| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Breezy Point Council Denies Space StudyBy Beth Larson, Staff writer Space study on hold At the regular Breezy Point City Council meeting held Monday, May 5, council voted 3-2 to not pursue a study to look into the space needs at city hall. A recommendation to consider hiring the Cunningham Group for $5500 was on the table. Diane Williams made the motion that the space needs study not be done at this time, with Mayor Weaver seconding. Weaver stated that she felt there are other higher priority needs to be looked at first, referring to fire department issues she learned of recently. The motion carried, with Erik Lee and Kent Brothen in opposition. Dustballs to blame for deficient roads Diane Williams requested that 2007 road projects be added to the agenda. Apparently, deficient blacktop is noted to be in several areas, including Belgian and Percheron roads. The contractor has been given notice and will be required to rectify the situation to the city’s standards, as the work is under a one-year warranty.According to engineer Phil Martin, the cause of the deficiency is ‘dust balls’ that were unseen in the paving process. These issues arose in 2001 also. Discussion ensued regarding the bidding process; does one always have to take the lowest bid? Phil Martin presented information on how other factors could be integrated into the bidding process. The Council decided to continue to look into the proposed Buschmann and Ranchette improvements; additional meetings are needed to look at easement acquisition. In other Council business • Approximately 35 minutes of discussion were devoted to processing John Zehm’s request presented by his attorney that the city rectify his situation providing “positive drainage” of water from his land, as well as replacing 10 to 15 trees which were removed without authorization. Previous attempts to resolve concerns have included a Conciliation Court action filed by Mr. Zehm, which was dismissed in 2007 and a piece of land 70’ x 65’ deeded over to the property owner. The Mayor made a motion to direct the attorneys to come up with options to resolve this issue; Pete Sauer seconded the motion. Council members expressed concern about the continuing cost of attorney involvement. • The city is interested in placing a Geo Caching location in Breezy Point, but a proposed location will need further thought. Kent Brothen and others expressed concern about requested placement of the Geo Cache at the cemetery. This issue has been referred to the cemetery commission for consideration prior to the next council meeting. • City building inspector Scott Danrich presented information on the Housing Maintenance Code. Although the city has some nuisance and zoning standards in effect, he recommends this code to be adopted, as it “stands up in court better.” Council will look over existing regulations as well as the Housing Maintenance Code and revisit this concern. • Public Works director Tim Polipnick was directed to obtain additional bids to replace the leaky roof on the waste treatment building and bring these to the next council meeting. He will also obtain more information on a proposed emerald ash borer detection study, which would be conducted by the MN Department of Agriculture. • Mediation agreement between the city and Tom’s Backhoe was approved, and the city will pay $1,000 towards the cost of the mediation. • City Attorney Andy MacArthur was directed by council to respond to Neal Narveson’s most recent letter on behalf of the city. • City employees and official safety officer Tim Polipnick were commended on the fact that there have been no injuries or lost work time for 3 years; City Administrator Brad Scott indicated that worker’s compensation insurance rates will most likely be reduced as a result. Correction: In last week’s edition of the Northland Press, the Breezy Point City Council article was truncated and a portion of the article was omitted. The following is the remainder of the article. Northland Press apologizes for the error. • The mediation agreement between the city and Tom’s Backhoe was approved, and the city will pay $1,000 towards the cost of the mediation. • City Attorney Andy MacArthur will respond to resident Neal Narveson’s most recent letter on behalf of the city. • City employees and official safety officer Tim Polipnick were commended on the fact that there have been no injuries or lost work time for 3 years; worker’s compensation insurance rates to go down. • Art Camp for 2008 was announced. There will be two sessions this year, and also drama camp. Watch for more details in the city’s newsletter. • The Breezy Point police department had 167 calls in April, with 73 being traffic related issues. • During the second Open Forum portion of the meeting, discussion ensued related to the city’s financial status. Narveson brought up the concern that year to date financial reports were not being made available to the council. It was established that reports have been available and will be provided on a regular basis. Council member Diane Williams expressed concern regarding the difficulty understanding the report, and several department heads including chief Rudek, Polipnick, and clerk Kathy Millard offered to explain the new format to any of the council members. Financial reports are available to any citizen but will not be posted on the City’s website related to the potential difficulty of understanding. One other issue related to the reports is that the final figures for 2007 have not yet been certified by the auditor Larson Allen. City staff believes that the auditor’s charges are $2600 too high, and this portion of the charges were not paid this month per council action. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northland Press | P.O. Box 145 | Outing, MN 56662 | (218) 692-5842 Email: news@northlandpress.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
