Mabel City Council declared three properties in violation under the “nuisance” ordinance for failing to clean up their residences. The particular Peterson, Newman and Bankes properties were given repeated warnings and a final clean-up deadline of August 8. Upon inspection by Mayor Jim Westby, the three failed to comply by that deadline.
By being declared nuisance properties, the property owners have 30 days to comply to the ordinance violations or they will be issued citations and legal action will be taken. “We’ve tried to work with these residents,” Westby said. “Some of the issues have been addressed, but there is still a lot more to be done. This is the last chance for them to get things cleaned up before we take legal action. I urge them to get it done.”
In other business, Public Works Director Bob Mierau provided three bids for the culvert drainage project for Melby Drive. The bids include an 18” steel casing that goes under the road and drainage across the road. The bids were: $47,300, $43,000 and $37,983. The low bid was from Horizontal Boring & Tunneling Co. of Nebraska.
Mierau said that he researched Horizontal Boring & Tunneling Co. and found that they were an extremely reputable company. They could do the work in about three days and provide an on-site engineer to ensure the work be done to specifications.
“We’re hoping this culvert would help eliminate the ground water issue for the Melby Drive residents,” Mierau said. “It’s a large area, about 38 acres, and a lot of residents that are affected. There’s no guarantees, but this would be a big step in the right direction. Some of these residents are pumping as much as 15,000-18,000 gallons of water out of their basements a day. It’s our responsibility to try to remedy the situation.”
A motion was made to proceed with the project and contract with Horizontal Boring & Tunneling Co. to do the work. Mierau suggested that late September would be a good time to complete the project since it’s usually a drier month. The MnDOT permit that was issued is valid through October.
Upon review of the accounts payable, Councilmember Gary Morken questioned the expenditure of $20,000 to Klaetch Paving for blacktopping Cherrywood Drive. “It was my understanding from our council meeting last month that we were going to get new bids before doing the work since the 30-day bid had expired. I was surprised that the work was done and already paid for.”
Mayor Westby told the council that he talked with the companies about new bids and no one was going to do the work for less than the original bids. However, in talking with Klaetch Paving, they said they’d give us a break and do it for $20,000 since they were already doing work in Caledonia and had a few days in between jobs. “This seemed to make sense since it was lower than the first low bid we received of approximately $25,000,” Westby said. “So I went ahead with getting it done.”
Mierau asked how much tonnage Klaetch Paving used on the road. The bids that were previously obtained were for 220 tons. Westby wasn’t sure about the tonnage, but said he would find out. Mierau said that looking at the new blacktopped road, there appears to be an issue that he thought may cause some drainage problems. “What’s done is done,” Mierau said, “But I’m a little concerned about what might happen this spring with water and ice.”
After this discussion, the council approved the allocation of $107,733.83 for bills to be paid this past period.
City employee, Jeff Rein contacted St. Charles to get their input regarding Safe Step Company. St. Charles has worked with this company for three years for their sidewalk repairs. They been more than pleased with the company and recommends them highly. It was suggested that Mabel first develop a sidewalk policy before moving forward with Safe Step Company to do a free sidewalk assessment for Mabel. That suggestion was agreed upon and the council will work on the policy first.
City Clerk Karen Larson drafted social media and computer usage policies for city employees. The policies were approved and Larson will disseminate to all staff for their signatures. The EDA reported that drawings for the proposed childcare center will be finalized this week and then open for bids.
The next city council meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m.