At the Chatfield City Council’s September 12 meeting ,soil scientist Luke Lunde said the 1,200 linear foot project, which will include a fishing pier, will begin next week from the bridge on Division St. south. It is expected to be completed by mid October. Councilor Paul Novotny was absent.
The bid from Barth Construction came in at $69,276.56 or about 4% over the engineer’s estimate. The city paid $14,800 for engineering and design for the project. Minnesota Trout Unlimited has put $59,283 into the project for construction, materials, and two years of maintenance. Minnesota DNR will provide $7,110 for the fishing pier and construction.
The city approved the additional $2,883.56 to pay for the cost over the estimate to allow the project to go forward. Councilor Robert Pederson commented that we need to find the difference to get the project done.
Public Works
Metering Technology and Solutions has been awarded the Water Meter project. Brian Burkholder recommended that they consider a Fixed Network, a step upgrade from drive-by reading of meters. He wanted to check and see if it could be a doable option.
Fixed Network requires three collectors costing a total of $24,000 with installation. He estimated that the actual additional cost for a Fixed Network would be more like $14,000 due to savings he identified. Burkholder said Beth Carlson would need to give some of her time to this system as the information would go directly to her office. The Water Department would not need use their time to read meters and there would be no reason to purchase a laptop and receiver for that purpose. Burkholder insisted it is better to go to the Fixed Network now rather than wait and do it later. The council gave him permission to look into the Fixed Network option more to see if it will be a workable option and to pin down the cost.
Burkholder reported that they have received three bids from contractors for the Margaret St./James St. drainage project. The lowest bid submitted by Griffin Construction at $10,367 was approved.
Burkholder was authorized to accept the low bid of two to be submitted to repair a washout area in Mill Creek Park due to heavy rains. It is an area that was worked on last fall. He had received one bid and was expecting another soon.
The council authorized Burkholder to get quotes for the Union St. Drainage project. Some trees will have to be removed. The drainage way will be stabilized between Union St. and the first bridge and the drainage is to be reshaped and straightened beyond the second bridge.
The council approved the purchase of 10 more picnic tables. With the purchase of 10 tables at a time, there is a 10% discount.
The cleaning and removal of the sandstone panels on the sides of the steps in front of the Thurber Building began last week. The structure underneath was found to be deteriorated. A quote from Komitt Concrete of $4,500 to remove the deteriorated walls and replace with new block walls was approved.
The front end loader was last serviced in 2012 for other than routine servicing. Approval was given to have RDO Equipment do a 1,000 hour servicing of the loader and do other repairs at a total cost of $2,226.37.
Approval was given to sell, through Public Surplus, a 2007 pick-up with motor problems and a sewer cleaning rodder for sewer backups, which is no longer used.
A proposal from WSB (low bid) for significant industrial use pre-treatment assistance at a cost of $4,924 was accepted. The study for a pre-treatment process for EZ Fabricating, Inc. will proceed.
Other business in brief
• It was reported that there had been a meeting with Heather Lukes, MnDot District 6 project manager, about the scheduled Highway 52 improvements from Marion to Chatfield to begin in May 2019. There is to be a mill and overlay, extensions of turn lanes, safety improvements at intersections, and culvert repairs or replacements. Main St. within the city of Chatfield will also have a mill and overlay, curb ramp and sidewalk ADA improvements, storm sewer upgrades, and replacement of the traffic signal at the intersection of Highways 52 and 74. Construction should be concluded in September 2019.
• City Clerk Joel Young presented the 2017 preliminary budget. The intention is to maintain the levy as close to the previous levy as possible, to keep down increases in water and sewer rates, and to maintain public safety. The preliminary budget increase is 6.76%.
Young said the Cable TV service budget is not sustainable in the future and they are close to a turnover in staff. Since the 2016 legislative session failed to get some major items signed into law, the Small Cities Aid was lost. For 2016 the city received $36,000.
Ten new homes have been built in Chatfield in 2016, increasing the city’s tax capacity. Young said they are not looking at any water, sewer, or garbage rate increases in 2017.
The city’s Wellhead Protection Plan needs to be rewritten. The swimming pool heater needs to be replaced and the swimming pool committee is meeting. The city will continue to lobby the legislature for the Center for the Arts. Young suggested the general tax rate should not change a lot over the next ten years, if the tax capacity grows as anticipated.
The council will need to approve the preliminary budget and levy at the next meeting.
• The drop box will be replaced at a cost of $850 and located at the alley entrance.
• The Charter Commission adopted a motion to eliminate current language regarding mayor/city council compensation. State statute gives the council the authority to set their own pay. A pay change will not begin until after an election. An ordinance will have to be adopted to change the council’s pay. The city council pay has not changed for 20 or more years.
Mayor Russ Smith maintained that one does not serve on the city council for money. Councilor Ken Jacobson suggested if the pay was bumped up a bit, maybe some people would be willing to make the commitment to go into local government. The personnel committee will look at some numbers.