The Wykoff City Council met on November 14 in regular session. Members in attendance were Rocky Vreeman, Mayor Al Williams, Deputy Clerk Becky Schmidt, Megan Lund, and Brody Mensink. Mitch Grabau was absent.
Mark Arndt brought up that the city’s water continues to run considerably too high on fluoride. He said the readings are expected to be between 0.5 and 0.9, “but we’re like triple overload on fluoride.” The city will get assistance from WHKS on getting the readings to an acceptable level.
Tim and Dan Grabau addressed the council about a sewer problem. Tim said that when the sewer lines were “televised” in 2010, it was discovered that the 8” pipe south of their home was OK, but where it switches to a 6” pipe, the pipe is crushed and therefore could not be scoped. Tim explained that because of this, any time that there’s excess sewage in the pipes, it tends to back up into his basement, which has caused many thousands of dollars in damages, and he stated, “I’d like a little compensation” since the problem is in the city’s lines, not on his property. Mayor Williams asked if a one-way vent could be installed in the basement. Tim said “It could, but why would I have to pay for that?” Council members discussed that a one-way vent might fix Tim’s problem but may just cause a similar sewage backup in nearby homes. Tim said when his insurance company gets him an estimate on the cost of damages, he’ll bring that to the city for consideration. Brody Mensink said his opinion is that the city should have fixed this in 2010, and it should not continue to be passed along. He asked that WHKS be brought in the see what needs to be done.
Two representatives from National Environmental Waterproofing addressed the council about the city’s leaking manholes. Mayor Williams recently took them around to inspect seven of the city’s 52 manholes, and all seven were found to be leaking a significant amount of rainwater into the WWTP. They explained that the manhole near the tennis court had the worst leak of those they checked, and that each manhole needing to be repaired would cost roughly $7,000 to $10,000 to seal, depending on how deep the leaking goes. They pointed out that they have no idea how many other manholes in town need to be sealed, but they suggest starting with the worst cases first. They stressed that the leaking will only get worse as time goes on. The council asked them to provide references and a cost estimate for the seven manholes to be repaired.
The council discussed the “junk ordinance” (Ordinance 200, which Mayor Williams said includes, among other things, “inoperable vehicles, furniture, household furnishings, and appliances”). There was discussion that according to the ordinance, properties in violation would be sent a letter, and then if the violation persists after the allotted time frame, the city attorney would be contacted to initiate legal action. The council agreed to keep the process moving along, so violations can be resolved.
Kathleen Keaton asked the council to consider adjusting her sewer bill following a recent problem at her home involving a leaking toilet. She explained that after she discovered the problem, she had a plumber come in and fix it, but her water and sewer bill “got way out of hand” due to the excess water usage. She respectfully asked the council if an adjustment could be done. Mayor Williams asked if she could propose a payment plan for the outstanding bill, and Keaton said she expects to be able to pay the entire bill in December, but if not, she can at least pay her usual amount and then set up a plan to get the remainder paid in the coming months. The council voted to adjust her sewer bill.
The council next discussed pay for city employees. It was pointed out that the council had previously agreed to give Mark Arndt an increase to $20 an hour after he obtained his Class C license, which he now has. The council voted to increase his pay accordingly. Pay for the city clerk position was tabled until the November 16 special meeting. Regarding back pay for current and past employees, Becky Schmidt explained that employees had been underpaid because of an error in how the hours and minutes were calculated. She said that according to the League of Minnesota Cities, it’s necessary to pay retroactively back three years when such discrepancies are discovered. After discussion, the council agreed to pay retroactively for all such underpayment back to each person’s start date. The total underpayments is roughly $2,500.
Mayor Williams read off the election results, and the council unanimously accepted them. The meeting adjourned about 9 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, December 12.