MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS

MENNO, SOUTH DAKOTA

April 2, 2007

 

Mayor Larry Tolzin called the city council to order at 7:30 p.m. on April 2, 2007 in the council room at city hall. Council present: Dennis Aisenbrey, Galen Guthmiller, Gary Herman, John Huber, Jerome Kotalik and Darrell Mehlhaf and Finance Officer Peggy Thranum, City Attorney Ken Bertsch and Superintendent Fred Sayler (entered at 7:40 p.m.). Jerome Hoff, Jai Walter, Erik Kaufman, David Bender, Tom Fischer, Judy Headley, Aaron Matthaei and Rosemary Redman were also present.

 

Guthmiller moved to approve the agenda. Herman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

REGULAR MEETING ITEMS: Aisenbrey moved to approve the minutes of the March 5 regular meeting [with the following correction to the February finance report] and the minutes of the March 19 special meeting Huber seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Huber made a motion to approve the corrected February finance report. (The formulas in the spreadsheet were wrong, so the receipts per fund were not correct, nor was the interest.) The correct figures are as follows: Receipts: General Fund 12,297.88 (not 15,661.34) & interest 47.25 (not 49.21), Water Fund 6471.90 (not 6361.90) & interest 10.26 (not 10.19), Sewer Fund was correct, Garbage Fund 5591.75 (not 5739.75) & interest 13.79 (not 13.88) and Sales Tax Fund 3251.46 (not 0.00) & interest 25.98 (not 24.00). Total receipts were correct, 31,865.84.  The March finance report was approved, after noting corrections to the receipts and interest because of formula errors. Herman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

FINANCE REPORT:

 

  General

  Water

   Sewer

Garbage

Perpetual Care

Sales Tax

Totals

Checking 2/28/07 Balance:

76,153.18

16,919.31

11,208.20

22,737.08

1,764.28

42,833.39

171,615.44

     Warrants:

(19,711.36)

(7,262.00)

(2,762.50)

(6,206.53)

0.00

0.00

(35,942.39)

     Receipts:

17,282.72

6,384.58

4,029.58

5,662.50

0.00

7,731.07

41,090.45

     Interest:

48.68

10.34

8.04

14.31

 

32.60

113.97

Checking 3/29/07 Balance

73,773.22

16,052.23

12,483.32

22,207.36

1,764.28

50,597.06

176,877.47

Water Deposits Held

 

(3,000.00)

 

 

Restricted

 

(3,000.00)

General Purpose CD's

50,000.00

 

 

 

Account

 

50,000.00

Designated Purpose CD's

87,679.03

20,541.33

31,981.65

1,544.96

45,532.86

 

187,279.83

Total Cash Assets:

211,452.25

33,593.56

44,464.97

23,752.32

47,297.14

50,597.06

411,157.30

Profit or (Loss) for the month

(2,379.96)

(867.08)

1,275.12

(529.72)

0.00

7,763.67

5,262.03

 

RECEIPTS: Water 6134.58; Sewer 4029.58; Garbage 5662.50; Late Fees 135.00; Ambulance 2809.57; City Hall Rent, South Central Child Development 30.00; Tree & Park CD Interest 4.08; Hay Quote, Doug Lehr 315.00; NSF Fee, Kimberlena Whitehurst 20.00; General Fund CD Interest 1059.59; Copies-2 Elmer Oswald .20, 1 Irene Zeeb .10, 2 Lillian Wuertzer .20, 1 Wanda Pond .10, & 1 Gary Herman .10; Mediacom, Cable Franchise Fee 3274.02; Reimburse Legislative Dinner, Barb Tolzin 10.00;  Cemetery CD Interest 92.02; Sales Tax 1% 7731.07 & 2% 7731.06; 5% License 177.93; Real Estate Taxes, Feb. ‘06 1623.75; Water-On Fee, Reada Woehl 10.00 & Steve List 10.00; Water-Off Fee Reada Woehl 20.00 & Steve List 10.00; Water Deposit, Jim/Deb Massey 100.00 & Bradley Knutson 100.00; Interest Earned 113.97. Total Receipts: $41,204.42.

