CITY OF CLAREMONT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2024
7:00 P.M.
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Claremont, Minnesota was held on Tuesday, October 1, 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, City Attorney Mark Rahrick, City Engineer Derek Olinger, Dodge County Ambulance Director AJ Gengler, PeopleService Representative Nick Viker, Dwayne Lyke, Richard Haberman, Alec Vaughn, and Gary Gray.
AGENDA
Motion by Sultze to approve the agenda, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC INPUT
Alec Vaughn asked if the city spoke to the crew that moved in the houses about the ruts in his ditch on the north side of his property.
CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda consisted of: Minutes of the September 3, 2024, Regular City Council Meeting and Resolution No. 24-12: Certifying Past-Due Bills to Dodge County. Motion by Klejeski to approve the Consent Agenda, second by Sultze. 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 and fire relief have discussed at length about joining the Statewide Volunteer Firefighter Plan, which is administered by PERA. It would move the relief funds invested with their financial advisor to PERA. Tim Kruckeberg is the fire relief treasurer right now and will retire in the next couple years and no one else wants to or knows what needs to be done as treasurer. At any time if the department would change their mind, they can go back to the way it was. Motion by Sultze to approve Resolution No. 24-22: Resolution Opting to Join the Statewide Volunteer Firefighters Plan, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
PLANNING & ZONING COMMITTEE
On September 23, the Planning & Zoning Committee held a meeting for 2 variance requests. Richard Haberman at 140 E Front Street applied for a variance to have an 8-foot-tall fence. Alec Vaughn is Haberman’s neighbor and has had his property surveyed. On the west and east ends of Haberman’s property are accessory structures that have been there since he bought the property, and they are very close to the property line. He built a fence connecting the 2 buildings and put an addition on the top of fence to make it 8 feet tall. The fence is on the property line. Planning & Zoning recommended to the council that Haberman alter the fence to be only 6 feet high, approve the fence to be on the property line, where it is currently, and they recommended Haberman and Vaughn make a fence agreement between themselves.
Alec Vaughn at 140 Hayes Street applied for a variance to have a fence 9 feet high and on the property line. The Planning & Zoning recommended the council approve the variance allowing the fence to be placed on the property line due to the fact that the abutting structures are nearly on the property line, on the west and/or north side of Vaughn’s property the fence has to be 2’ inside the property line, the fence can only be up to 6’ tall, where the fence is abutting the building and very close on the south side the decorative fence can be on either side, and commission members recommend for those 2 to get a fence agreement between themselves. The commission members also said that weeds must be controlled between the fences.
At this meeting, Haberman said he is worried about the snow that will fall between the 2 fences being inches apart, whereas if Vaughn’s fence was 2’ inside his property line it would be easier to clean out the snow and weeds. Motion by Hedberg to deny the variance request for 140 E Front Street to have an 8-foot-high fence, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously. Council gave him 2 weeks to get the fence down to 6 feet. Motion by Sultze to deny the variance request for a 9-foot-high fence and putting the fence on the property line at 120 Hayes Street, second by Klejeski. He must follow city code regarding fences. Motion carried unanimously.
EDA
The council toured one of the Arden Homes before the meeting started. Durand is planning on closing on 2 of the houses in mid-October. The Second Extension Agreement between him and the City will expire November 30, 2024. Motion by Ellis to approve the Second Extension Agreement for Arden Homes, second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
Claremont Service Center turned in the documents for their façade grant reimbursement. Motion by Hedberg to approve the $2500 grant reimbursement, second by Klejeski. Motion carried unanimously.
MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
Nothing at this time.
PARKS COMMITTEE
Nothing at this time.
PEOPLESERVICE
Their monthly reports were in the packet. There is a heater in the blower room at the WWTF which has not been working and could create problems should the power go out. PeopleService Representative Nick Viker will get a quote to fix the heater or buy a new one. Viker also said there is a dehumidifier that quit working. He got an old one to work but it should be replaced. They said to get estimates for a new one.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
Brian Johnson donated $820 for the Harmer Park sign and installation.
