Summary of 8-3-06 Minutes

The regular meeting of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Bob Schabert in the Courtland Community Center on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 7:00 pm. All council members were present.

Schabert asked that we add a Resolution for Region Nine to the agenda. Poehler made a motion to approve the proposed agenda as amended. Voges seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Voges made a motion to approve the written minutes of the regular city council meeting held on July 6, 2006. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Voges made a motion to approve the bills for the month of July 2006. Schwartz seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Terry Zinniel addressed the council on the matter of the water problem at the Allen Hoffman residence. Hoffman’s had their basement flooded when it rained because Zinniel had bored the water line to their basement but had not finished because they needed some parts and a special machine to connect the pipe. Terry said that when they did this they thought they would be back in a few days but it ended up being almost 3 weeks. He said that they need a special machine to connect the new pipe and there are only 2 such machines in the state of Minnesota. They have to rent this machine and had to wait their turn in using it. He stated that it was definitely their responsibility that this happened and they would be responsible for the cost of getting the basement cleaned up. He also said that they would be back in the next few days to complete the job of hooking up the three residences on Lagoon Drive.

Mary Struss addressed the council on the issue of a sign that the 4-H would like to put up welcoming people to the city. She said that the signs are all finished and she was given the impression by the former leaders that the issue of where to erect them had been settled previously. The council said that the issue had been brought up but the location that they wanted on the east side of town was not in the city limits so that they would have to get permission from the state highway department and the land owner to put the sign up. They told her to contact Mr. Flygare at the Minnesota Department of Transportation in the Mankato office.

Doug Gulden gave a report on the utilities and street repair. He said that he had contacted Hoffman Construction about repairing the culvert on Mary Lane but we are still waiting for them to show up. He said that they are supposed to be in town next week to work on the Upper Riverview project so will probably be able to do this repair while they are out here. He also said that all three residences on Lagoon Drive have asked to be connected to city water.

Wietecha gave a short report on the planning commission meeting in July. He stated that Brenda Thorson on behalf of the Courtland Recreation Association addressed the commission on a proposal to purchase some more land to add to the new ball field that they started to develop last year. He said the commission will hold a public hearing for this issue prior to the commissions August meeting. Also he told the commissioners Jason Kuester had approached him about the possibility of having a dumping station that could be put into our sewer system for his porta potty business. He said that he had checked our contract with New Ulm Public Utilities for our sewer disposal and that according to our contract that is not a possibility. He said that he did talk with Del Senst about this issue. He said that there are several areas that would have to be dealt with in order to amend our contract if we so desire.

Schabert stated that Rick Wegner from New Ulm Telecom was not able to attend but that he related to Schabert that unless the council wanted to change any wording in the previous lease agreement Telecom was willing to just put in the current dates and they would sign it as it is written. Schabert stated that as far as he knew the city didn’t have any changes in mind but if anyone else on the council had a concern they should speak up. This lease agreement is for the Telecom to be able to have equipment on our water tower.

Voges stated that M.R. Paving said that they would have the infrastructure finished by September 1, 2006 for the Courtland Plains 2^nd Addition.

Wietecha stated that he had met with the landowners in the industrial park and coming out of that meeting was concern about the corners being so sharp. They felt that this would create some problems for traffic to go through there. He said that Kilibarda came up with the solution of making the road more like a s curve than having the 90 degree corners. Kilibarda said that he was willing to give more land to make this possible. Wietecha stated that the next step on this project is waiting for Kilibarda to decide how much land he is willing to give up. He stated after we have the actual layout then we can send it back to Boltan & Menk as to proposed cost. After we get this figure we will have to determine how to spread out the assessments and have another meeting with the property owners.

Schwartz made a motion to approve Ordinance 06-103 to Amend Chapter 11 of the City Code of the City of Courtland Pertaining to Operations and Administration of the City Council and the Planning Commission. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Schwartz made a motion to approve the Summery of 06-103 for publication. Poehler seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

The clerk proposed the following people to be certified as judges for the election this year:

1. Gene Retka 4. Lillian Bode

2. Duane Fiemeyer 5. Bonnie Hulke

3. Margel Woltman 6. Bonnie Hubert

Schwartz made a motion to approve the clerks’ recommendation for election judges for the year 2006. Voges seconded the motion. The motion carried with all in favor.

Schabert gave an update on the pond. He stated that they had hauled just short of 2000 truck loads of fill which totaled approximately 30,000 cubic yards out to this point. He stated that they couldn’t continue at that time because of the young geese that were there.

He said that he hoped to finish deepening the pond yet this fall.

There was discussion on the use of ATV’s and golf carts on city streets and whether the council felt the need to tighten up our city regulations. At this time they felt that what we have is sufficient but they should try to get the word out that everyone should use common sense in operating these vehicles and that no one under the age of 16 is legal.

Schabert proposed that the council pass a Region 9 Renewable Energy Task resolution supporting renewable energy fuels & encouraging the use of 25% renewable fuels for transportation use by 2025. Schabert made a motion to approve the Region 9 Renewable Energy Task Force resolution. Kollmann seconded the motion. The motion passed on a 4-1 vote. Schwartz voted against the resolution.

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

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

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie J. Hubert, City Clerk