CITY OF WANAMINGO
City Council Regular Meeting
Monday, February 14, 2022 7:00 P.M.
Wanamingo City Council Chambers – 401 Main Street
Wanamingo, MN
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Holmes.
PRESENT: Council: Ryan Holmes, Larry VanDeWalker, and Eric Dierks
City Administrator: Michael Boulton
ABSENT: Stuart Ohr & Jeremiah Flotterud
Deputy Clerk: Karen Masters
ALSO PRESENT: Brad Kennedy, David Friese – News Record, and Brandon Theobald – WHKS.
ADOPT AGENDA: Dierks motioned to adopt the agenda, seconded by VanDeWalker. Passed 3-0-0.
CONSENT AGENDA: VanDeWalker motioned, seconded by Dierks. Passed 3-0-0.
PRESENTERS:
A) Brad Kennedy reported on:
1) Cut and chipped trees along old 1st Avenue trail by MN TH HWY 60
2) Took down holiday banners on Main Street. Will not be installing the newer City of Wanamingo banners due to the plastic material used to make them does not bend or stretch well.
3) Constructed four new raised bead community garden boxes. These will replace four of the boxes that have rotted out. The boxes will be changed out in the Spring.
4) Changed out twenty-three water meters this past month.
5) Repaired plastic tables in the community center – screws were coming loose that held the metal base to the plastic tops.
6) There is a water service line leaking on 3rd Street E that will be repaired in the near future. The curb and a portion of the street is sinking in front of two homes. Minnesota Rural Water technicians are coming to assist with leak detection to identify the location.
7) Plowed snow, scraped ice, and sanded streets on a number of occasions.
8) Hockey Rink – continuing build up and maintain ice along with clearing snow off ice.
B) Brandon Theobald, City Consulting Engineer of WHKS, reported on:
1) Presented the Wellhouse and Water Main Looping plans and specifications portions of the 2022 Utility Improvements Project
2) The Water Tower portion of the 2022 Utility Improvements Project was awarded had been awarded to Caldwell Tanks, Inc in December 2021.
3) Caldwell’s painting subcontractor, Tinemec, has all the necessary specs for the City of Wanamingo logo, including the correct color scheme.
4) The 2022 Utility Improvements is being bid out in three separate projects with three contractors for the Water Tower, Wellhouse, and Watermain Looping in which all will need to be coordinated.
5) Wellhouse building will have three rooms – a well and pump room along with two separate chemical rooms.
6) WHKS staff and City staff worked to review the plans and specifications in detail.
7) A back-up generator will be purchased as part of the project through Olson Motors out of Pine Island. This generator will replace the current generator that is in disrepair.
8) The current wellhouse block building will be removed while the current well casing will be reused.
9) The new water tower and both wells will have a new control integration system through Automatic Controls
10) The new wellhouse (well number two) will offer chemical feed redundancy to work in conjunction with well number three.
11) The new system will allow for use of both wells intermediately or simultaneously to allow for integrated use or allow for both to be utilized during a fire emergency.
12) Watermain looping project involves three new loops – once crossing MN TH 60 going to the NE corner of Prairie Ridge Estates, one from the SW corner of Prairie Ridge Estates to the new water tower location, and one from Mingo View waterline to the water line near the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
13) The water modeling plan also calls for the water valve on 2nd Street E, near the school, to be shut off. The looping helps to eliminate dead-ends and allow for needed flow for pressure and turnover in the water system.
14) Once planned and specs approved calls to advertise for bids will go with electronic bid openings scheduled to occur on March 10th at 10:00AM and 10:30AM.
Administrator Boulton presented a new no-fault sewer backup coverage option through the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust. The coverage options include $10,000 limit for $1.79/sewer hook-up/year, a $25,000 limit for $2.11/sewer hook-up/year, and a $40,000 limit for $2.63/hook-up/year. Boulton stated that the City had around 500 sewer hook-ups in town. The cost of the additional coverage ranges from roughly $900/year to $1,300/year in additional premiums. Boulton stated that the City’s insurance agent, Todd Greseth of GMI Insurance, requested that the Council be made aware of the new coverage option. Greseth stated that the Council should debate the public relations consideration of the coverage option. Other neighboring Cities have had sewer backups in which the current coverage does not pay out. The current coverage is limited due to the potential large volume and large dollar amount of potential claims. Theobald stated that the potential coverage does have limitations for large rain events. Kennedy stated that the large rain events would not be covered as part of the optional additional coverage. Kennedy stated that most sewer backups were due to service line blockage and home venting issues, not City sewer mains. Boulton stated that the coverage limitations are 2.0 inches in a 1-hour period, 2.5 inches in a 3-hour period, 3.0 inches in a 6-hour period, 3.5 inches in a 12-hour period, 4.0 inches in a 24-hour period, 4.5 inches in a 72-hour period, and 5.5 inches in a 168-hour period. The limitations show that the sanitary collection system has limitations before natural backups can occur. Boulton stated that the City of Wanamingo has had a handful of backup incidences in his tenure but none have resulted in payout of claims due to City negligence. Boulton stated that the cost of roughly $1,000/year would add to expenses of the sewer fund without bringing enough peace of mind coverage to justify the additional premiums. Boulton recommended not to purchase the additional coverage. The Council agreed not to pursue the additional coverage option.
