A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of International Falls, Minnesota was held in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building on the 7th day of August 2023 at the hour of 5:30 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Droba and Councilors Buller, Holden, Kalar and Wegner
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
| APPROVED agenda with additions as presented | MOTION by Councilor Holden to approve agenda with the following additions:
1. Consider Itinerant Restaurant license for Jackpine Family Diner, LLC dba Street Eats, LLC. 2. Discuss Hwy 53 Boulevard blight issues. Motion seconded by Councilor Kalar. Voting on the motion: ‘yeas’ – Mayor Droba, Councilors Holden, Kalar and Wegner: ‘nay’ – Councilor Buller. Motion failed due to lack of unanimous consent.
MOTION by Councilor Buller to approve agenda with the following addition: 1. Consider Itinerant Restaurant license for Jackpine Family Diner, LLC dba Street Eats, LLC. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED minutes of the July 17, 2023, regular City Council meeting | MOTION by Councilor Kalar to approve the minutes of the July 17, 2023 regular City Council meeting. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED minutes of the July 24, 2023 special Committee-of-the-Whole meeting | MOTION by Councilor Buller to approve minutes of the July 24, 2023 special Committee-of-the-Whole meeting.
Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| ADOPTED Resolution No. 55-2023 approving transfers, payment of claims, and accounts payable | MOTION by Councilor Holden to adopt Resolution 55-2023 approving transfers, payment of claims, and accounts payable for the first monthly City Council meeting. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
CLAIMS
| Ads on Boards | Hockey Board Cleaning | 1,200.00 | 76405 |
| All Season Equipment Inc | Maint & Repair-P&R/Chainsaw Oil | 172.96 | 76406 |
| Amazon Capital Services | Sup-Admin/Fire/Wtr/IT/Nat’l Night Out | 680.87 | 76407 |
| Ameritas Life Ins Corp | Dental Insurance Premiums | 1,792.00 | 76408 |
| Anderson Law Offices, P.A. | Legal Services-Criminal & Civil Matters | 9,015.00 | 76409 |
| Andrew Holler | Lawn Cleanup | 1,965.00 | 76410 |
| Auto Value Intl Falls | Supplies-Street Garage | 10.16 | 76411 |
| BCBS of Mn | Health Insurance Premiums | 5,119.80 | 76412 |
| BERT’S | 2023 Ram 1500 #3150 | 8,267.00 | 76414 |
| BKV Group Inc | Municipal Needs Assessment | 8,527.02 | 76415 |
| Bolton & Menk Inc | Engineering Services | 3,972.00 | 76416 |
| Border Boxes | Shipping-Water Plant | 244.50 | 76417 |
| Borderland Humane Society | Pound Operation | 2,250.00 | 76418 |
| Bound Tree Medical LLC | Ambulance Supplies | 1,018.86 | 76419 |
| Bremer Cardmember Services | Sup-IT/Admin/Pol/Fire/Str/House/P&R | 3,025.23 | 76420 |
| BW DISTRIBUTING | Cleaning Supplilies-Fire/Amb | 339.96 | 76421 |
| Cenex Voyageur Fleet | Gas-P&R/Police/Grnd/Str/Amb/VNP | 4,934.88 | 76422 |
| CherryRoad Media Inc. | Minutes | 199.25 | 76423 |
| City of Int’l Falls-Fund 401 | Lodging Tax Transfer | 1,009.33 | 76424 |
| City of Ranier | Water-City Beach | 63.16 | 76425 |
| City Water Department | City Buildings-Water Usage | 1,672.37 | 76426 |
| CivicPlus LLC | Municode Electronic Updates | 100.00 | 76427 |
| Convention & Visitors Bureau | Lodging Tax | 19,177.19 | 76428 |
| Core & Main | Supplies-Water Dept/Meters | 4,899.35 | 76429 |
| Costin Group Inc | Govt Relations | 2,000.00 | 76430 |
| Crandall’s Septic Pumping | Portable Johns-City Parks | 1,825.00 | 76431 |
| Diversified Inspections | Safety Inspection-Fire Department | 3,565.79 | 76432 |
| E Kooch Sanitary Sewer District | Water Plant/City Beach | 285.00 | 76433 |
| Earl F. Andersen | Maint/Repair-Street | 83.15 | 76434 |
