CITY OF CLAREMONT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024
7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Claremont, Minnesota was held on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. at Claremont City Hall.
Members present: Mayor Tasha Dahl, City Council Members Jacob Klejeski, Krystal Sultze, and Ryan Hedberg. Council Members absent: Deb Ellis.
City staff and others present: City Administrator Elizabeth Sorg, Maintenance Director Casey Dahl, Maintenance Worker Nate Gustafson, City Engineer Derek Olinger, Ann Zylstra, Jim Zylstra, Jeff Louks, Rick Butler, Jamie Cummings, Donna Gregory, Mike Stupka, Jamie Sultze, Jared Sultze, Bill Thornburg, John Baier, Marie Dodds, Scott Eells, Jim Johnson, Cindy Johnson, Keith Cloutier, Karen Jorgensen with the Dodge County Independent, Sheryl Brekke, Peggy Brekke, Kari Striver, Deputy French, and Deputy Purdoehl.
AGENDA
Motion by Sultze to approve the agenda with the addition of a fire department applicant and to move Resolution No. 24-27 under City Engineer, I,1, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC INPUT
None
2025 STREET AND UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS PUBLIC HEARING
Motion by Hedberg to open the public hearing, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
Following is a list of names, their address and a brief summary of what they said at the public hearing:
John Baier, 215 Wheat St, asked how many years would it be assessed and when would they need to repay, he has lived here for 53 years and the city had many businesses then and water bills were low, now most businesses are gone, taxes are high and water bills are high, he would rather see money spent on getting businesses in town than fixing streets, hold the project off for another year at least, it’s not worthwhile.
Mike Stupka, 228 E Front St, what criteria was used to determine what work to do, by state statute assessments can not exceed the amount that the property benefits from the improvement.
Bill Thornberg, 217 Church St, economy hasn’t recovered since covid, people are struggling, interest rates are high, Church Street does not need to be redone, 3rd Street could be redone and could pave Paukert Street, he doesn’t agree with the other areas.
Jeff Louks, 495 Oakview Dr and owns other lots in Oakview, state statute says assessments may not exceed the special benefit, for example he has a bare lot valued at $12,000 and the assessments would be $11,000, which means the lot would need to be worth $23,000 which it wouldn’t be, Oakview road hasn’t changed in 10 years, only 1 bad spot on the street, it will not increase the property value.
Jim Johnson, 580 Oakview Pl, the assessment would be 16 times more than what he paid for one of the lots he owns, there is nothing wrong with the road, he is against it.
Jim Zylstra, 209 Main St, there is a lot of traffic on 3rd St which is mostly from the trailer court and since they use it all the time they should pay for it also, lots of semis on 3rd St also, only problem area is 3rd St between Main and Wheat.
Mike Stupka, assess everyone in town, it’s really not the time, interest rates are going up, city has bigger things to worry about than the streets.
Jeff Louks, don’t put the city in million-dollar debt, do the streets a little at a time.
Marie Dodds, 211 Julia St, totally against it, if there are more houses that are going to be built or brought into the RK&T Development those big trucks and construction equipment will wreck the new road, build up Paukert for the trucks, there are only 2 holes on Julia, one by Oeltjenbruns and one by Butler.
Scott Eells, 213 3rd Pl, he owns one of the lots that butts up to Paukert and he would be assessed but even so it should be done for another exit/entry, his special assessment for his lot where the house it isn’t worth the amount, but Paukert would be.
Rick Butler, only thing wrong with Julia is the 2 holes that were mentioned before, Paukert should have been done years ago and the trucks should be using that, against the project too.
Keith Cloutier, Oak St, nothing wrong with Oak St in front of his house.
Donna Gregory, 3rd St, who actually votes, the council should vote for we the people, the people have spoken and don’t want it so can it be tabled, can the resident’s do it themselves, there are 4 council members voting against all the people that don’t want it.
Mike Stupka, try for a grant, taxes here are too high already.
Donna Gregory, the incoming president has said we are going slash any kind of additional things.
Bill Thornberg, not against the entire project, sanitary sewer should be addressed but some of the streets don’t need to be done yet, put off for another year and see what economy looks like then.
Peggy Brekke, Main St, totally understand what they are all saying but because 3rd Street goes by her house, it needs help now, it is horrible.