NEW BUSINESS:
RESOLUTION:
22-011 = Accepting 2022 Employee Reviews: VanDeWalker moved to approve, Seconded by Dierks. Passed 3-0-0.
22-012 = Adopting a Proclamation for School Bus Driver Appreciation Week: Dierks moved to approve, Seconded by VanDeWalker. Passed 3-0-0.
22-013 = Approving Hiring a Part-Time Pool Manager and Part-Time Assistant Pool Manager: VanDeWalker moved to approve, Seconded by Dierks. Holmes and VanDeWalker expressed that they were pleased to hear that Dylan & Julie Steberg would be back for the 2022 pool season as manager and assistant manager. Passed 3-0-0.
22-014 = Approving Plans and Specifications for Well House Portion of the 2022 Utility Improvements and call to Advertise for Bids: Dierks moved to approve, Seconded by VanDeWalker. Passed 3-0-0.
22-015 = Approving Plans and Specifications for Watermain Portion of the 2022 Utility Improvements and call to Advertise for Bids: VanDeWalker moved to approve, seconded by Dierks. Passed 3-0-0.
22-016 = Authorizing Submittal of a Wastewater Project Priority List (PPL) Application to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on Behalf of the North Zumbro Sanitary Sewer District: Dierks moved to approve, seconded by VanDeWalker. Theobald stated that the Governor’s Bonding Bill Recommendations did not include funding for any specific wastewater treatment facility. Instead, the Governor recommends additional funding through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Project Priority List (PPL). This would be a route for competitive (point-based) funding for wastewater treatment plant funding. Mayor Holmes stated that he and the Mayors of Zumbrota, Pine Island, and Goodhue will be reaching out to legislators to spread the word about the project and bills at the legislature in the coming months. Passed 3-0-0.
Administrator Boulton provided a 2022 Utility Improvements Project updated project costs and financing plan. The actual and estimated portions of project costs are $2,624,738. The City Council intends to utilize the $115,938 ARPA Funds toward the project with formal approval to be considered at the March 2022 Council meeting. This leaves $2,508,800 in project expenses plus roughly $85,000 in bond issuance costs. The rough estimate for the 2022A Series Bond is $2,593,800. The final costs will be updated once the bids come in March 10th. Administrator Boulton stated that the City would like to keep the yearly bond payments under $155,000. This is roughly the amount of bond payments the City has paid on three past bond payments that have been retired in 2020, 2021, and 2022. With the current interest rates and estimated costs, the City would need to take on a 21-23 year bond repayment schedule.
22-017 = A Resolution Relating to the Issuance of General Obligation Water Revenue Bonds, Series 2022A; Covenanting and Obligating the City to be Bound by and to use the Provisions of the Minnesota Statutes 446A.086 to Guarantee the Payment of the Principal and Interest on the Bonds: VanDeWalker moved to approve, seconded by Dierks. Passed 3-0-0.
ORDINANCE #198 – Water and Sewer Regulation – 1st Reading. Boulton stated that the City Attorney David Jacobsen, City Licensed Sanitary Sewer District Operator Richard Turri, Mayor Ryan Holmes, Administrator Michael Boulton, and Public Works Director Brad Kennedy have been working on a comprehensive plan to address the MPCA Compliance Evaluation Inspection Report with Letter of Warning. Part of the response included that the City would review and make necessary ordinance changes to address the monitoring and enforcement of limits on CBOD, TSS, and Phosphorus levels on large industrial users. The proposed ordinance sets those standards and puts in place a fine schedule if exceeded. Boulton and Theobald checked to make sure that the new water and sewer ordinance defines ownership and responsibility of water and service lines. The ownership and responsibility are assigned to the property owner as the current code of ordinances states. Holmes stated that the ordinance change would be one of the steps in the process of enforcement to comply with the MPCA warning. Boulton stated that he would have a public notice of the proposed ordinance published in the News Record on March 2nd for the public hearing on March 14th.
OLD BUSINESS:
The City Council reviewed the 2020 & 2021 swimming pool financials for comparisons. In 2021 the swimming pool brought in $20,128.57 in revenue compared with $14,566.09 in 2020 revenue. In 2021 the swimming pool had $69,212.02 in expenses compared with $64,929.76 in 2020 expenses. The swimming pool lost $49,083.45 in 2021 compared with $50,363.67 in 2020. The losses are funded by the general fund. There was swimming lesson offered in 2021 after not conducting swimming lessons in 2020 due to COVID and the late opening. Income was also up for vending in 2021 compared to 2020.
*Next City Council meeting on 3/14/2022 at 7:00pm.
Adjourn: At 7:58PM a motion to adjourn was made by Dierks and seconded by VanDeWalker. Passed 3-0-0.
Signed: Ryan Holmes, Mayor
Attest: Michael Boulton, City Administrator