Fire Chief Dahl had applied for a Compeer Grant and received it. It is a $10,000 grant and will be used to replace their Jaws of Life equipment.
Sorg checked out the water plant, wastewater plant, and city shop. There were a few items that needed to be cleaned up and inspections will be held monthly.
CITY ATTORNEY
Nothing other than what is on the agenda.
OLD BUSINESS
David Stein at 300 E Front Street was served the Court Order on September 19. He has 20 days to provide an answer in the manner provided for service denying such facts in the Order or 30 days to provide a written plan of abatement.
Mayor Dahl and Administrator Sorg went to another meeting with the 4 cities regarding the DCA EMS Special Taxing District/Joint Powers Board. Dodge Center is willing to give Kasson more than 1 vote or even give up their vote if needed, Kasson wanted at least 2 votes if not more, Mantorville wanted equal votes for every city and Claremont said equal votes for all cities. At these meetings Mayor Dahl has asked repeatedly if the townships have agreed to having no votes and was told yes. Mayor Dahl reached out to the township supervisors and that is not what they have said. The townships said they were supposed to get more information from DCA, and they are still waiting for that. DC Ambulance Director AJ Dengler said they were working with the cities first and a meeting is scheduled with the townships next week. Claremont township member Gary Gray was present and said their township hasn’t received any information for months. Dengler apologized for not getting the information to the townships sooner, but they were working with the cities for agreement first. He asked if the council would agree to having 1 vote per city except Kasson having 2 votes. The township wasn’t invited to the meetings that have been held because the meetings were just for the taxing district, which at this time is just the cities. The townships are thinking they just want to join the joint powers board so they wouldn’t have any voting power. Any city can join the joint powers board also, but then they wouldn’t get a vote and would have to levy for the ambulance service. The levy amount would be the amount that the special taxing district decides. Dengler said that Kasson does deserve more votes due to the coverage area, population, and number of calls. He went to the Mantorville council meeting this week and said they changed their mind and are now fine with 1 vote and Kasson getting 2. He also attended the Kasson council meeting, and they are fine with only 2 votes as some of them wanted more than 2 votes. The council stated they are not comfortable until the townships are informed and on agreement with what is happening. Dengler asked so if they get the townships on board, will the council still say no or yes. The council said they can’t answer until all townships are informed and know what is going on.
The Professional Services Agreement between the city and Water Treatment Consulting and Certification was reviewed. Motion by Dahl to approve the Professional Services Agreement pending the execution of the start date, second by Sultze. Motion by Dahl to amend her motion slightly that the execution of the start date will be determined by the Administrator, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
A resident called asking if they could park a food truck somewhere in town. City Code states it is unlawful for any person to park a vehicle on any street for the purposes of advertising for sale or selling merchandise thereon… Since food trucks are becoming more common, Sorg recommended amending the city ordinance. The council discussed having the parking areas in Henning Park and Harmer Park as good areas or possibly by the water tower, but not on Front Street or any street due to traffic. Attorney Rahrick and Administrator Sorg will work on an amendment to the ordinance.
Since the General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 5 the council meeting needs to be rescheduled. The regular November Council Meeting will be held Thursday, November 14th starting at 7 p.m.
CITY ENGINEER
City Engineer Olinger went over the 2025 Street and Utility Improvements Project and Feasibility Report. The total project cost estimate at this time is $1,025,650 and construction would be the summer of 2025. Motion by Klejeski to approve Resolution No. 24-23: Resolution Receiving Feasibility Report and Calling Hearing on Improvement 2025 Street and Utility Improvements, second by Sultze. Motion carried unanimously. The Improvement Hearing will be November 14 during the regular council meeting.
Motion by Sultze to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 p.m., second by Hedberg. Motion carried unanimously.
ATTEST:
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Elizabeth Sorg, City Administrator Tasha Dahl, Mayor