Donna Gregory, can’t they do the work themselves?
Rick Butler, ask SEMLM for help, they help a lot of other cities, if we all ban together the city will lose, do 3rd St and let the rest go for a few years.
Donna Gregory, hire local people to do the work. After Gregory mentioned this several times the Mayor said a city can’t hire unlicensed locals to do the work.
Motion by Hedberg to close the public hearing, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda consisted of: Minutes of the October 1, 2024, Regular City Council Meeting, Resolution No. 24-24: Resolution Establishing Polling Place, and Resolution No. 24-25: Certifying Unpaid Bills to Dodge County. Motion by Sultze to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Motion by Klejeski to approve the financial reports, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Klejeski to approve the amended list of bills to be paid, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE
The fire department would like to get a 20’ x 40’ shipping container for training, especially since there are new members. The shipping container is a realistic training tool as they add walls, it simulates a real fire, can watch how fire grows, and can be used several times. It would be placed behind the Fire Hall on gravel. It would be $2100 delivered and would come from the training budget. Motion by Sultze to approve the purchase of the shipping container and approve site placement which is south of the alley behind the Fire Hall, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
Nicole Schamp and Nicholas Schamp applied to be on the fire department. They interviewed both of them and the fire department has already approved them, pending city council approval. Motion by Hedberg to approve Nicholas Schamp to the fire department, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously. Motion by Hedberg to approve Nicole Schamp to the fire department, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
EDA
Nothing at this time.
MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
Maintenance Director Dahl ordered a new heater for the blower room at the wastewater treatment plant. They installed it today and when they turned it on, the power would shut off. They found a loose screw which caused an arc onto the terminal. Ripley Electric will do a temporary fix by running a small panel next to the original panel for $1000. Ripley Electric will get a price for a permanent fix.
PARKS COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
PEOPLESERVICE
Their monthly reports were in the packet.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
Nothing at this time.
CITY ATTORNEY
City Attorney Mark Rahrick was unable to be present at this meeting.
CITY ENGINEER
City Engineer Derek Olinger explained that they recommend repairing or repaving certain streets so that they don’t deteriorate to a worse state causing more costly repairs. Many residents have complained about 3rd Street. There are manholes in Church Street and a few others that are sticking up too far and can wreck the snowplow. When the contractor is in town working, they will show them the manholes that need to be fixed. The council would like Olinger to change the 2025 street and utility improvement project to: 3rd Street and Oak Street as planned before, 2 patches on Julia Street, and manhole cover repairs. Also, as an alternate bid, establish Paukert as a gravel road to a width of 20’. No assessments on the gravel road as notice was not provided for and it will be gravel.
Al-Corn has contacted City Hall, Olinger, and Dodge County about putting an entrance/exit out to County Road 34 and they are working with the county on it.
OLD BUSINESS
David Stein at 300 E Front Street was served the court order to abate nuisance. He has answered the order, the garage is down and has given a written statement that he would have it taken care of within 90 days, which would be January 9. Someone commented that the snowplow will hit the trailer that is parked too close to the road. The council felt he has had plenty of time and since snow is coming, motion by Hedberg to give him 30 days from today to get the property cleaned up, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
Dodge County’s EMS special taxing district discussion will be put off until the beginning of the year.
City Attorney Mark Rahrick drafted a food truck ordinance. Motion by Hedberg to approve Ordinance No. 24-1114 with the spelling of Harmer Park corrected, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
A write-in candidate received the most votes for mayor. Since the candidate did not fill out an Affidavit of Candidacy it was advised to confirm his qualifications. Motion by Hedberg to have Attorney Rahrick contact the successful candidate and request documentation to verify his qualifications, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously. Information gathered during that process will be reviewed at the December city council meeting,
There were 254 people voting in the November 5 general election. Motion by Sultze to approve Resolution No. 24-26: A Resolution Certifying Results of the November 5, 2024 Election, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously. Council reviewed and signed the Abstract of Votes Cast from Dodge County.
Motion by Hedberg to approve Claremont Pub’s 2025 Off-Sale, On-Sale, and Sunday Liquor License, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Klejeski to adjourn the meeting at 8:42 p.m., second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
ATTEST:
_____________________________ ___________________________________
Elizabeth Sorg, City Administrator Tasha Dahl, Mayor