 

No action was taken on a bill presented for repair to the radiation system in the men’s restroom at the auditorium in the amount of $273.02. Mayor Tolzin felt we should be about even considering it took three city workers using city equipment a total of approximately 60 hours to haul snow away from around the school this snow season.

 

Kotalik made a motion to approve the warrants as presented. Guthmiller seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

WARRANTS APPROVED: Payroll: Council; 741.99; Mayor 246.19; Finance 1040.80; City Hall 115.44; Police 2930.45; Streets 2879.96; Cemetery 112.08; Ambulance 211.25; Library 197.86; Development 328.76; Water 1027.73; Sewer 1027.72; Garbage 39.79; Wellmark BCBS, Group Insurance 1374.44; Principal Life, Group Insurance 545.61; SDRS, Retirement 1262.52; Menno State Bank, Payroll Taxes 3156.12. Professional Services: Rocky Zeeb’s Garbage Service 4821.50. Utilities: Golden West Co., Phone 335.24; NorthWestern, Electricity 2279.50. Water Fund: B-Y Water, 1.343 M. Gallons 3366.00; Deposit Refunds, George Liebl 50.00 & Krista Scott 100.00. Sewer Fund: MARC, Degreaser 319.52; Team Lab, Supply 643.40. Garbage Fund: Sales Tax 309.35. General Fund: District III, Legislative Dinner-Tolzin 20.00; SDML, District 3 Dinner 13.00; GOED, Conference Registration, 100.00; Avera Queen of Peace, Professional Services 67.00; Glenda Bohlmann, Recertify EMT’s-CPR 46.50; Brown & Saenger, Copy Paper 94.90; JD Evans, Snow Removal R&M 1702.60; Klaudt Service, Police-Street Supply 1028.55; Linweld, Fire R&M 42.86; MADC, Money to Purchase Property on 5th Street 20,000.00; Menno Hardware, Supply 32.65; Menno Lumber, Street R&M 46.89; Mettler Implement, Street Sweeper R&M 450.94; Reynolds Welding Supply, Ambulance Supply 10.62; Schoenfish & Co., Annual Report 490.00; Second Century Publishing, Minutes-Notices 166.96; Truck-Trailer Sales & Service, Tandem Truck Overhaul 5448.83; Walter Welding, Replace Blades on Grader-Plow 224.25; Western Office Plus, Brother MFC Copier & Toner 856.28; Zeeb Insurance, Finance Officers’ Bond 525.00; Elan, Pool-Head Immobilizer 110.98; SoDACE, Registration 50.00.

 

OLD BUSINESS: “To Do List”: Huber made a motion to install a concrete swale between 411 and 412 S Pearl Street. Mehlhaf seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Huber made a motion to hire Cheri Zeeb as a full-time lifeguard for the 2007 swim season and to pay her $6.50 per hour. Herman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Marsha Schelske and Fred Sayler entered the meeting at 7:40 p.m.

 

Judy Headley serves on the housing committee and would like to see a representative from the city council on this committee. She understands the city has a lot going on right now, but would like to see some type of housing development to be on going. The housing committee meets the fourth Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at the Menno-Olivet Care Center. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Tolzin was appointed as the council representative to this committee. Mehlhaf made a motion to table further discussion on any land purchase until the next meeting. Kotalik seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

A group of concerned citizens discussed commercial garbage pick up with the council. The local garbage contractor has not contacted them to discuss garbage pickup or rates. They are concerned with the city no longer collecting the fees that the prices may be out of line if there is no competition. Mehlhaf stated Rocky Zeeb spoke with him before the meeting and stated his rates would go up 5% for commercial collection, plus he would be collecting the 6% sales tax. He would bill every 3 months and his rates would be good for one year. The city has always paid the 6% sales tax, but didn’t add it to the fees the consumer paid. This is something that may be reconsidered in the future. Dave Bender mentioned the full-page ad the development corporation just ran encouraging shopping in Menno and encouraged people to keep their business in town. The city attorney stated the council would need to approve another garbage contractor coming into town to collect garbage. There is nothing in the contract we have with our current contractor that gives him exclusive rights to the commercial garbage business. The council encouraged the group to try to negotiate with our current contractor.  