| Ebix, Inc | Top Health Subscription | 257.40 | 76435 |
| Eckman-International Falls | M/R Equip-Street #235 | 75.42 | 76436 |
| First Independent Bank | Interest-Water Rev Note Series 2022A | 12,159.00 | 76437 |
| Friend’s Garbage Service LLC | Monthly Garbage Service | 1,889.25 | 76438 |
| Gopher State One-Call | Monthly Billing | 176.85 | 76439 |
| Harley Droba | Travel Expense | 279.32 | 76440 |
| Hasbargen Customs LLC | Printing National Night Out | 318.00 | 76441 |
| Hawkins Inc | Supplies | 80.00 | 76442 |
| Hook & Book/Roche’s Towing | Towing-Street | 750.00 | 76443 |
| IF Properties LLC | Tax Abatement-1st half 2023 | 16,687.30 | 76444 |
| Innovative Office Solutions LLC | Sup-Police/Adm/Street/Water | 53.97 | 76445 |
| IUOE Local 49 | Health Insurance Premiums | 30,184.00 | 76446 |
| K & K Meyers Inc | Bldg Maint-Garage | 1,544.25 | 76447 |
| Kantor Electric Inc | Bldg Maint-VNP | 813.93 | 76448 |
| Kooch County Hwy Dept | Dyed Fuel-Street/Garage/Water/VNP | 3,353.17 | 76449 |
| Kraus-Anderson Construction Co | IF Bldg Project 2220024-01 | 8,134.75 | 76450 |
| Lawson Products Inc | Supplies-Street Garage | 715.71 | 76451 |
| Linde Gas & Equipment Inc. | Oxygen-Ambulance | 1,308.25 | 76452 |
| LMC Insurance Trust-Liability | Annual Liability and Auto Insurance | 500.00 | 76453 |
| Locators & Supplies | Supplies/Tools-Water | 233.69 | 76454 |
| MacQueen Equipment Inc | Maint & Repair-Water, Materials-Street | 6,207.97 | 76455 |
| Marco | Microsoft Exch-IT/Adm/Fir/St/Pol/Amb | 588.50 | 76456 |
| Marco Technologies LLC | Contract/Print/Copy-Fire/Adm/PW/Pol | 1,637.34 | 76457 |
| MedicareBlue RX | Health Insurance Premiums | 1,848.00 | 76458 |
| Menards International Falls | Sup-St/Wtr/Bldg/Police/Sewer/Hzmt | 1,538.00 | 76459 |
| Meyers Glass | Ice Shelter Maint | 105.00 | 76460 |
| Michael Wallace | Meal Allowance | 270.00 | 76461 |
| Midcontinent Communications | Internet-Street/Water | 468.57 | 76462 |
| Minnesota Child Support | ID 0014487664, Locator Code 27 | 57.00 | 76463 |
| Minnesota Energy Resources | Utilities | 411.67 | 76464 |
| Minnesota Industries | Supplies-Street Department | 92.50 | 76465 |
| MN Power | Utilities | 1,345.57 | 76466 |
| MoboTrex | Supplies-Street Lighting | 906.00 | 76467 |
| Morrison Seal Coating | Roller Hockey Rink 19th Street | 2,875.00 | 76468 |
| MTI Distributing Inc | Capital Outlay Bldg/Maint&Repair-P&R | 32,633.82 | 76469 |
| N Koochiching Sanitary District | Effluent/Backwash/Surcharge | 90,033.21 | 76470 |
| NAPA Falls Supply | Supplies-VNP | 71.68 | 76471 |
| North American Bank Co-Woodbury | Inserting System Lease | 181.75 | 76472 |
| Office of MNIT Services | Wide Area Network (Wan) Services | 267.73 | 76473 |
| O’Reilly Automotive Inc | Sup/Tools/Lube-Fire/Str/Gar | 1,320.31 | 76474 |
| Pitney Bowes Inc | Ink Cartridges-Postage Machine | 132.79 | 76475 |
| PowerPlan | John Deere 180G/Unit 672G Repairs | 18,794.52 | 76476 |
| Rainy Lake Medical Center | Medical Supplies | 725.58 | 76477 |
| Range Paper Corp | Clean Sup-Bldg-Sup-Wtr-Scrubber | 6,382.08 | 76478 |
| Shred-N-Go Inc | Recycling Police | 75.89 | 76479 |
| Sirchie Acquisition Company LLC | Evidence Collection Supplies | 35.92 | 76480 |
| Soundnorth | Admin IT Supplies | 46.98 | 76481 |
| Sun Life Financial | Life Insurance Premiums | 525.67 | 76482 |
| Ted Brokaw | Travel Expense-Sewer/St-Meal Allow. | 1,296.34 | 76483 |
| The Nelson Trust | Health Insurance Premiums | 40,624.57 | 76484 |
| Tilson Bay Company | Police Officer Cut-Out | 250.00 | 76485 |
| Up North Party Rentals LLC | National Night Out-Police | 620.00 | 76486 |
| Verizon | Monthly Cellular Service | 1,647.72 | 76487 |
| Viking Electric Supply Inc | Supplies-Buildings | 1,068.60 | 76488 |
| Wagner Construction Inc | Pay Est. 3-San Sewer Realign/Greentech | 6,472.79 | 76489 |
