Meeting Minutes for October 01, 2007
MINUTES
MOUNTAIN IRON CITY COUNCIL
OCTOBER 1, 2007
Mayor Skalko called the City Council meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. with the following members present: Joe Prebeg, Jr., Tony Zupancich, Alan Stanaway, 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; Rod Flannigan, City Engineer; Rick Feiro, Sergeant; John Backman, Sergeant; and Tom Cvar, Fire Chief.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Stanaway to refer items “Bio-Mass Facility Fires” and “First Responders Storage” on the agenda to the Public Safety and Health Board. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Zupancich that the consent agenda be approved as follows:
1. Add the following items to the agenda:
IV. A. 3. Negotiations/Evaluation for a Management Employee-Set Closed
Meeting
IV. C. 3. City Garage Roof
VI. F. Mott Pit Access
VI. G. Discussion on the Library-starting a “Friends of the Library Program”
Omit the following:
IV. C. 2. South Grove Pavilion
2. Approve the minutes of the September 17, 2007, City Council meeting as submitted.
3. 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.
4. To acknowledge the receipts for the period September 16-30, 2007, totaling $671,262.71, (a list is attached and made a part of these minutes).
5. To authorize the payments of the bills and payroll for the period September 16-30, 2007, totaling $466,077.89, (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.
The Mayor updated the Council on the following:
– Mesaba Nugget Project. He said that all of these projects in the area ultimately help the area as a whole.
– Connector-Electric Customer Publication. He highlighted information in the publication, pointed out the Salvation Army Heat Share Program to help the needy in the area and the emergency hours being listed in there.
– TV Broadcast through Public Access Channel. He advised the Council that the City of Kinney authorized contributing to the sports broadcasting for the school and now the expenses would be divided by four entities.
– South Grove Playground Funding. He said that he and the Administrator attended the County Board meeting in Ely and they authorized a transfer of the Recreational Land Grant funding originally allocated to the ATV Trail to the South Grove Playground for Phase II.
– Tennis Courts in South Grove. He said that City Staff had reviewed the tennis courts and the Parks and Recreation Board would likely be making a recommendation to the Council.
– Mountain Iron Library. He said that the library project has now been completed and really looks good. The Mayor suggested that a formal “Open House” be set.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Stanaway to use Charitable Gambling funds to purchase a full page advertisement in the Mountain Iron-Buhl Laurentian Yearbook at a total expense of $200.00. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Roskoski to appoint Carl Dagen to the Utility Advisory Board, to fulfill the term of Scott Williams, with the term expiring on December 31, 2009. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Prebeg to set a special closed meeting for Thursday, October 18, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss management negotiations and evaluations. The motion carried.
The City Administrator updated the Council on the following:
– IRRR Public Grants Project Program. He advised the Council that the deadline for the public works program was October 17, 2007, if the Council wished to apply for a grant. He said that the Economic Development Authority has several project proposals to apply for grant funding.
– Funding Sources. He said that he supplied some background information on grant programs through LAWCON and the Northland Foundation. The Council asked Councilor Roskoski to get some information to the Administrator for a grant application for something that would pertain to some historic project.
– IRRR Demolition Program. The Administrator outlined the project guidelines to the Council again.
– Locomotive Park Fencing Grant. The Administrator said that the bids received came in too high over the engineer’s estimate. He said the grant was set to expire December 31, 2007, the grant deadline has been extended to June 30, 2008, so the fencing project could be completed next Spring.
It was moved by Zupancich and seconded by Prebeg to direct the City Administrator to prepare preliminary IRRR grant applications for Unity Drive Extension to South Grove, the Highway 169 Project in Kinross, and the Storm Drain System in Westgate. The motion carried.
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Stanaway to approve the advertisement, as submitted, for the seasonal/part-time rink attendants to be published in the November 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2007, editions of the Mesabi Daily News. The motion carried.
It was moved by Skalko and seconded by Zupancich to direct Benchmark Engineering to complete a structural examination of the City Garage roof and bring a recommendation to the City Council. The motion carried.
The Director of Public Works updated the Council on the following:
– Heather Avenue Ditching. The Director said that the City Crew would not be cleaning out the ditches, but would be mowing them. He said that currently it has been raining, that it has been too wet to work on the project.
Sergeant Fiero introduced the new Mountain Iron Sergeant, John Backman, to the Council members.
At 7:18 p.m., Councilor Roskoski left the meeting.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Zupancich to approve the basic contract for training from October 9-16, 2007, with Mesabi Range College for the Mountain Iron Volunteer Fire Department at a cost of $1,050 with a portion being reimbursed by the Virginia and Eveleth Fire Departments.
At 7:20 p.m., Councilor Roskoski returned to the meeting.
The motion carried.
It was moved by Zupancich and seconded by Prebeg to award the West II Electrical Improvement bid to Lanyk Electric in the amount of $67,790.00, with a grant paying for a portion of the costs. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
It was the consensus of the Council to not award the bid for the Locomotive Park Fencing Project because the bids came in too high.
It was moved by Prebeg and seconded by Zupancich to authorize payment request number two to Utility Systems of America in the amount of $184,854.22 for the Unity Addition Phase II Residential Development. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
It was moved by Zupancich and seconded by Prebeg to authorize payment request number three to Louis Leustek and Sons Incorporated in the amount of $78,171.51 for the Industrial Park Road Extension Project. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
The City Engineer updated the Council on the following:
– 2007 Paving Project. He said that the 2007 pavement projects have been started.
– New Employee. He advised the Council that Benchmark Engineering had hired another Civil Engineer, Alan Johnson
The following items were discussed during the Liaison Reports:
– Library Board. Councilor Stanaway advised the Council that Nancy Driscoll and Paula Stanaway volunteered to assist the Librarian to get the library organized. The Council recognized the volunteer efforts and the work of the Librarian to get the Library ready to reopen following the carpet and furniture installation.
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Prebeg to authorize Staff to complete the work on IRC Number 5737 regarding Locomotive Park equipment repairs. The motion carried.
It was moved by Zupancich and seconded by Skalko to authorize the final payment request to Lenci in the amount of $5,000.00 for the Library Renovation Project. The motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Zupancich and seconded by Prebeg to approve the IRRRB Final Accounting Report for the Unity Drive Project to assist the Diamond Willow Project, (a copy is attached and made a part of these minutes). The motion carried.
It was moved by Roskoski and seconded by Skalko to direct City Staff to notify the appropriate Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s office to inquire about the particulars in regard to upgrading the Mott Pit access area with the following suggestions:
1. More gravel at the turn around and boat launch areas
2. Two pedestal mounted grills
3. Brush clearing from the sides of the north-south access road
And further, a report be made available to the City Council when necessary information is received. The motion carried.
It was moved by Stanaway and seconded by Skalko to have City Staff seek information from the League of Minnesota Cities to see what needs to be completed to form a “Friends of the Library” volunteer group. The motion carried.
At 7:47 p.m., it was moved by Skalko and seconded by Roskoski that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried.
Submitted by:
Jill M. Forseen, CMC/MMCA
Municipal Services Secretary
www.mtniron.com
COMMUNICATIONS
1. Saint Louis County, Community Development Block Grant initial recommendations.
2. Northeast Service Cooperation, forwarding a nomination petition for service on the Board of Directors.