 

Gerald Schaeffer entered the meeting at 7:55 p.m. Judy Headley, Tom Fischer, Rose Redman and Jerome Hoff left the meeting at 8 p.m.

 

NEW BUSINESS: Herman made a motion to approve the 2006 Annual Report. Kotalik seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Gary Schelske entered the meeting at 8:03 p.m.

 

Mehlhaf made a motion to abate the taxes in the amount of $299.74 on Parcel 250.12.03.011 (Hill Property). (The bid amount did not generate enough money to cover the property tax for the year 2006.) Huber seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Huber made a motion to pay expenses for Tolzin to attend the GOED conference April 17-18 and the Code Enforcement Training May 2-3, both held in Pierre. Herman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Herman made a motion to pay expenses for city officials and personnel to attend the IS-300 and IS-400 training. Guthmiller seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Guthmiller made a motion to place an ad in the paper announcing Severe Weather Preparedness Week in South Dakota April 23-27. Kotalik seconded, all present in favor; motion carried. On Wednesday, April 25, a statewide tornado drill will be conducted by the National Weather Service. Menno will participate in this drill. At 10 a.m. a test “Tornado Watch” will be issued, at 10:15 a.m. a test “Tornado Warning” will be issued and at 10:30 p.m. all watches and warnings will be canceled.

 

Huber made a motion to pay expenses for Sayler and Heckenlaible to attend the Mosquito Workshop in Sioux Falls on April 19. Herman seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Aisenbrey made a motion to approve the 2006 Annual Water Quality Report. Guthmiller seconded, all present in favor; motion carried. The report will be published in the April 18 edition of the Hutchinson Herald.

 

Aisenbrey made a motion to pay $200 toward planting flowers on Fifth Street by the Power People 4-H Club. Huber seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

Following discussion concerning the lack of parking on the north end of Park Street, Mehlhaf made a motion to undercut the edge on the east side of Park Street and put down gravel to allow for parking along the edge of the street. Posts are to be installed along the north end of the park the same distance from the street as on the south end. Guthmiller seconded, all present in favor; motion carried.

 

For Discussion: It was suggested we request the state insure in their reconstruction project that the water from the ditch on the east side of Pine Street connects and empties into the storm sewer on Highway 18 to allow for adequate drainage.

We have already requested the sidewalk on the north side of the highway extend east to the Dairy Bar.

 

For Your Information: Mayor Tolzin congratulated Fred Sayler and Roger Heckenlaible on receiving the following awards: 2006 Excellent Operation and Maintenance Award for its wastewater treatment facility. This award is given to communities recognized as having outstanding wastewater system operations and compliance with their Surface Water Discharge Permit. They also met the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the state of South Dakota’s regulations for supplying safe drinking water to the public and earned the 2006 Certificate of Achievement. This award is given to those systems and their certified operators that have demonstrated excellence in water system management and maintenance. Congratulations!

 

On March 29, 2007, the Board of Water and Natural Resources approved the placement of Menno’s Highway 18 Water and Sewer Improvements Project onto the 2007 State Water Facilities Plan. Placement on the plan makes the project eligible to apply to the department’s funding programs, but provides no guarantee of funding.

 

The packet from the March development meeting was included in the council packets.

 

Addition to “To Do List”: Check culverts near the corner of Heil and East Streets.

 

Matthaei asked why the city doesn’t maintain alleys. The council stated it has never been the policy of the city to maintain the alleys. Sayler said it is hard to get down some of them because they are too narrow for the maintainer, some have trees that are too low and because it would tear chunks of sod out of the edges of the lawns bordering the alley, causing more problems.

 

Aisenbrey made a motion to adjourn at 8:30 p.m. until Monday, May 7, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. Huber seconded, all present in favor.

 

ATTEST:                                                                    CITY OF MENNO, SOUTH DAKOTA

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

Peggy Thranum, Finance Officer                                    Larry Tolzin, Mayor