CITY OF WANAMINGO
City Council Regular Meeting
Monday, November 8, 2021 7:00 P.M.
Wanamingo City Council Chambers – 401 Main Street
Wanamingo, MN
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Holmes.
PRESENT: Council: Ryan Holmes, Larry VanDeWalker, Eric Dierks, and Jeremiah Flotterud
City Administrator: Michael Boulton
Deputy Clerk: Karen Masters
ABSENT: Stuart Ohr
ALSO PRESENT: Brad Kennedy, Brandon Theobald - WHKS, Todd Greseth – Goodhue County Commissioner, and David Friese – News Record.
ADOPT AGENDA: Dierks motioned to adopt the agenda, seconded by VanDeWalker. Passed 4-0-0.
CONSENT AGENDA: Dierks motioned, seconded by Flotterud. Passed 4-0-0.
PRESENTERS:
A) Brad Kennedy reported on:
1) Swept Streets and removed leaves from the street with the leaf vacuum
2) Finished adding rip rap rock for storm sewer outlet on West Avenue. Access areas were repaired with black dirt and were seeded
3) Cottonwood tree was cut up and removed after it fell at Riverside Park earlier in the month
4) Older pay loader plow wing was repaired from last winter. The wing and attachment point needed extensive welding
5) Riverside Park water was shut off, lines winterized, volleyball nets taken down, and screen shelter shut down for winter
6) Snow equipment preparation has started in anticipation of snow event in the near future
7) Mowed at the WWTP, trimmed around the community garden, mowed and trimmed the undeveloped lot boulevards, and mowed other various areas around town
B) Brandon Theobald – WHKS – City Consulting Engineer, reported on:
1) 2022 Utility Improvements Project – Water Tower Portion of Project only. Well house and water main looping portion of the project to be considered at a future date.
2) The Council will be considering approving plans for the 250,000-gallon water tower and approve going to bid through a resolution later in the meeting.
3) Completion date will be November 1, 2022
4) Have met for the preliminary meeting to address immediate concerns and continue to be in contact to further address concerns.
5) Water plan was completed and considered as part of the final engineering report for the 2022 Utility Improvements Project
6) Water Tower will be spherical pedestal type tower
7) Tower painting will have two options in the bid: A) White with basic Wanamingo lettering in black and B) White with City of Wanamingo logo with colors
8) Wanamingo lettering and/or City logo is planned to be placed on the North and South facing sides of the tower
VanDeWalker asked what size the lettering of Wanamingo and/or the logo would be. Theobald stated 5’ lettering would be the size. VanDeWalker was concerned with the cost to paint and maintain the logo on the new tower. Theobald stated that each were line items are part of the bid. The Council will be able to see the difference of costs between the lettering and logo costs. VanDeWalker asked if the tower could be painted blue rather than white. Boulton stated that blue would clash with the City logo colors if the Council approved the logo paint portion of the bid. Flotterud asked if flood lights could be added to the tower in order to see the logo at night. Theobald stated that pricing could be checked into on lighting.
9) The controls to operate the pumps and tower would be bid directly from Automatic Systems directly. This would be needed to work with the current system compared to the new system that would be installed.
10) Water pressure will increase roughly 15 PSI throughout town with the highest pressure being roughly 85 PSI at the sewer plant. The pressure could blow out lines and possible water heater failures with added pressure. Cenex Industrial Park and Prairie Ridge estates will have adequate pressure after project is completed.
11) Water Tower Removal – Mingo View tower and piping to the main line to be removed. Downtown water tower will also be removed as part of the bid. Steve Bauer from the Little Log House Pioneer Village near Hastings Minnesota has expressed interest in taking the downtown tower down and reassembling the tower at the village. The contractors that bid removal of towers have no interest in taking the downtown tower down in a manner that would allow for it to be reassembled. Bauer does not think that he could get a crane in to take down the tower. Theobald asked the Council for direction on how to proceed with the removal of the downtown water tower. He asked if the City should help coordinate the removal with Mr. Bauer. Boulton stated that the Council could justify assistance with the coordinating the removal of the downtown tower because it would be considered preservation. The assistance would come with risk to the City. VanDeWalker stated that residents he spoke with said that the downtown tower had served its purpose and that it should be removed when the new tower is constructed. Dierks has never had requests from residents to preserve the tower. Theobald stated that Bauer wants to preserve the tower but logistics could be tough moving forward to make that happen. Holmes stated that it would be difficult, but not impossible and that preservation could happen. Holmes stated that the tower should be preserved and the City should coordinate with Steve Bauer. Holmes said that Mr. Bauer should be allotted time to coordinate removing the tower. If Mr. Bauer is not able to complete the removal in the time period the tower should be taken down by a contractor. Theobald stated that the removal would be roughly $30,000 plus $10,000 of site cleanup work. VanDeWalker agreed with Holmes and giving Mr. Bauer a set amount of time to decide on removal before the contracts are approved in December. Flotterud asked if there are any savings to the City in having Bauer take the tower down that could help in removal. Theobald stated that the $30,000 removal cost would be a savings. Theobald stated that financially assisting with removal could get tricky with agreements, contracts, insurance, attorney fees, and bonds. The costs to set these up and enforce might exceed the potential savings and could set back potential work months. Flotterud stated that he would like to see lights shining on the City logo at the top of the tower. Boulton stated that lights would add monthly expenses to the operations of the tower along with upfront capital costs. Theobald said that lights that are on logos of towers around Minnesota generally are not on the spherical pedestal towers. Theobald stated that he and Boulton would research feasibility and costs to bring back to the Council to consider. Flotterud asked about what the 2022 utility improvements would do to Mingo View water pressure and clarity. Theobald stated that pressure would increase by 15 psi. This should help with those on Mingo View with pressure boosters. Has concerns with clarity moving forward. May have to flush the water lines more often or install an automatic flusher (worst case scenario).
