August 7, 2023 City Council Minutes
MINUTES
MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL
August 7, 2023
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., Julie 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 Engineering; and Mark Madden, Mountain Iron Fire Chief.
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Buria the consent agenda be approved as follows:
- Approve the minutes of the July 17, 2023 regular meeting.
- 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.
- To acknowledge the receipts for the period July 16-31, $1,784,600.86 (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes),
- To authorize the payments of the bills and payroll for the period July 16-31, totaling $993,859.63 (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
The motion carried (Yes: Stanaway, Prebeg, Anderson, Buria; No: Roskoski).
It was moved by Roskoski to amend the original motion to remove the Napa Christenson Parts bills in the amount of $457.00 and the Taconite Tire bills in the amount of $697.00 from the consent agenda for separate consideration. The motion failed due to lack of support.
Public Forum:
- Tracy Oksanen, resident in Parkville, spoke regarding not being happy in regards to the trail being constructed without letting residents in the area know of the plans, additionally the residents mailboxes are on the opposing side of the road
- Discussion ensued regarding Parkville trail and mailbox locations
Walker, Giroux, and Hahne, LLC. Representative, Tom Kelly discussed the City of Mountain Iron’s 2022 Audit, overall fund position and recommendations for the City.
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Prebeg to accept the 2022 Mountain Iron City Audit as presented, and make any recommend changes by Walker, Giroux & Hahne if not already implemented. The motion carried.
The Mayor reported on the following:
- Thank you to the City Crew for continued pothole patching & tree trimming especially at the Mountain Iron Library around the Merritt Statue
It was moved by Anderson and seconded by Prebeg to appoint Mr. Corey Nelson to the Economic Development Board, to complete Mary Jacobsen’s term. The motion carried.
City Administrator:
- Committee of the Whole meeting held between City of Mountain Iron, St. Louis County, and MNDOT Highway Dept., which discussed Old 169/9th street North/Highway 53 intersection
It was moved by Roskoski that the Mountain Iron City Council schedule a public meeting/hearing to get input from our citizens and other citizens on proposed Parkville Road and Highway 53 closing and J turn intersection at Highway 169 and County Road 103/109 highway intersections. Prior advertisement at least 30 days on Channel 7 MCTV and at least four times each in the Mesabi Tribune and Hometown Focus about this potential public hearing/meeting. The motion failed due to lack of support.
Director of Public Works:
- Significant power outage on July 19th
- Water line break on Mineral Ave down from Recycling center
- Thank you to Vern’s Greenhous and Jerry Lanari for their donation of flower trees at the Community Center
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Prebeg to send an official thank you to Vern’s Greenhouse, and everyone involved with the tree/flowers donation and planting at the Community Center. The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski that all of the yellow curb paint along Mountain Iron Drive South, from Adventures 13th Street S to the City South limit be completely removed as soon as possible by sand or water blasting. The motion failed due to lack of support.
Library Director/Special Events Coordinator:
- Merritt Days
- Treasure Hunt starts Tuesday, August 8th
- “A Heck of a New Deal: Minnesota Stories from the WPA’s Federal Art Project (Mountain Iron Edition)”
- Mountain Iron Senior Citizen’s Center
- Thursday, August 10th at 6:00pm
- 4th Annual Tie Dye day
- Mountain Iron Public Library
- Thursday, August 10th from 1:00pm-3:30pm
City Engineer:
- No formal report
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Buria to approve Change Order No. 2 – for the Parkville Trail Interconnect project, with an increase of $6,078.97 for Mesabi Bituminous, Gilbert, MN. The motion carried on roll call vote (No: Roskoski; Yes: Stanaway, Prebeg, Buria, Anderson).
It was moved by Roskoski so the City does not have a forever-red mess that a Change Order be allowed to remove the top two inches of the red iron ore waste from the entire Enterprise Drive North route. The void then be backfilled with class five-type gravel or grade taconite mill feed-type material, the entire process then be rolled and compacted. So there will be no future red stains. The motion failed due to lack of support.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Buria to approve Pay Request No. 2 – for the Parkville Trail Interconnect project, in the amount of $239,392.85, to Mesabi Bituminous, Gilbert, MN. The motion carried on roll call vote (No: Roskoski; Yes: Stanaway, Prebeg, Buria, Anderson).
Fire Department:
- Typical trends seen in regards to response calls
- Six First Responders currently in training, with completion at end of August
- Partnership with Unity Way for Community Steps event scheduled August 15th & August 17th
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Buria to not exceed the quote from Macqueen Emergency Equipment for repair of the Fire Department’s E-One Mini Pumper, in the amount of $11,853.84. The motion carried on roll call vote.
It was moved by Roskoski to accept the Fire Department report be accepted as presented. The motion failed due to lack of support.
It was moved by Buria and seconded by Stanaway to approve the request by the Merritt Days Committee and close/block off the following streets in Old Downtown for the Merritt Days Celebration:
- Wednesday, August 9th – Music in the Park
- Locomotive Park from 4:00pm-8:00pm
- Friday, August 11th (12:00pm) – Sunday, August 13th (7:00am)
- Mountain Iron 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
- Saturday, August 12th (12:00pm) – Sunday, August 13th (7:00am)
- Locomotive Street from Slate Street (west) to Marble Avenue (east)
- NO PARKING SIGNS ALONG LOCOMOTIVE STREET from 7:00am – 3:00pm for Kids’ corner and the Merritt Family Reunion at Locomotive Park
The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Prebeg to approve the request and release the Easement agreed upon in 1994, between Great Northern Iron Ore Properties, United States Steel Corp. and the City of Mountain Iron. The motion carried.
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Buria to approve the included agreement as presented with the Salvation Army for their Heat Share program for the 2023-2024 winter season. The motion carried.
The MIB Quarterback Club requests contribution for their 2023 Ranger Football Season, for assistance in purchasing safety equipment, other football equipment as well as for defraying traveling expenses. It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Stanaway to donate $250.00 to the MIB Quarterback Club for their 2023 Football Season, monies to come out of the Charitable Gambling Fund. The motion carried.
Announcements:
- Merritt Days 2023 Celebration
- Celebration dates are Tuesday, August 8th – Saturday, August 12th
At 7:58p.m., it was moved by Buria and seconded by Stanaway that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.
Submitted by:
Amanda Inmon
Municipal Services Secretary
