Members Absent: None

Others Present:   Becky Kuball City Clerk, Dave Osborne, Police Chief, Steve Nordmeier, Troy Dahle, Dan Morris, Jack Schwichtenberg, Tim Minske Maintenance.
 

A regular meeting of the Morristown City Council was called to order on Monday, 
January 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 402 Division Street South by Mayor Kurt Wolf.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Motion by Flaten seconded by Karsten and carried unanimously to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on December 7, 2009 and Special Work Session held on December 21, 2009 

Motion by Karsten seconded by Valentyn carried unanimously to approve the Financial Report for October 31, 2009 as written. Council would like to check with Kristalyn Morris about the disbursements.

Motion by Flaten seconded by Valentyn and carried unanimously to approve the Police Report and schedule for January 2010.

Dahle reported that the Council is invited to the Annual Fireman’s Meeting on Monday January 11, 2010

Motion by Flaten seconded by Valentyn and carried unanimously to accept the Fire Department Report as written.

Karsten inquired about the Nims training. Kuball stated that she had left a message for Jennifer Schmitz but she was out of the office until January 4. Kuball will try and get a hold of her this week and report back.

Maintenance report: Minske reported that he had Kuball type up an apology letter to Marvin Velzke about the pushing of snow onto his yard. He hand delivered the letter and talked with LaDonna Velzke. He explained the reason for his actions were that we haven’t had this much snow in years and that he was concerned with the intersection being safe for pedestrians and vehicles not being able to see. He didn’t want an accident to occur. Ms. Velzke seemed to understand why he did the snow removal. Minske told her that if there is any damage to the property in the spring he will come by and fix it for them. He thanked her for voicing their concerns.

Minske told the council it was ultimately their decision what they wanted done with the snow. If they want it hauled away then he will have Timm’s come and take care of it (noting it could cost approx $3000 a day until complete). There was some discussion about different intersections in town that the kids are walking through, where there are no sidewalks, and what the safety issues are.

Minske talked about the 4 wheelers in town pushing snow into the streets and then the city has to pay to have their snow removed. Minske is wondering if the council would like to do anything about it. Minske is upset that after he has plowed a road. Then people are pushing the snow back into the streets and he has to re-plow them, which in turn is costing the city more money, because it takes him longer to plow then.
Kuball will post on the cable channel that it is illegal to plow your snow into a city, county or state roadway.

Skate rink is up and going Mike O’Rourke and Adam Uittenbogaard have been helping flood it.

DNR tanker is being worked on. Minske stated that he will not be using any of his comp time he has the truck done; he wants to get it out of his shed. Cost, when truck is finished; Minske stated that they hope to have less than $15,000 into it.

Motion by Karsten seconded by Flaten and carried unanimously to accept the Maintenance Report as given.

Zoning Board Report: No meeting in December.

Comments from citizens present:
Dan Morris questioned a letter received from the Police Department about the alcohol awareness training, and if it is a mandatory thing that has to be done yearly or if they can push that out for 2 or 3 years. Morris was wondering if just the bar manager would have to do the yearly training. Osborne stated that in Faribault and Rice County it is mandatory. Morris is wondering if this is something that can be done on line if it has to be done yearly. 
Wolf stated that if it is following a state or county statue then it should remain the same, because we cannot be less restrictive than them, but we could be more restrictive. 
There are also insurance stipulations on training discounts. 

Nordmeier wondered if there is anything that the council can do about the county snow plow driver that comes in and cleans up. He is coming through town at about 30 mph and is pushing all the snow back up into the sidewalks after they have been shoveled. Nordmeier stated this has been an issue for the last 2 years.
Wolf said that he would write a letter to Dennis Lubbe and see if there is anything that can be done about talking with the driver and see if he can slow down when he comes through town and see if that helps.

Claims and accounts
Motion by Lang and seconded by Karsten and carried unanimously to pay the claims and accounts and the late claims as printed.

Nims training; Kuball is waiting to hear back.

Wellhead protection committee needs to stay on the agenda. Lang will talk with Terry Bouve about it.

Cost of living raises were discussed and it was decided to table cost of living raises to unfinished business until the council has time to look at the budget and make a decision. 
A discussion about police raises was brought up. The 2010 Police budget was approved with a 3% raise included. It was decided to make no decisions at this time about any of the raises.

Motion by Wolf seconded by Valentyn and carried unanimously to accept the 2010 appointments as printed.

Correspondence and announcements:
Karsten stated the Economic Summit meeting that was rescheduled will be held in Northfield January 13th from 5-8

Minske made a statement about how many hours he puts in extra for the city at no charge. How he washes the truck every day and makes sure everything is checked before going out for the day. Wolf thanked him for all that he does for the city. 
 

Motion by Lang seconded by Wolf and carried unanimously to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 
8:15 p.m. 
 
 
 
 

 
Becky Kuball
                 City Clerk/Treasurer