4-2-09 Minutes Summary

The regular city council meeting was called to order by Mayor Schabert at 7pm on April 2, 2009 in the Council chambers in the Courtland Community Center. All council members were present.

Bents made a motion to approve the amended agenda to include the Community Center and the civil defense sirens. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Poehler made a motion to approve the written minutes of the regular meeting held on March 5, 2009. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Poehler made a motion to approve the bills from March 2009. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor. The clerk will give the council a new copy of the March bills at the May meeting.

Nierengarten stated that he was on the agenda for both the Comcast franchise and also for the codification of our city code. He stated that the city should get the advertisement published in time so that the franchise application would be able to be looked at the next council meeting. He stated that Minnesota law requires that the city would have to advertise for franchises when you do a new one. He stated that Comcast had sent a draft of their proposed franchise agreement. He stated that currently federal law allows the city to charge a franchise fee of up to 5% of the cable revenues. He also stated that the city is required to have a public hearing and this could be done prior to the June council meeting. Schabert asked if the franchise fee would wait to go into effect until New Ulm Telecom would have to renew their franchise agreement in 2011. Nierengarten said that you can't treat one franchisee different than another one so yes the fee would begin for both companies the same year if it were to be charged.

Comcast representatives explained their business plan and the services that they would provide. They also showed drawings of the physical facility. They would build within a year of the awarding of the franchise.

Nierengarten suggested a work session on the codification of the city code with the city council at a special council meeting so the council can ask questions and have items clarified. Heather and Bonnie will work out a time with Hugh and in inform the council. Also Bonnie will post the meeting in three places in the city at least three days prior to the meeting.

Mike Mans explained a few changes in the city's municipal insurance policy. He recommended that the city waive the monetary limits on municipal tort liabilities. Bents made a motion to approve the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust as our official insurance agent and to renew our municipality insurance for another year. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Bents made a motion to waive the tort limit as it relates to the policy. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Mark Schaefer addressed the council on the issue of the assessment for Zieske Road that was on his tax statement. He said that he was prepared to pay the assessment but is now concerned that there is interest added when he was never given the chance to pay the bill. He feels he does not have to pay the interest. The council and Schaefer agreed to split the interest. Schabert made a motion to have the city pay half of the years interest on the assessment. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor. Schaefer also brought up the turn radius of the turn off the highway. He stated that he felt that it should be wider and asked the council to look into the matter.

There was discussion on the Investment policy and several recommended changes. The administrator will incorporate the changes and put it in the form of a resolution. Schabert made a motion to adopt the Investment policy. Bents seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Schabert asked where McCallum had gotten the information for the out of state travel policy. She said that she had gone on list serve to ask for samples of this type of policy that other cities are using at this time. She said that she had developed this from a combination of these samples and would be using this in all three cities. Bents made a motion to adopt the out of state travel policy. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Alcor approached the council and asked if they would be willing to bond for their project since the city has in the past with other contractors. Alcor would begin payments immediately but feels the city can get a better interest rate and if the city needs to bond for any upcoming projects, this could all be rolled into one bond. The council will discuss this at the next meeting.

There was discussion on which option we wanted for a table for the city council. After much discussion a vote was taken on the issue. Schabert said that he had seen one that he thought would work for us in several council chambers and that he had pictures of that table to recommend for our chambers. The committee for the remodeling of the office had another recommendation. Schabert made a motion to approve the table that he recommended. Bents seconded the motion. The motion passed on a 3-1 vote in the affirmative with Poehler voting against the motion.

Schabert explained that some work will need to be done on the civil defense sirens. The bottom two sirens are not working and need to be checked out and either fixed or we will have to replace them. The one up by the fire hall also was 't working but they said that it needed new batteries. Schabert said that he and council member Kollmann would keep watch to see that the repairs and testing is done in a timely manner as this is the season that storms are prone to come and the city wants to be sure that all the sirens are in working order.

Poehler gave a report as a member of the board for the Community Center. He reported that they are working together to get the Community Center clean and do needed repairs. They have made a schedule of what needs to be cleaned and when each thing should be completed. Retka asked who is responsible for cleaning up after a function. It was noted that the party having the function is responsible for the general cleaning, such as making sure all garbage is picked up inside and out. Poehler said that there was a date mix-up and that was why the hall hadn't been cleaned before the Lions waffle feed. He said that they have a check list for all the cleaning items. He stated that they have developed a new contract for the Community Center but it still has not been signed. The council recommended that the contract should be reviewed annually.

Poehler made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

A signed copy of the minutes is on file in the office of the city clerk.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie J. Hubert

City Clerk