January 6, 2025 City Council Minutes
MINUTES
MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL
January 6, 2025
Mayor Anderson called the City Council meeting to order at 6:30p.m. with the following members present: Councilor Ed Roskoski, Al Stanaway, Bradley Gustafson., 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; Sgt. Grant Toma, Sheriff’s Dept.; Al Johnson, City Engineer; and Mark Madden, Fire Dept Chief.
City Administrator administered the Oath of Office to Mr. Bradley Gustafson, City Council member.
It was moved by Buria and seconded by Stanaway the consent agenda be approved as follows:
- Approve the minutes of the December 16, 2024, regular meeting.
- Approve the minutes of the December 23, 2024, Committee-of-the-Whole 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 December 16-31, totaling $1,023,027.38 (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
- To authorize the payments of the bills and payroll for the period December 16-31, totaling $300,468.47 (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
The motion carried (No: Roskoski; Yes: Gustafson, Stanaway, Buria and Anderson).
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded Gustafson to amend the original motion to remove the Parts City/Champion bills in the amount of $773.00, and the Napa Christenson bills in the amount of $254.00 from the consent agenda for separate consideration. The motion failed (Yes: Roskoski; No: Gustafson, Stanaway, Buria, and Anderson).
Public Forum:
- Justin Blazewicz, requested update on disciplinary records
The Mayor reported on the following:
- Requested COW meeting to discuss the January 3rd J-Turn
It was moved by Gustafson and seconded by Roskoski to approve the reorganization of the City and appoint Councilor Julie Buria., as Deputy Mayor for the 2024 year. The motion carried with Buria abstaining.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Buria to designate The Trenti Law Firm as the City’s Attorney for 2025 year. The motion carried (No: Roskoski; Yes: Gustafson, Stanaway, Buria and Anderson).
It was moved by Buria and seconded by Gustafson to designate Benchmark Engineering as the City’s Engineering Firm for 2025 year. The motion carried.
It was moved by Stanaway to and seconded by Buria to amend the motion to change the name Bolton-Mink/Benchmark Engineering as the City’s Engineering Firm for 2025. The motion carried.
It was moved by Gustafson and seconded by Buria to appoint the Hometown Focus as the official newspaper for the City of Mountain Iron for 2025 year. The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski to amend the motion for City Staff to contact Mesabi Tribune to obtain their rate structures for publishing Mountain Iron City meeting minutes for 2025, because many other area City Councils and School Boards also publish their minutes in papers. The amended motion failed due to lack of support.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Roskoski to set the official City Council meetings for the first and third Mondays of the month at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Mountain Iron Room. The motion carried.
It was moved by Anderson and seconded by Roskoski to designate the City’s official depositories as the Park State Bank, Frandsen Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, US Bank, Twin City Federal, League of Minnesota Cities 4M Fund, Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard, Inc., Morgan Stanley, Northland Securities, First National Bank of Buhl, and Federal Home Loan Bank, for 2025 year. The motion carried.
City Administrator:
- No formal report
Director of Public Works:
- Water line break in South Grove over the morning
- Power outage over the weekend
Library Director/Special Events Coordinator:
- Winter Reading program
- January 6th – February 28th
Sheriff’s Dept.
- No formal report
- Did send communications up regarding signage on Highway 169
City Engineering:
- No formal report
Fire Department:
- First Responders’ response call rate is at 75% to date
- Losing 2-4 members in the New Year, will be advertising to replace them
- Training schedule changes
It was moved by Roskoski to accept the Fire Department report as presented. The motion failed due to lack of support.
It was moved by Buria and seconded by Gustafson to approve the proposal for one Skeeter Ford F550 Rescue Brush Truck, Specification 2199, for the amount of $410,986.00, to Macqueen Equipment. The motion carried unanimously on roll call vote.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Buria to approve the Conditional Use (CUP) and Variance for Franklin Advertising. The Variance permit is for installing a sign less than 300 ft from another sign. The CUP permit is for an off-site sign. The property is legally described as follows:
Parcel Code: 175-0071-01224
Plat Name: MOUNTAIN IRON LANDS IN THE CITY
Section: -;Township: 58; Range:18 ;Lot:-; Block 13; Description: PART OF SE1/4 OF NE1/4 COMM ON S LINE 458.31 FT W OF SE COR THENCE N 12 DEG 37′ 09″ W ALONG E R.O.W. OF DWP RR 577.89 FT THENCE N 75 DEG 55′ 05″ E 365.21 FT TO THE PT OF BEG THENCE N 25 DEG 44′ 16″ W 321.76 FT TO THE S R.O.W. OF 13TH ST S EASEMENT THENCE E 43.20 FT ALONG A TANGENTIAL CURVE CONCAVE TO THE S RADIUS 921.93 FT & A CENTRAL ANGLE OF 2 DEG 41′ 05″ THENCE N 89 DEG 04′ 26″ E ALONG R.O.W OF 13TH ST S 21.04 FT TO THE W R.O.W. OF U S HWY #53 THENCE S 190.57 FT MORE OR LESS ALONG THE W R.O.W. WITH R.O.W. LINE BEING A SPIRAL CURVE CONCAVE TO THE E TO THE PT OF CURVE THENCE S 112.83 FT ALONG A TANGENTIAL CURVE CONCAVE TO THE E RADIUS 1412.31 FT & A CENTRAL ANGLE OF 4 DEG 34′ 38″ THENCE S 75 DEG 55′ 05″ W 48.31 FT TO THE PT OF BEG
Address: Mountain Iron, MN 55768
The motion carried.
It was moved by Gustafson and seconded by Stanaway to approve the management agreements for the City Administrator, Director of Public Works and the Library Director as discussed at the Committee of the Whole meeting. The motion carried unanimously on roll call vote.
Liaison:
- Mountain Iron Public Library seeking Library Board member for a 3-year term
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Gustafson to reschedule the January 20, 2025, City Council meeting due to the Martin Luther King Holiday to Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 6:30pm. The motion carried.
Announcement:
- City Offices closed January 20th in observance of Martin Luther King Day
- Mountain Iron Merritt Days Planning Committee meeting
- Thursday, January 9th at 5:30 pm
- Senior Center
- 5-Prize treasure hunt, main street parade, with neighborhood float contest and Saturday car show
At 7:16p.m., it was moved by Buria and seconded by Stanaway the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.
Submitted by:
Amanda Inmon
Municipal Services Secretary
