City of Waverly Minutes

January 8, 2008.   The Waverly City Council met in regular session at 7:00 p.m. on January 8, 2008 in the Council Chambers of Waverly City Hall.  Those in attendance were Mayor Ken Hausladen, Commissioners Deb Hausladen, Ken Antil, Gary Olson, and Pam Henry-Neaton.       Agenda   Mayor Hausladen added a request for a temporary liquor license to the agenda.  A motion was made by Ken Antil, seconded by Deb Hausladen to approve the agenda as presented.  Motion carried.   Waverly Lions   David Rice from the Waverly Lions asked for approval for a temporary license for their fish fry to be held February 8th, 2008. They have their own 3.2 license and their own dram shop insurance. The temporary license was approved to be followed by a check to be sent into the state.  A motion was made by Olson, seconded by Hausladen to approve the temporary license for the Lions.  The Lions Chili feed for January 26, 2008 will be added to the calendar.  The Lions are hoping to use the kitchen at the Village Hall the evening of January 23rd to prepare.  They will be responsible for the cleanup.   Building Inspector   Rob Beckfield gave the building inspection report.  Housing is slow.  Only re-side and re-roof permits are being issued.  Things could improve late 2008 early 2009 by Robs estimates.  He has been taking time and doing some follow-ups on old building permits.  He sends out letters on the old permits asking where the project is at.  If he gets no response he expires the permits.  If they are still working on the project they need to file an extension.  Mayor Hausladen asked Rob if he could see ten building permits being issued this year.  He replied it would be pushing it.  He foresees the foreclosure inventory as the better deal over building new.   Parks Superintendant   John Rassat gave the parks report.  Summerfield’s may get a volleyball court next spring.  It is possible a half-basketball court will go in Arcon Development.  He has been getting quotes and has found it cheaper to use concrete rather than bituminous.  Trees are to be planted in Waverly Terrace Park.  Also a new dock in Waterfront Park.   Talk turned to snowmobile use.  Concerns of landings getting chewed up by snowmobiles.  Railroad Park is being used very frequently.  The Mayor was wondering about the snow base by the viaduct at the railroad tracks.  It is torn up, but this happens every year.   Commissioner Antil wondered if there was a way to move the snowmobilers farther to the south.  John remarked they are real close to a ditch and that is not good because there is actually a culvert coming down and a ski could get caught in it.  John said he could put up a sign there, but in June things will get mowed and fixed again.   Commission changes    Mayor Hausladen read aloud the changes to the Commissions.  After reading, he asked for a motion.  A motion was made by Antil, seconded by Deb Hausladen to approve the Commission changes..  Commissioner Henry-Neaton asked for an explanation as to why the changes.  Commissioner Antil replied that a Commissioner that serves as a liaison on two commissions as he does could reduce the panel and get the same amount of work done.  Everything has slowed down right now anyway.  Motion carried.  Existing appointments will remain effective until March.   City Engineer   Mayor Hausladen asked City Engineer Barry Glienke if the City had ever signed a formal agreement with Bolton and Menk.  Barry replied there was never anything signed, the firm was just appointed.   Barry brought attention to the rate studies listed in his report in the packet.   Two informational spreadsheets based on ten new homes with the fees adjusted accordingly to make the fund balances work and keep both water and sewer funds in the black with some transfers out of the sewer fund.  The second scenario allows for no transfers to cover the sewer fund out of the water fund which calls for a much higher rate increase.  Mayor Hausladen asked Barry if he agreed with the inspector’s guess of possibly ten new homes this year.  Barry replied his guess was possibly ten home purchases, and purchases would get the user rates.  The City won’t get any additions to the base rate, just the user rate.  The City will have to decide on what it is comfortable with.  Antil asked what our sewer rates were compared to some of the surrounding cities.  After everyone looked at the information provided, Barry remarked that Howard Lake does the same as Waverly, they don’t assess, and they pay for all the products across the board with their base rates and user rates.  Mayor Hausladen wanted to know with Bolton and Menks  experience,  if Barry could answer whether or not most cities have self sustained sewer and water funds, or if they are borrowing from one to take care of the other.  He replied the older towns that have the commercial and are getting the larger chunk of the pot are more self sustaining. Smaller towns that are going thru aging infrastructure usually have to do something.  The result is bonds, or low interest loans.  Antil does not like to have to borrow so much money to cover sewer costs, when the future shows new wells needing to be constructed.  Barry reminded with no new construction slowing down everything, a new well (estimated at a quarter of a million) won’t need to be looked at till after 2009.  John Rassat added that 90 thousand dollars has been budgeted for a well on a three year projection.  He was figuring 70-75 thousand of that towards the new well.  If we wait four years there will be no need for bonding, if the money stays in that fund.  Antil remarked that his concern was not having enough money to pay off the bond for the water tower. We are going to have to dig into the water fund.  Mayor Hausladen commented a citizen asked him why we took down the old water tower if the houses aren’t here.  John replied that his report shows a flow of 244 thousand gallons for one day, that’s five exchanges.  He hoped this person’s house isn’t on fire when this happens.  The Mn Dept of Health basically said this had to be done.  Mayor Hausladen would like to see Barry come back next month with a model of 0 or 5 starts because we won’t see ten.  Gary is afraid to raise rates now in case the economy comes back again. Mayor Hausladen remarked if we don’t make an adjustment and things stay flat we are going to have to tap that well fund to keep sewer going. Gary doesn’t like to raise everything; we are going to raise them out of town.  Gary wondered if we should watch this issue before they act. Other communities are going thru the same thing.  