Meeting Minutes for January 05, 2004
MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL
REORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
JANUARY 5, 2004
Mayor Skalko called the City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with the following members present: Joe Prebeg, Jr., Allen Nelson, Dale Irish, Ed Roskoski, and Mayor Gary Skalko. Also present were: Craig J. Wainio, City Administrator; Jill M. Forseen, Municipal Services Secretary; Don Kleinschmidt, Director of Public Works; and Larry Nanti, Director of Parks and Recreation.
It was moved by Nelson and supported by Prebeg that the consent agenda be approved as follows:
Add the following items to the agenda:
V. A. 2. Recycling Bin at Nichols Town Hall
VIII. A. MPCA-Mashkenode Lake (4-Mile Lake) Mercury Contamination
Approve the minutes of the December 9, 3003, Committee-of-the-Whole meeting as submitted
Approve the minutes of the December 15, 2003, City Council meeting as submitted.
That the communications be accepted, 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 15-31, 2003, totaling $363,277.65, (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
To authorize the payments of the bills and payroll for the period December 15-31, 2003, totaling $433,083.98, (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
No one spoke during the public forum.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Irish to appoint Ed Roskoski as Deputy Mayor for 2004. The motion carried.
It was moved by Nelson and supported by Prebeg to designate the Mesabi Daily News as the official newspaper for the City of Mountain Iron for 2004. The motion carried.
The Mayor requested that since the Mesabi Daily News is the City�s official newspaper he would like to see them come to the meetings on time and attend more of the meetings.
It was moved by Nelson and supported by Prebeg to designate the City�s official depositories as the American Bank, Queen City Federal, Wells Fargo Bank, U. S. Bank, Twin City Federal, League of Minnesota Cities 4M Fund, Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard, Inc., Smith Barney, Inc. and Northland Securities for 2004. The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski and supported by Nelson to hold the regular City Council meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month for 2004. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Prebeg to appoint Stephen Skogman and re-appoint Barb Fivecoate to the Planning and Zoning Commission with their term expiring on December 31, 2006. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Prebeg to re-appoint Jeanne Schechinger and Roman Frericks to the Utility Advisory Board with their term expiring on December 31, 2006. The motion carried.
It was moved by Prebeg and supported by Nelson to appoint Corrine Eden and re-appoint Scott McDermid to the Park and Recreation Board with their term expiring on December 31, 2006. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Irish to appoint Mary Jacobsen to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority with her term expiring on December 31, 2008. The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski and supported by Irish to appoint Jackie Jenko and Lisa Casillo to the Library Board with their term expiring on December 31, 2006. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Irish to adopt the Proclamation for Miranda Burris declaring January 12, 2004, as “Miranda Burris Day”, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
The Council discussed the recycling area at Nichol Town Hall. Councilor Nelson said that the recycling area should be away from the residential area. The Director of Public Works said that the City monitors the recycling bins and call Saint Louis County a few days before the bins are full to have them dumped of the recycling bins and sometimes they do not get there soon enough and they overflow and residents place their recycling on the ground. Councilor Prebeg said that the Utility Advisory Board is reviewing the problems with the Nichols Hall recycling site and the yard waste drop off site by the City Garage.
The Mayor read a letter written by Mr. Jim Weikum from the Arrowhead Library Board dated November 18, 2003, regarding support for the City�s grant application. The Mayor said that when he read the letter he knew that the City would not be awarded the grant. Councilor Roskoski also expressed disappointment with the Library Board and the Arrowhead Library System. Councilor Prebeg said that the City Council has basically three choices for the Mountain Iron Library: 1) build a new library; 2) remodel the existing library; or 3) close the library. Councilor Prebeg said that if the City does not get support from the community that the library should be closed. Councilor Prebeg said that a decision has been made to remodel the current library and all parties involved should move ahead and support this decision.
At 7:04 p.m., Rod Flannigan, City Engineer, entered the meeting.
Councilor Roskoski also expressed disappointment with the Library Board and the Arrowhead Library System regarding the remodeling of the Library.
It was moved by Prebeg and supported by Irish to approve the amendment to the surface lease number 13056 dated January 1, 2003 to extend the lease for the rock sign located at the intersection of Highway 53 and Old Highway 169 for a period of one year with a fee of $75.00, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
It was moved by Roskoski that in regards to the Phase II Subsurface Investigation of Open Dump 1 located on the USX property, that the information outlined in Wenck�s letter of December 9, 2003, to direct the City Administrator to contact the officials at USX Corporation and advise them that the City would like to have a joint effort for the remediation action on the Open Dump 1 site. After further discussion, Councilor Roskoski withdrew his motion. It was the consensus of the Council to have this item on the next Council agenda when the City Attorney is present.
Councilor Roskoski asked the City Administrator who the new management company was for the Mountain Manor. The City Administrator said that it was DW Jones, from Walker, Minnesota.
The Council discussed the Heather Avenue water line extension project. The Director of Public Works outlined the project for the City Council.
The Recreation Director advised the Council that the 2004 Merritt Days Celebration would be on June 25th. He advised the Council that the first planning meeting was scheduled for Thursday, January 8, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. The Recreation Director advised the Council that 44 couples attended the New Year�s Eve Party with six couples canceling.
The Mayor asked for someone from the Council to volunteer to represent the City of Mountain Iron at the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools meetings. Councilor Irish express interest in attending to see what the meetings were about, but would not commit to being the Representative. Councilor Prebeg suggested alternating City Council members to attend the meetings.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Roskoski to set a Committee-of-the-Whole meeting for Tuesday, January 13, 2004, at 6:00 p.m. at the Mountain Iron Community Center, Mountain Iron Room with the following items on the agenda:
Housing and Redevelopment Authority/Economic Development Authority Proposal
2004-2008 Capital Improvement Plan
Request for Proposals review for:
� Legal Services
� Auditing Services
� Engineering Services
The motion carried.
It was moved by Prebeg and supported by Nelson to re-schedule the January 19, 2004 City Council meeting until Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. because of the Martin Luther King holiday. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and supported by Roskoski to approve the contract with DSGW Architects for the library roofing project in the amount of $11,800.00. The motion carried on the following roll call vote: Irish, yes; Roskoski, yes; Prebeg, yes; Nelson, no; and Skalko, yes.
During the open discussion, Councilor Roskoski stated that he read an article in the newspaper regarding the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency�s random sampling of area lake water. He said that in the article it stated that there were high levels of mercury in Mashkenode Lake. He asked if the area had been posted regarding the mercury. The Director of Public Works stated that the public landing is the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource�s responsibility.
At 8:06 p.m. it was moved by Roskoski and supported by Nelson that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.
