Council approves purchase of Dodge Ram for Police Department
Tue, 11/19/2019 - 12:42pm
admin
By:
Bonnie Kirchman
The Clearbrook City council held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 12th. Police Chief Dan Gazelka led off the meeting with his report. He shared information on a new vehicle he is looking at purchasing for the department. A 2019 Dodge Ram pickup is available for a cost of $26,432. Gazelka informed the council that the cost of this vehicle would fall within the police department’s budget and additional funding would not be required from the city if this vehicle was purchased. Once a new vehicle is purchased, the department’s older vehicle, a Dodge Charger, will be sold. Gazelka is also working on a TEAM Industries grant to help with vehicle purchase costs. With the assurance that the costs of the new vehicle would be within the amounts budgeted for the police department, the council approved the purchase of the new truck.
The city police have also been receiving complaints about a dog nuisance issue, with unleashed dogs behaving aggressively toward people at the Y-92 gas station and the surrounding neighborhood. The owner of the dogs has been contacted by police but problems have continued. Police will deal with the dogs to ensure the safety of residents and business customers.
Police Chief Gazelka also presented a preliminary draft of an ordinance regarding parking. Vehicles parked along Railroad Street have caused issues for drivers and pedestrians, due in part to the narrow width of that street.
The Clearbrook Fire Department responded to eleven calls in October, according to Fire Chief Adam Krog. Ten of these calls were for medical assistance and one was for a motor vehicle accident. In the first part of November, the department has received three calls for medical issues. The department sold a trailer for $3,000 and dealt with a heating system problem at the fire hall. The Modern Woodmen have volunteered to paint the fire hall as a service project for the community. The fire department will contact the group for more information on this proposed project. Chief Krog also reported on the department’s recent community activities. The second annual fall banquet was successful, with over 300 people attending. Council members provided positive feedback on this event. Volunteers from the department also participated in “Trunk or Treat”, bringing two fire trucks to the children’s event held at Clearbrook-Gonvick School.
Turkey Bingo, was to be held on Saturday, November 16th, as one of the activities planned for customers at the bar. Joy Walberg, liquor store manager also reported that a holiday wine tasting event is planned for Saturday, November 23rd from 6 to 8 p.m. Snacks, drawings, and a 10% discount special on wine purchases will be part of that evening’s activities. The November meat raffle will take place on November 30th and will benefit the veterans’ transportation program. The bar and liquor store will be closed November 28th for the Thanksgiving holiday. The bar will continue to be open on Sunday for Vikings games as long as staffing the extra hours will not result in overtime pay.
Lucie Thompson, city clerk, reported that the part time maintenance worker has resigned. City staff will begin the search process for a replacement for this employee, who generally worked 16 hours per week. The council gave Lucie the go-ahead for obtaining health insurance for the six full-time staff members. The city will be required to pay at least one half of the cost of the insurance. The city staff is expecting certain employee costs to go down in the coming year. Jason Bakke and Mark Snobl can now provide the licensed staff needed for water and gas, so support from Bagley’s licensed staff will not need to be paid for in 2020. These decreased costs may help cover most of the health insurance costs. The council will determine the health insurance payment amounts when more information is available on the 2020 budget. Council members will also look at the city’s policies that pertain to paid-time-off hours during the budget discussions.
Council members approved the residential structure building ordinance. This new ordinance spells out requirements for new home building, such as minimum square footage and roof pitch. The ordinance is now ready for publication in the newspaper.
The council passed a resolution giving Mike Stenseng, County Environmental Resource Specialist, authority over the city’s wetland issues. Cities that are not large enough to support a wetland conservation staff member are required to make this type of arrangement. The city of Bagley has a similar setup for covering wetland issues. This new resolution will not increase the city’s cost as this arrangement with county environmental services staff has been in place for years. An audit of the county’s environmental services department records resulted in the requirement for the formal resolution from the cities.
Additional project paperwork required for the small cities grant was also approved by the council. The city is required to ensure that they will consider people with low incomes when hiring for jobs in order to receive grant money.
Lucie Thompson also provided the council members with preliminary budget amounts for 2020. The council will meet in the next weeks to finalize the proposed budget.
The city council approved donations received during the month of October. A donation was received from Marilyn Johnson for the Clearbrook Police Department. The Donut Run at the Fall Festival raised $50. The Clearbrook Community Club made a donation of $500 to be used for fire prevention activities.
Council members approved monthly claims of $99,558.03 and additional claims of $105,216.43. A single approval of North Country Hardware monthly claims of $1,509.87 and $19.23 was also made, with Shawn Johnson abstaining.