December Minutes Summary

The regular city council meeting was called to order by Mayor Schabert at 7:00pm on December 2, 2010 in the Council chambers in the Courtland Community Center. All council members were present.

Poehler made a motion to approve the amended agenda to include wind turbines, generator, and a Christmas ad for the paper. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Poehler made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular city council meeting of November 4, 2010 held in the council chambers of the community center. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Bents made a motion to approve the November 2010 bills. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Doug Gulden stated that everything is running smoothly. He is still working with the insurance company on our claims on the city buildings. He stated that the utility committee is looking at upgrading our meters to a small wireless unit which would sit on top of the water meters inside the house and broadcast the meter data so it could be picked up by the city’s meter reader. It was estimated that a city worker could record all the water data in a 15 minute drive with this device. The device would also feed the information directly into the computer’s billing system. Doug and Ralph had a meeting with a representative of the meter company and the quote that he gave us was approximately half of what had been quoted to us previously. The city still has more research to do before we commit to any changes.

Bents gave the council an update on the different software programs that he has been researching for utility billing and accounting but stated that there is much more research needed to be sure which program will fit the city’s needs the best.

Schabert reported that he had attended 4 different meetings for Region 9, Wind industry meeting in St. Paul, Nicollet County Environmental Services on water and the monthly Connecting Nicollet County meeting on behalf of the city.

Bents made a motion to pay off the Public Facilities Authority Sewer Bond of 1998 on February l, 2011 with the proceeds from our two sewer CD’s and assessments which we receive from the property taxes. Retka seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor. The city clerk was directed to send notification to the PFA as a 45 day notice of intention to pay it off is one of the requirements.

Kollmann made a motion to purchase the same ad for Christmas Greetings from the city as we had last year with the current updates. Poehler seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

A question was raised about wind turbines and whether the city had any regulations on height restrictions. Within city limits, the height restriction is 50 feet without a conditional permit. It was noted that the county has strict restrictions regarding the placement of wind turbines. The council asked the administrator to check with the county to see if they would have jurisdiction since the city has no regulations on this issue.

The council discussed options for getting a large backup generator for the fire hall. The city’s current generator isn’t large enough to power the hall in case of an emergency and the need to use the fire hall as a command center. A propane generator could tap into the city’s current fuel supply.

Bents made a motion to pass Resolution 10-#108 setting the tax levy at $127,933.00 which is the same as the preliminary levy that we filed in September. Poehler seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

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

The meeting adjourned at 8:50pm.

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

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie J. Hubert,City Clerk