| WEX Bank | Gas-P&R/Fir/St/Amb/Hzmt/Grnd/VNP | 5,057.86 | 76490 |
| The following checks were issued under blanket authorization: | |||
| AFLAC | Supplemental Insurance | 182.08 | 101875 |
| All State-American Heritage | Supplemental Insurance | 9.64 | 101876 |
| Bay Bridge Administrators, LLC | Supplemental insurance | 364.30 | 101877 |
| Bremer Bank, NA | Federal Withholding | 42,751.14 | 101878 |
| I.U.O.E. Central Pension Fund | Retirement | 4,516.70 | 101879 |
| Intl Falls Ambulance Service | Dues | 168.00 | 101880 |
| Justin Franz, Sec/Treas. | C.O.P.S. | 120.00 | 101881 |
| MN Child Support Pmt Center | Wage Assignment | 673.72 | 101882 |
| MN Department of Revenue | State Withholding | 8,010.98 | 101883 |
| Empower Retirement | Deferred Compensation | 9,268.00 | 101884 |
| PERA | Retirement | 34,653.12 | 101885 |
| RCB Collections, Inc. | Wage Assignment | 276.32 | 101886 |
| Sun Life Financial | Supplemental Life Insurance | 803.81 | 101887 |
| The Hartford | Voluntary LTD Insurance | 723.52 | 101888 |
| United Way of NE MN Inc. | Employee Donation | 15.00 | 101889 |
| AUDIENCE | None. |
| PUBLIC HEARING | None. |
| OPENING BIDS | None. |
| OLD BUSINESS | None. |
| APPROVED CONSENT AGENDA as presented | MOTION by Councilor Kalar to approve the Consent Agenda as presented:
1. Approve necessary expenses for Administration staff to attend the 23rd Annual Civic Symposium in Wisconsin Dells, WI, September 14 & 15, 2023 2. Approve necessary expenses for Human Resources/Safety Director to attend the Northeast Regional Safety Day in Duluth, MN, September 27, 2023 Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| NEW BUSINESS:
APPROVED 2022 Annual Audit as prepared by Schlenner Wenner & Co |
Ryan Schmidt, Schlenner Wenner & Co stated the city received an Unmodified (clean) Opinion on the 2022 audit. Schmidt stated the audit went smoothly and was pleased with the positive working relationship with Management. MOTION by Councilor Holden to approve the 2022 Annual Audit as prepared by Schlenner Wenner & Co. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED hiring Samuel Hege and Twila Hege as part-time paid on-call Emergency Medical Technician’s (EMT) | MOTION by Councilor Kalar to approve the hire of Samuel Hege and Twila Hege as part-time, paid on-call EMT’s for the International Falls Ambulance Service. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED hiring Michael Fisher as a Spare Firefighter Engineer for the International Falls Fire Department | MOTION by Councilor Holden to approve the hire of Michael Fisher as a spare Firefighter Engineer for the International Falls Fire Department. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED Order of Removal or Repair of hazardous house located at 817 6th Street | MOTION by Councilor Buller to approve order of Removal or Repair of hazardous house located at 817 6th Street. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| ADOPTED Resolution No. 56-2023 approving Voting Operations, Technology, & Election Resources (VOTER) account agreement between the City of International Falls and Koochiching County | MOTION by Councilor Buller to adopt Resolution 56-2023 approving the Voting Operations, Technology, & Election Resources (VOTER) account agreement between the City of International Falls and Koochiching County. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| ADOPTED Resolution No. 57-2023 approving plans and specifications and authorizing solicitation of quotes for the 5th Avenue West Project | City Engineer Jason Fisher, Bolton & Menk stated the 5th Avenue West project between 19th and 20th street was petitioned by area residents. Fisher requested approval of the plans and specifications and solicitation of quotes.
