Harmony resident Joe Hahn was present at the March 13 Harmony City Council meeting to obtain the council’s permission to begin the project to extend the city’s utility services to his homes on 5th Ave SE. He had first brought the matter to the council at the February meeting, informing the council that he planned to pay for the cost to install city utility services. The council discussed the possibility of also adding curb and gutter to the project as the street is currently a gravel road. Hahn was willing to pay for the addition of the utility services, but not the curb and gutter. It was agreed to allow Hahn to go ahead with his proposed project and do the curb and gutter at a later time.
Hahn presented the council with a proposal from Stantec Engineering which would authorize Stantec to proceed with the project for the City of Harmony for which Hahn would reimburse the costs. Mayor Steve Donney expressed concerns that the city would end up paying and not being reimbursed. “I just want it set in stone that you’re paying for it if the city is agreeing to the contract agreement,” he said. Hahn assured him that he would indeed pay for the project. City Administrator Jerome Illg suggested that Hahn pay the estimate costs on the project to the city before work is started. Hahn was agreeable to the suggestion. “Anything to help it move along,” he said.
The council approved the proposal contingent on Hahn’s payment of the estimate.
Fire Chief Rod Johnson asked the council’s permission to purchase new radio equipment for the fire department. The department had previously received three new 800 system radios from a grant, but they are not compatible with the narrow band radios that most of the trucks still carry. This creates a lack of communication on scene which can lead to dangerous situations. The council approved the purchase.
Paul Brand and his son Jordan Brand were present at the meeting to ask the council to consider changing the city’s liquor regulations ordinance. Currently the ordinance only allows two off-sale liquor licenses to be available in Harmony, both of which are being used. Paul Brand, who owns Pam’s Corner and Off Sale Liquor in Rushford, is interested in opening a liquor store in Harmony, but needs an off-sale license to do so. City Attorney Greg Schieber noted that Minnesota state law does allow more than two off-sale liquor licenses per city so the number is up to the council’s discretion. The consensus of the council was that there didn’t need to be a limit on off-sale licenses set in the ordinance as each application has to pass criteria and be approved by the council first anyways. The request was tabled until the April meeting to give Schieber time to edit the language of the ordinance and present it to the council.
When the city is faced with unpaid ambulance bills, they are able to send the patient’s social security number to the state which then collects the money owed from the individual’s tax refund. However, that is harder to do with fire calls. “The problem we run into periodically is collection on bills,” Illg noted. State statute requires that a city ordinance be put into place to take measures to collect on those bills. He presented the council with an ordinance establishing fees for emergency fire protection and ambulance service which would allow the city to take the necessary means to collect unpaid bills. The council approved the ordinance as written.
A motion was passed raising the per capita rate for ambulance calls for townships from $7 to $9.
The council discussed the ordinance that pertains to ground floor residency in commercially zoned areas. An ordinance is currently in place prohibiting people from living below the second floor of commercial buildings, but there are people who are doing so anyway. “If you don’t enforce (the ordinance), aren’t you setting a precedent for other people to break that as well?” council member Debbie Swenson asked.
It was noted that the usual procedure for dealing with situations like that are to deal with and enforce it after a complaint has been lodged. Currently, no one has come forward with a complaint. “How do you uphold your laws and ordinances if no one lodges a complaint?” Swenson asked.
Schieber noted that if a city council member is aware of a situation where an ordinance is being broken, then they have the right to enforce it despite no complaint being lodged. As some of the people breaking the residency ordinance have been doing so for many years, his recommendation was to first establish whether or not there was a safety issue with any of them living where they are, rather than to put people out of their homes. For instance, if the person living there is the owner of the building, that would be more acceptable than the owner renting the space out as an apartment for someone else. Council member Steve Sagen recommended letting the more established residents stay as they’ve been there long-term, but to make sure that once they move out, no one else moves in.
The council agreed to send the matter to the Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss. Schieber will attend their meeting to give legal counsel on the matter.
Maintenance director Chris Johnson asked the council’s permission to move ahead with the purchase of a new snow plow truck. He reminded the council that in 1997, they made the decision to trade in the snow plow truck every 10 years, putting money into a fund each year to cover the cost. While a new truck was purchased in 2007, it didn’t happen in 2017. The council approved the request.
Council member Lynn Mensink gave the library board report. The city is not maintaining the snow removal at the entrance by the book drop due to it being a difficult area to clean out and keep clear of snow. Recently however, a library patron slipped while entering through that entrance. Sagen recommended either making sure that the entrance is fully maintained or blocked off entirely. Patrons could then use the front door of the community center to access the library as it’s unlocked when the library is open. Sagen acknowledged that the area is tough to maintain in the winter months, but also pointed out that the city is liable for injuries that occur there. The council will decide how best to handle the situation at a later meeting.
The next Harmony city council meeting will be held on April 10 at 6:30 p.m. to allow for the audit presentation to begin early.
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