Henry-Neaton wanted to table the issue until next month.  Motion made to table issue by Olson, seconded by  Henry-Neaton.   Motion carried.       Liquor Store Report   Wanda Tussing gave the Liquor Store report.  She commented the month ended very well.  Ending balance in checking was $9000. $20 thousand in savings.  Inventory looks good.  They can pay $12 thousand for their loan to the city.  Mayor Hausladen said he heard the All American Grill was going to drive the Liquor Store into the ground.  Wanda remarked they have different clientele, and didn’t see that happening.  Pam Henry-Neation reminded about scheduling a budget meeting to keep the council in the loop and go over things.   Mayor Hausladen wanted to know if employee manuals were being distributed and if background checks were being conducted on potential employees.  Henry-Neaton questioned if files were kept on employees.  Wanda said she kept files and wanted to put them on a computer for privacy reasons.  Mayor Hausladen suggested a memory stick for $20, save all your files on it, and then throw it in a safety deposit box.  Wanda claimed she did not have access to the safety deposit box.  She will get her name on the signature card.  She also wants to upgrade the computer systems to Windows XP and will get Wright Computer to do this.  The budget meeting will meet Wednesday February 6th, at 5 pm and will meet with the fire department afterwards.  Pam asked Wanda to bring an end-of-the-year report to the meeting that evening.  Wanda asked about a light not working at the northwest end of the parking lot.  John will check into the problem.  A motion was made to approve the liquor store report by Antil, seconded by Deb Hausladen.  Motion carried.   Maintenance Report   John Rassat presented the snowplow contract to be signed with Wright County.  John brought up the issue with the tree spade that has been used for five trees in the past 2 years.  He wondered if the council would consider trading off the tree spade for other much needed equipment.  A motion was made by Deb Hausladen to approve the request, seconded by Antil.  Motion carried.  Olson asked if John could get half the investment back.  He replied it looks like brand new.  But they really need an auger as they will be planting 100 trees this spring and will be installing a basketball hoop in Arcon.  He could use an auger for the next three years.  He would like permission to look into this issue and bring a proposal back to the meeting next month.   John did a comparison on the strip-lining project of flows.  He compared year 2001 to 2007 because of similar snow and rainfall amounts, the population, and divided into the million gallons that were used per person, and came up with actual 350 gallons per person less per year.  There is definite savings of what is shipped to Montrose.  This year with similar conditions, but with the old rate of 3.15 per thousand/ gallon we saved $25,645.00.  He commented that this was the best investment the City could have done as far as a project that pays back.  Deb Hausladen questioned if a motion should be made on the maintenance agreement with Wright County Highway Department for 2008.  A motion was made to accept the maintenance agreement with Wright County Highway Department by Deb Hausladen, seconded by Antil.  Carried.   The ice festival is going to be January 26, 2008.   Wright County Sheriff’s Department   Pam Henry-Neaton talked to Sheriff Miller about signage in the police contract.  The county is responsible for creating a sign stating City Hall is a base station for the deputies with non-emergency numbers posted.   Waverly Fire Department   There is a February 6 meeting scheduled with the Waverly Fire Department.  There is a question of where the NIMS certificates are, as they have not been received yet. They are needed as Homeland Security is stepping up their policies.   Approval of Minutes   December   3 2007 Truth in Taxation meeting                                                     D. Hausladen/Olson   December 11 2007 Regular Session                                                                         Antil/D. Hausladen   December 20 2007 Joint Session                                                                               D. Hausladen/Olson   December 28 2007 Special Session                                                                          D. Hausladen/Antil   Accounts Payable   A motion was made by Antil to approve the accounts payable for $177,121.79, seconded by D. Hausladen.  Motion carried.   Welcome packets   No welcome visits conducted this month.   Administration 2008 appointments   A motion was made by Antil to approve the appointments as presented, seconded by Olson.  Motion carried.   2008 Fee Schedule   A motion was made by Olson to approve the 2008 fee schedule, seconded by Antil.  Motion carried.   Image-Tek   Information was presented from a company that provides a document scanning program that can be stored online on a protected site.  The company asked the council review the information and consider acting soon to be able to join a coop with substantial savings.  Mayor Hausladen asked to get more information as to local clients and a deadline for the coop.   Also this can’t be considered until the City of Waverly is connected to a high-speed internet service.   A motion was made by Antil to table the issue until more information becomes available, seconded by Henry-Neaton.    Comcast Internet Service   Tabled until February.   Wright County Economic Development Partnership   A motion was made by Antil to not join the partnership, seconded by Henry-Neaton.  Carried 5/0.   New Business   Pam Henry-Neaton spoke with Arlin Matren with the cable company.  He was in a government affairs meeting today and was going to be getting back to her about information to start a cable commission.   The purpose is to build a solid connection between the City of Waverly and the cable company because there could develop a lack of communication and there needs to be a working relationship between the two.  She reported some cities meet once a month, but that is to frequent for Waverly.   Adjournment   A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 by Antil, seconded by D. Hausladen.  Carried 5/0.       _________________________                                                                      ________________________   Lori Jones, Office Assistant                                                                         Ken Hausladen, Mayor

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