MOTION by Councilor Holden to adopt Resolution No. 57-2023 approving plans and specifications and authorizing solicitation of quotes for the 5th Avenue West Project. Motion seconded by Councilor Buller and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED requesting solicitation of quotes for the Kerry Park parking lot project | City Engineer Jason Fisher, Bolton & Menk presented the plans for the Kerry Park Parking Lot damage due to the 2022 flood. Fisher requested approval for solicitation of quotes.
MOTION by Councilor Buller to approve requesting solicitation of quotes for the Kerry Park parking lot project. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan | City Engineer Jason Fisher, Bolton & Menk presented the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2024-2028 by year noting the estimated projected financial costs. Fisher stated by approving the CIP the council acknowledges the projects as a need and priority in the community.
MOTION by Councilor Buller to approve the 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan presented by Jason Fisher, City Engineer for Bolton & Menk. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| INFORMATIONAL Sponsorship to bring Hockey Day Minnesota to International Falls | Councilor Kalar stated a local group of community members are working to submit a bid to the Minnesota Wild to host Hockey Day Minnesota in International Falls. To meet the application requirements set by Minnesota Wild the group needs to secure $100,000 in sponsorship money through letters of agreement. Kalar suggested the city may want to sponsor the event. After discussion, Mayor Droba and the Council agreed to move this request to a special IFEDA meeting scheduled for August 21, 2023 after the City Council meeting for further discussion and consideration of sponsorship. |
| APPROVED application for use of Smokey Bear Park on September 17-28, 2023 during PCA outage/shutdown for Fun Food Factory | MOTION by Councilor Kalar to approve the application for the use of Smokey Bear Park on September 17-28, 2023 during the PCA shutdown/outage for the Fun Food Factory.
Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED Year 2023 license(s) for Super One Liquor #813 (new location) | MOTION by Councilor Kalar to approve 2023 liquor and cigarette licenses for Super One Liquor at their new location for the remainder of 2023. Motion seconded by Councilor Holden and carried unanimously. |
| APPROVED Itinerant Restaurant license for Jackpine Family Diner, LLC dba Street Eats, LLC | MOTION by Councilor Buller approving Itinerant Restaurant license for Jackpine Family Diner, LLC dba Street Eats, LLC. Motion seconded by Councilor Wegner and carried unanimously. |
| Reports of the Administrator, Attorney, and Department Heads | City Administrator Bergstrom reminded everyone of the Primary Election for Koochiching County District 5 Commissioner on August 9, 2023. Bergstrom also noted the next three Monday’s budget meetings will be held in the City Council Chambers. |
| Reports of Mayor and Council Committees | Mayor Droba stated Senator Grant Hauschild would be attending the special Committee-of-the-Whole meeting on August 16, 2023 in the City Council Chambers to give a legislative update and discuss what the city is encountering regarding the International Falls Ambulance deficit.
Mayor Droba noted the HRA board is unable to meet until after their August meeting. Droba stated he received information at the Coalition meeting in Thief River Falls regarding options for the HRA. Mayor Droba shared a new housing developer Slab Town Investments, a new contractor in the community offering affordable housing through private and state funding to assist with the housing shortage in International Falls. Councilor Kalar reminded the community of upcoming events.
|
| AUDIENCE | None. |
| ADJOURNMENT | Mayor Droba reminded everyone that the next regular City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 21, 2023, at 5:30 P.M. in the City Council Chambers. Mayor Droba adjourned the meeting at 6:53 P.M. |
Harley M. Droba, Mayor
Attest:
Betty Bergstrom, City Administrator
