By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
During the regular meeting of the New Richland City Council July 12, a request was heard from Fire Chief Josh Moen for $105,000 for fire truck outfits/repairs, and a $27,000 contract with Coordinated Business Systems was approved, to be paid over five years for the lease and service of office printers and copiers.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Josh Moen was present for his first city council meeting of the year and informed council members that the fire department’s air packs and face pieces in town are “borderline going out of compliance.” The equipment is good for 15 years and the oldest of the air packs and face pieces were purchased in 2006. Chief Moen told the council, “We do feel we already have enough finances for the purchase. I’d like to have them by the first of the year.” The rough estimate Moen reported is a cost of $105,000 for face pieces, packs and tanks.
Fire department members took part in a controlled burn of 40 acres and Moen said it was good practice for the department.
A floor drain in the department hall is in need of repair.
Chief Moen also shared that Councilperson Chad Neitzel’s team, including Dylan Arnold and Adam Wacholz, were the winners of Farm and City Days Water Wars 2021.
Copier/Printer Services
John and Shelby from Coordinated Business Systems presented a proposal to the council for a five-year contract in the amount of $27,000. The council approved the contract, which increased the current cost per month of $430 to $451 and consolidated all of the services purchased from Coordinated Business Systems into one invoice, per the contract. The contract details include leasing a new machine for printing/copying for the city’s main office, upgrading the Global Search Now (document archiving software) to a cloud service, as well as continuing to provide service, training, toner and maintenance.
Currently, the machines used by the city for printing and copying are owned by the city. The new machine the city agreed to lease will accommodate the cloud subscription service for the Global Search Now software. This new agreement using the cloud service is an apparent upgrade, because the city will not have to keep the Global Search Software used by the different city departments on an “old” computer. As a result the cost of the software is lessened and access by city departments increased. Upgrading to a cloud service will also improve security of the software.
The council approved the agreement.
Police Department
Officer Josh Knutson delivered the police report because Chief Anthony Martens was delayed due to a car breakdown driving back from the Twin Cities.
The department responded to 163 calls for service in June, bringing the year’s total to 812.
Five ordinance violation letters were sent to violators as well as one final notice of cleanup.
Prior to Farm and City Days weekend, the alternator on the second squad car went out and a new alternator was purchased and put in by New Richland Auto Repair at a cost of $761.11. The council approved the expense.
Annual firearms and use of force training is scheduled for August. Chief Martens told Knutson he is scouring applications and working on setting up interviews for the open part-time officer positions. National night out is scheduled for Thursday, August 5.
Councilperson Jody Wynnemer asked how Farm and City Days weekend went. Officer Knutson said the weekend went well, without any major incidents.
The council approved the report.
Ambulance Department
Director Sarah Sundve delivered the ambulance department report. She shared that one new trainee completed their training and another participated in a ride-along with North Memorial Ambulance out of Waseca.
A new Pulse Oximeter was ordered for the department’s Lifepack machine. Director Sundve is pursuing quotes for new ambulance tires. The department participated in the Farm and City Days parade and handed out flyers.
Director Sundve floated the idea of the city purchasing new T-shirts for the department for breast cancer awareness. She also requested to deliver next month's Ambulance Department report during the second meeting of the month, which the council approved.
Director Sundve said the ambulance department has been struggling to recover city pagers from different city employees. A letter was sent to one individual requesting the pager and a Waseca County Deputy will be sent to retrieve another one of the pagers.
Mayor Gail Schmidt asked who pays for the training for ambulance department members who also work for other medical squads requiring the same training. “We don’t want to pay for people’s training who are also working for other squads that need the same training.”
Councilperson Chad Neitzel gave an example of EMTs who also work with Waldorf, where the City of Waldorf and New Richland would pay for alternating year's training for those persons.
Licensing Agreements
Five rental re-licensing agreements were approved and four properties in violation were not approved. Letters will be sent to those in violation, including fines of $25 for each.
One property in violation, the laundromat property, is not able to be in compliance because of the current renters.
City Administrator Michelle Johnson explained that the property owners of the laundromat haven't been able to get into the building to inspect it.
“I see they [the renters] must have busted down the door the fire department screwed shut after the fire,” Councilperson Chad Neitzel said. “Because now there is an air conditioner in the window of the laundromat.”
Johnson said the attorney’s get involved July 15. The property owners will be able to access the property on August 1.
City Hall Rental Contract
An unfortunate event took place leading to the city council having to amend the City Hall Rental agreement.
“Two weekends ago, the Saturday before the previous meeting, city hall was found in pretty nasty condition after a rental,” Mayor Schmidt remarked. “There was a whole page of not so fun things for the cleaning person to clean up… I’m not even going to tell you what was in the bathroom.”
The new floors were scratched, there were marks all over the freshly painted walls, there was food everywhere and the renters were there until 2 a.m. A letter was sent to the renters following the incident.
A new agreement was approved requiring a security deposit of $100, a requirement that renters complete a checklist, and a requirement that the party involved is done by 11 p.m.
Other
The June Financials were approved as well as Resolution 21-17 adopting the 2021 budget for miscellaneous funds, which had not been approved last year.
Dale Bayerkohler made a driveway proposal request. He would like to extend his driveway 12 feet past the curb on his property. After much discussion, the proposal will go to the zoning and planning commission for their recommendation.
Jose Circus is coming to town on August 8. The ideal location the council would like to allow for the circus is the area next to the care center, which will be discussed with the care center board.
Beginning July 21, the city clerk's office will be closed to the public on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. A phone number for emergencies will be posted at city hall.
Administrator Johnson shared details regarding the Administrator’s conference she attended. “When I was up at the [Administrator's] conference, I actually did learn stuff up there,” Johnson joked, and went on to share that discussing city hall hours with other city administrators led to the conclusion that closing on Wednesday afternoons would allow her and SaraJo Vulcan to work without interruptions, so they can “get things done that need to get done.”
Farm and City Days
The council would like to publicly thank all of the groups responsible for Farm and City Days, including the F&C Days Committee, the fire department, police department, city and street departments, the business, and the entire community for their effort and work making it a good weekend.
The meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m.