C) Todd Greseth – Goodhue County Commissioner, reported on:
Here to listen to the Council’s concerns and to provide some County Board of Commissioners updates
County Board approved a preliminary 2022 budget with a 7.8% levy increase. The board has worked its way down to a 5.9% levy increase and could end up less by the time the final levy is set.
An offer was extended to a candidate to fill the Veterans Service Officer position. This would be the third veterans service officer in seven years. Apologize for hiccups and lack of service during transition.
Thanked Administrator Boulton on putting together sample resolutions for communities and townships within Goodhue County to consider in support for use of County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for fire department, first responder, and EMS portable and mobile radio purchases. Thanked the Wanamingo City Council passing the resolution in support. The County will not be pursuing the use of ARPA funds for these portable and mobile radio purchases. However, the County Board is considering purchasing/bonding a portion of the radios in the future. The request from Cities and Townships brought attention to this issue at the County level. The largest portion of the ARPA fund, $2.75 million, is being considered for use with the Closed Landfill. Mental Health funding for the future is also a large consideration for the ARPA/long-term budgeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
RESOLUTION:
21-077 = Approving the Closure of City Hall on the Friday after Thanksgiving: Flotterud moved to approve, Seconded by Dierks. Passed 4-0-0.
21-078 = Re-Establishing the Polling Precinct and Precinct Location for the City of Wanamingo: VanDeWalker moved to approve, Seconded by Flotterud. Passed 4-0-0.
21-079 = Approving Pay Request No. 5-Final for Schumacher Excavating Inc for 2020 Roadway Improvements Project: Dierks moved to approve, Seconded by VanDeWalker. Project costs are right at budget; however, engineering costs were a little over costs. The change orders/add-ons added to the engineering costs. The project came in under budget which allowed for additional work. Passed 4-0-0. Theobald stated that Boulton should not pay the final pay request until Schumacher Excavating submits the IC 134 forms (State contractor report).
21-080 = Approving the Renewal of Agreement with Goodhue County for Building Inspection and Authorizing the Mayor and City Administrator to sign the Agreement: Dierks moved to approve, seconded by Flotterud. Passed 4-0-0.
21-081 = Approving Plans and Specifications for Cenex Water Tower Portion of the 2022 Utility Improvements and call to Advertise for Bids: Flotterud moved to approve, Seconded by VanDeWalker. Holmes stated that moving forward with the construction of a new water tower is exciting for the City of Wanamingo. Holmes stated that the residents are talking about the project. Passed 4-0-0.
OLD BUSINESS:
The Council reviewed 2022 Proposed Property Tax Rate (from 83.163% in 2021 to 83.655% in 2022) – Property Tax Effect, and 2022 Proposed Property Tax Effect Tables provided by Administrator Boulton. Administrator Boulton received additional date to show potential increase to homeowners’ property taxes with the proposed levy (roughly $5-$12 City portion of a property tax increase per year, depending on home valuation changes from the past year). The new commercial and residential growth in 2020 helps offset the levy increase from going onto existing property owners.
Administrator Boulton provided an update for the North Zumbro Sanitary Sewer District. The Sanitary District Legislative Sub-Committee will be presenting the proposal to the House Capital Investments Committee on Tuesday November 9th at Riverland Community College. The Administrators from Pine Island, Zumbrota, and Wanamingo will be presenting with technical engineering assistance from Brandon Theobald (WHKS – Wanamingo Consulting Engineer). The presentation has been allotted 10 minutes. The Sub-Committee will be the proposal to the Senate Capital Investments Committee on Thursday November 18th at the Zumbrota City Council Chambers. The mayors from each of the communities will be providing introductions and conclusions while Bill Angerman (WHKS – Zumbrota Consulting Engineer) and Craig Britton (Winseth – Pine Island Consulting Engineer) will be providing the body of the North Zumbro Sanitary Sewer District presentation. This presentation has been allotted 25 minutes. The hope is to be part of the Senate priority list. We are pleased to have the ability to do a short trial run with the House while having a longer presentation time with the Senate.
*Next City Council meeting is on 12/13/2021 at 7:00pm.
Adjourn: At 7:53 PM a motion to adjourn was made by VanDeWalker and seconded by Dierks. Passed 4-0-0.
Signed: Attest:
Ryan Holmes, Mayor
Michael Boulton, City Administrator
