August 2, 2021 Regular Meeting
The Lakota City Council held its regular meeting August 2nd, 2021, at the City Hall. Mayor Brad Hooey called the meeting to order at 5:59 p.m. All Council Members were present, Members D. Mattern and B. Solberg were in attendance via phone conference and Member T. Hess arrived later at 6:40pm. Stacie Sevigny from Red River Regional Council and Kevin Bittner from Bolton & Menk were audience members. City Attorney Jayme Tenneson, City Auditor Amie Vasichek and City Superintendent Josh Ulland were also in attendance.
Member Vasichek made a motion to approve the July 12th, 2021, regular council meeting minutes seconded by Member R. Mattern. Motion carried.
A final public hearing for the Community Development Block Grant awarded to the City of Lakota was held as part of the regular city council meeting. Stacie Sevigny from the Red River Regional Council was present and reviewed a final project summary.
Mrs. Sevigny reviewed the water transmission project with the council and all the funding that was provided to complete the project.
There were no public comments received.
Mrs. Sevigny stated the Regional Council is also conducting a business retention town hall meeting on September 1st at Stump Lake and invited all to attend.
Mayor Hooey recognized Kevin Bittner. Mr. Bittner stated he was taking over the close out documents for the water transmission line project for Bolton & Menk now that Barry Glienke and Barry Johnson have left the company. The Council thanked Bolton and Menk for the work on the project and said they had no issues with it.
Mrs. Sevigny and Mr. Bittner left the meeting at 6:08pm.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Attorney Tenneson entered the meeting at 6:09pm
Attorney Tenneson stated he has not heard a response from Caldwell Tanks on the city’s counteroffer to close out the project.
The council reviewed the presented community center lease agreement with the Lakota School District.
Member Vasichek stated the school board has approved the $10,000 rent along with a $10,000 payment matched by the city to a building improvement account for one year. Member Vasichek stated the school has appointed Kris Rainsberry and Derrick Marquart to a committee to plan for the future of the building and the city needs to do the same. Member Vasichek and Mayor Hooey volunteered to be on the committee representing the city.
Member Vasichek made a motion to approve a one-year lease agreement with the Lakota School District for the community center from July 1, 2021 – June 30th, 2022, for $10,000 rent with an additional $10,000 payment that will be matched by the city of Lakota to be placed in a community center building improvement account at the State Bank of Lakota, seconded by Member R. Mattern. On a roll call vote, all members voting in favor. Motion carried.
Auditor Vasichek stated letters were sent out to 3 building owners in town with structural issues. Auditor Vasichek stated Lyle Pederson stated he has hired someone to repair the brick work at the old Lakota American building, John Whitman has hired Mark Ferry to fix the corner brick at the Tiki Shack and Aron Gunn has hired a new contractor, CMS Mason, to complete the brick repair on the old Treasured Creations building across from the city hall. Auditor Vasichek stated she has been in touch with Rock Solid Masonry out of Fargo to review the city hall brick repair, but they have not been on site yet.
NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Hooey stated he would like to appoint Josh Ulland as the MRES representative for Lakota and himself as the alternate.
Member Vasichek made a motion to appoint Josh Ulland as Lakota’s MRES representative and Brad Hooey as the alternate, seconded by Member R. Mattern. All voting in favor, motion carried.
Auditor Vasichek reviewed the prepared 2022 Preliminary budget for the city council.
Member Fahey made a motion to approve the 2022 Preliminary budget as presented, seconded by Member R. Mattern. On a roll call vote, all members voting in favor. Motion carried.
The feasibility study for property development was tabled until next meeting.
Mayor Hooey read aloud the storefront improvement project application form from the Lakota Legion club for $2,000 to help paint the building.
Member Vasichek made a motion to approve Lakota Legion Club’s storefront improvement application for $2,000, seconded by Member D. Mattern. On a roll call vote, all members voting in favor. Motion carried.
Auditor Vasichek stated the Legion Club would like to replace their neon sign out front of the building and would like the council to consider a second application this calendar year. Member Vasichek stated he is not opposed to it but requested to wait for the fall/winter season to review.
Mayor Hooey stated there is a resident in town that has 16 vehicles on their property that are not with current tabs/license and have not moved in some time. Mayor Hooey stated it looks like a junk yard and instead of going thru the process of removing the vehicles from the property, he requested attorney Tenneson to write the property owner a letter to request a fence be installed to cover the cars or to remove the cars from the property. Attorney Tenneson stated he will write the letter.
SUPERINTENDENT REPORT
Supt. Ulland provided a list of work that was completed the previous month.
