August 5, 2024 City Council Minutes

 MINUTES

MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL

August 5, 2024

Mayor Anderson called the City Council meeting to order at 6:30p.m. with the following members present: Councilor Ed Roskoski, Al Stanaway, Joe Prebeg Jr., Julia Buria and Mayor Peggy Anderson. Also, present were: Craig Wainio, City Administrator; Tim Satrang, Director of Public Works; Anna Amundson, Library Director/Special Events Coordinator; Amanda Inmon, Municipal Services Secretary; Al Johnson, City Engineer; SGT Grant Toma, Sherriff’s Dept. and Mark Madden, Mountain Iron Fire Chief.

It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Buria the consent agenda be approved as follows:

 

1. Approve the minutes of the July 15, 2024, regular meeting.

 

2. That the communications be accepted and placed on file and those requiring further action by the City Council be acted upon during their proper sequence on the agenda.

 

3. To acknowledge the receipts for the period July 16-31, $1,026,716.45 (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).

 

4. To authorize the payments of the bills and payroll for the period July 16-31, totaling $438,356.41 a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).

 

The motion carried (Yes: Stanaway, Prebeg Buria, and Anderson; No: Roskoski).

It was moved by Roskoski to amend the motion, to remove the bills from Parts City/Champion Auto in the amount of $1,050.00, Napa/Christenson in the amount of $769.00 and Taconite Tire in the amount of $1,235.00, from the consent agenda for separate consideration. The motion failed due to lack of support.

Public Forum:

• Brad Gustafson, Mountain Iron resident spoke regarding J-turn project, voiced support for the project
• Robert, Buhl resident, wife works at Super-One, travels the road daily, spoke regarding J-turn project, voiced support for round-about, much safter than current J-turn
• Barb Fivecoate, resident of Mountain Iron, spoke regarding J-turn project, voiced support for round-about, disastrous for those going to Virginia
• Steve Giorgi, Mountain Iron resident spoke regarding J-turn project, voiced negative support for project, recommends the City send it back to the drawing board for a better design
• Mark Madden, Fire Dept Chief, spoke regarding positive benefits of a J-turn at the intersection  

 

 

 

 

The Mayor reported on the following:

 

• Thank you to all the residents who voiced their concerns, both positive and negative regarding the J-turn project

 

City Administrator:

 

• IRRRB meeting to discuss the distribution of the 2.5 million received for infrastructure and South Grove complex

 

Director of Public Works:

 

• Working on replacing the turn-back lighting that is Downtown that was destroyed during storm
• City Crews out painting crosswalks, jetting sewers and flushing hydrants
• Thank you to Vern’s Greenhouse for donating the flower-towers displayed at City Hall

 

Library Director/Special Events Coordinator:

 

• Summer reading program ended July 29^th
• National Night out – Tuesday, August 6^th – hosted at 3 locations
• Locomotive Park
• Mesabi Fit
• East Range Technology

 

City Engineering:

 

• Jola & Sopp/2 Easy Excavating ditching project – preconstruction meeting next step
• Jola & Sopp watermain project starting in spring 2025 – waterline downtown to County Rd 102

 

Sheriff’s Department:

 

• Opinion regarding J-turn – no inherent engineering flaw, average about 2 ½ crashes a year over a 10-year period, history doesn’t show it’s a bad intersection, however, there is always a possibility of a severe injury and as Engineers stated J-turns do limit injuries

 

Fire Department:

 

• Community Steps program – 5^th year, partnering with Advocates for Family Peace and AEOA
• Roughly 85 shoes purchased thus far
• Two more events scheduled – August 15^th & August 27^th
• National Night Out – crews going to all 3 locations, Fire Prevention & giveaways
• First Responder calls were at 83% for the month of July 2024

 

It was moved by Roskoski to accept the monthly Fire Department report as presented. The motion failed due to lack of support.

 

It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Stanaway to approve Resolution #09-24; Approval of the US 169 at CSAH 103(Mud Lake Rd)/CSAH 109 (Nichols Ave) J-Turn Project St. Louis County Project Numbers: SP 069-070-073/CP 0103-677359, MNDOT Project Number: SP 6935-100 (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion failed (No: Roskoski, Buria and Anderson; Yes: Stanaway and Prebeg).

 

• Discussion ensued regarding J-turn project, positive and negative benefits

 

It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Prebeg to approve the Special Events Permit presented from B.G.’s Bar & Grill for an Outdoor Band to perform at their location at 5494 Highway 7, Virginia, MN for August 8, 2024. The motion carried.

 

It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Buria to approve the request as presented by the Merritt Days Committee for road closures/barricades beginning Friday, August 9, 2024, at 12:00pm – Sunday, August 11, 2024, at 7:00am Merritt Days Celebration:

 

• Mountain Avenue from Locomotive Park (north) to the alley behind Benchmark Engineering (south)
• Main Street from Slate Street (west) to Marble Avenue (east) with barricades on the adjoining alleys along Main Street
• NO PARKING SIGNS ALONG Main Street for the race, parade and activities from Mineral Avenue to Slate Street on Saturday, August 10, 2024, from 7:00am-7:00pm
• Saturday, August 10, 2024, road closures/barricades
• Locomotive Street from the alley on the east to the alley on the west
• NO PARKING SIGNS along Locomotive Street for activities at Locomotive Park

 

The motion carried.

 

Announcements:

 

• Merritt Days celebration – August 6^th – 10^th

 

 

At 8:21p.m., it was moved by Buria and seconded by Prebeg the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.

 

 

Submitted by:

 

 

 

Amanda Inmon

Municipal Services Secretary

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