Baumgartner, second by Padrnos: to approve Resolution 2023-50 Findings of Fact. Motion passed unanimously.
Nuisance Policy
Chief Krumheuer and Marissa Castillo have come to the council to ask them for some direction on how they want them to move forward dealing with nuisances. Currently they are addressed complaint based, there is not a policy in place. Should they go forward doing complaint based or should it go to violation/inspection based, so they know how to move forward. Hawkinson asked if either of them had a preference either way. Chief says its kind of a catch 22 because with complaint based, we are asking neighbors to turn in neighbors which puts people in a bad position and then with doing it as a city people think we are being too strict to property owners. Need to have something that is consistent.
Chief says Castillo and him have a plan they just need to know what way to go from here. They have sat down and talked about what department needs to deal with what nuisances. They now just want to know how to address so the public don’t think they are being targeted. Hawkinson inquired about the steps when dealing with a nuisance, Chief explained they receive a letter and have 10 days to respond. Then a second notice is sent then after that they starting an abatement. Chief brought up as city staff but also Olivia citizens can they bring up nuisances and enforce them as well. Padrnos shared he would like it complaint driven with the complaints being anonymous. Consensus of council to make a resolution to have a complaint-based model for nuisances.
Ordinance Amendin g Cit y Code Title IX Section 92.19 and 92.20 Regardin g Nuisance Code Enforcement Tabled until it can be redrafted by Walton.
Chief Krumheuer compensati on request
Chief is asking due to the fact that they have been short staffed and our going to continue that way for a bit if he can be compensated at an hourly rate instead of continuing to be salaried. Now with 2 officers and part time help he needs to step up and do more hours. Padrnos shared there are a few issues with the job description in our handbook. He states he thinks we should address that first before we change Chief to hourly. It says he doesn’t have to keep track of hours and if he goes to hourly that would need to be changed. Padrnos says we need to work on some language in the job description before we can make this change happen. Padrnos suggests he starts keeping track of his hours so that when this is figured out, we can do back pay if we decide to move forward with the change. Padrnos says chief is exempt so we don’t have to pay him over time rates but we need as a council to discuss if that would be what we want to do. Padrnos shares he is in favor of moving forward with Chiefs request after doing some changes and looking into some things.
Cit y Hall Roof
Halliday Shared that there is some leaking from roof during last weeks rain showers. She called and is working with the same company that did the roof. She stated the warranty was a 10 -year warranty and the roof was done in 1990 so the warranty has lapsed. They company came out and took some pictures which were shared with council about what the issues causing the leaking seem to be. She stated they
shared there is some hail damage. Halliday shared that she contacted our local insurance agent who has forwarded it on to the League Of MN cities to tell us what the next step with insurance should be.
Halliday also reached out to the company about repairs and they shared temporary repairs would be estimated between $2500-3,000 and would just close that gap up. Council suggests we wait for insurance adjuster comes out to decide next step.
St ep Increase For Em p loyees
Baumgartner would like information on how they decide to do step increases for employees and questions if it is too easy to get them for employees. Halliday shares there is a nice performance evaluation done on employees when getting a step increase to determine their eligibility. Padrnos shared per our policy step increases are given on employees work anniversary and when they are done with their probationary period. Baumgartner also asked if this happens even when employees are under performing and Halliday shared no they would not get a step increase then. Baumgartner asked if it has ever happened and when and Halliday shared it happened in 2019.
Motion by Ferguson, second by Padrnos: to approve Resolution 2023-47 Acknowledging the End of Probationary Status & Authorization of Step Increase for Shawn Hanson, Jasmine Miller, & Jo Monson. Motion passed unanimously.
REPORTS
Em ergency M anagement Services
Hawkinson shared that Chief Krumheuer, Chief Seehusen, Halliday and himself met with Renville County Emergency Manager Mr. Hennen and had a good discussion about the City of Olivia Emergency Coordinator job they need fulfilled. He shared that they found an applicant that level of experience exceeded what the City of Olivia needed in this position. So, they need to look over the position and readjust and refine the job description to what our city needs. Ferguson shares she thinks if it was an hourly wage instead of a yearly set salary amount it might sound better applicants. Chief Krumheuer shared that if there is an emergency in the city this person will be the first to be called but then the county will get involved to help and if its more than they can handle they call the state and so on. So, we need to not make this job more than it is.
Armor y Buildin g Tour
Hawkinson shared they received a tip a few weeks ago that the state said that steps will be the last up keep project they will be funding for the up keep of the building. So, acting upon this tip they talked to Sergeant Fischer about that tip he stated he has been in talks to try to get the state to release that property to the city. So, since we are having conversations a.bout the building project, they thought they needed to at least take a look at this opportunity and see the building and all the spaces available there. Ferguson shared there is a functioning elevator for those who wouldn’t be able to use the stairs
Technolo gy Committee
Baumgartner shared they didn’t meet quorum but had a few conversations and that he shared his focus on efficient technology that can be showcased and shared with the public. They are interested things that have a return in Investments. He shares he has a project he is excited about that will be brought to the council when ready.
Public Works Supervisor Position
This internal posting is closed and will schedule interviews with those that applied.
Corn Capital Days M eetin g
They discussed the raffle they are doing this year and what to spend on raffle items. Hawkinson shared as always, they are in need of more volunteers to make this celebration run smoothly.
New Payloader
New payloader will be here on Wednesday 5/3 that was ordered last November. Halliday stated it was a nice surprise because normally these orders take longer. She also shared they will trade in the old one and then switch insurance over to new one.
Pool Update
Padrnos shared that Tracey and staff have been busy cleaning and putting things away. Staff is meeting on Wednesday to discuss who is going to stay on as staff when pool reopens. The pool is involved with a kid duo event over Corn Capital Days with The YMCA. They have some decisions to make on how to enclose the electrical box. They are having a meeting to discuss some items on 5/2.
Other Reports of Council / Staff
City Administrator Search
Halliday shared that the SCSC hiring has scheduled to advertise the position starting April 18th and they are working locally with the Renville County Register to post as well. She has been reading through the job description and asks if there is any communication or questions about it to get them to her and changes can be made or questions answered. She also shared that we are working on the organizational chart to get updated. The one-hour tour has been set up for June 19, 2023, and the hiring process will be a two-day process.
NOTICES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Hawkinson shared that the City Administrator job has been posted. It will be open until Monday May 15,2023.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Padrnos, second by Baumgartner: to adjourn the meeting at 7:26 P.M. Motion passed unanimously.