Supt. Ulland state CHS has contacted him to see if the city would consider a cost share of the electrical work recently completed by CHS. Supt. Ulland stated he reviewed the invoice with Nelson Electrical Solutions to determine what the total cost would be for the city transformer, and it was determined to be $2,911.97.
Member Vasichek made a motion to approve paying for half of Nelson Electrical Solutions bill of $2,911.97 to CHS for recent electrical work, seconded by Member Fahey. On a roll call vote, all members voting in favor. Motion carried.
Supt. Ulland stated the city can rent North-Holt’s hydro vac for $500/week and if we like it, the city could purchase the equipment for $9,000. The council had no issue with renting the equipment to see if it would be appropriate to purchase.
Supt. Ulland stated the city shop building needs work on the Northwest side. Mayor Hooey stated the steel beam is shot and needs to be replaced. Mayor Hooey stated between him and Supt. Ulland they will come up with a plan to present to council next month.
Supt Ulland received an estimate from Tri-State Paving for $7,250 to fix 3 different street patches or if the city would want to prep the area, they would deduct $500.
Member Vasichek made a motion to approve Tri-State Paving’s quote for $7,250 to fix 3 road patches, seconded by Member R. Mattern. On a roll call vote, all members voting in favor. Motion carried.
ENGINEER REPORT
No additional report provided.
SHERIFF’S REPORT
No additional report provided.
COUNCIL REPORTS
Member D. Mattern stated he has heard from people around town that they would be supportive of having the city add a couple extra dollars on the utility bill to create a fund to purchase and demolish vacant properties around town. Member Solberg stated he would be in favor of increasing the sales tax percentage to help with this proposal. Attorney Tenneson stated he would review the legality of the proposal and the procedure to increase the city sales tax.
Member Hess entered the meeting at 6:40pm.
Member Fahey stated he was interested in having the city provide a storage service for residents utilizing the extra city building space. Member Fahey stated as long as it doesn’t compete with other storage facilities.
ADVISORY REPORTS
No report given.
MAYOR REPORT
Mayor Hooey had no other items to report.
AUDITOR REPORT
Auditor Vasichek’ s written report was provided and attached with minutes.
Auditor Vasichek stated the Library Board would like to appoint Amber Fahey to their board to replace Ashley Rainsberry. The council had no issue with that.
The council reviewed the financial and utility reports provided.
ATTORNEY REPORT
Attorney Tenneson stated the Cruise to Lakota night will be held August 11th.
After review of the bills and vouchers, a motion was made by Member R. Mattern to pay all the bills presented for payment and those bills paid prior to the meeting. Member Fahey seconded the motion. Motion carried on roll call vote of 6-0.
Advanced Business Methods $ 289.00
AFLAC $ 464.16
Agcom Credit $ 1,123.27
Aronson, Tate $ 25.00
Associated Pools $ 19,479.10
BND $ 20,455.27
BCBS $ 6,028.57
Border States $ 1,124.46
Cardmember Services $ 318.78
EFTPS $ 2,662.18
EFTPS $ 2,773.25
Farmers Union Ins. $ 6,908.00
Farmers Union Oil $ 1,146.18
Ferguson Waterworks $ 451.26
GF Welding $ 1,321.43
Hawkins $ 3,035.41
Hurtt, Mortenson & Rygh $ 8,520.00
Krabbenhoft $ 28.70
Lakota American $ 175.45
Lakota Auto $ 85.05
Lakota Golf Club $ 1,029.36
Lakota Municipal Utilities $ 290.00
Lakota Municipal Utilities $ 398.29
Lakota Municipal Utilities $ 7,943.94
Lakota Sanitation Service $ 8,256.97
Lawn King $ 1,308.00
Nationwide $ 145.00
NDPERS $ 6,092.97
ND Dept of Human Services $ 460.00
Nelson County Sheriff $ 2,318.40
Nelson County Water Resource $ 1,350.00
Nelson Electrical $ 2,845.99
Office of State Auditor $ 720.00
Olson Pools $ 541.32
Polar $ 683.28
Pro Turf Systems $ 4,100.00
Quadient Leasing $ 203.07
Quill $ 274.04
Railroad Management $ 284.85
Rysavy Plumbing $ 669.85
Schuh, Jesse $ 54.38
TEAM Lab $ 635.00
Van Diest Supply $ 1,239.00
Verizon $ 265.69
Wagner Construction $ 44,596.80
City Salaries $ 14,461.54
City Salaries $ 14,966.01
TOTAL $ 192,548.27
Next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday September 13th, 2021, at 6pm.
Member Vasichek made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Member Fahey.
Meeting adjourned at 7:04 p.m.
APPROVED BY: SUBMITTED BY:
Brad Hooey, Mayor Amie Vasichek, Auditor