Ellendale City Council
By SCOTT GROTH
Contributing Writer
The Ellendale City Council met Thursday June 13, with Mayor Swearingen, Councilmen Reiter, Groth and Lassahn present. Councilman Goebel was absent. Also in attendance were Steve Louks, clerk; Josh Otto, maintenance; Pete Paulson, MLS manager; and Matt Arthur.
The Community Center kitchen was brought up for discussion when Louks mentioned to that the Health Inspector had recently stopped by. The inspector, after meeting with Paulson, stopped by the clerk’s office and asked about the kitchen in the Community Center. The inspector’s questions were about what types of groups use the kitchen. Louks was told that groups who use the facility for fund-raisers should get a special use permit. The question was then raised, is the kitchen necessary? The council felt the kitchen is for the most part, one of the main reasons the center gets rented out. After further discussion the council will get some ideas for updates and bring to a future meeting.
After approving the agenda for the evening, Swearingen updated the council on the first agenda item, OSHA compliance. Swearingen reported the city had been given an extension by OSHA until June 24, 2013. Swearingen said the training night had gone well and now the city needs to put into place the Aware Program. Louks and Swearingen have met with individuals from Riverland Community College who would be willing to help the city set up a program. Louks said the city will need to set up a safety committee which should meet quarterly. All departments within the city will need to set safety goals for each year. The council decided to wait to hear the recommendations from Riverland before taking any further action.Otto was next on the agenda with his report for the month. Otto said he had been looking around for a different city pick-up. Otto said he had information on a 2002 F250XLT with a utility box on it. The truck also comes with a snowplow blade. Swearingen said he would be in the area of the truck and would stop and take a look at it. Otto next asked the council to consider purchasing fuel cabinets as required by the OSHA inspection. Otto also informed the council the fire department would be in need of a cabinet also. The council approved the required cabinets at $1100. Otto brought to the council’s attention that he had been in contact with Alliant about repairing some streetlights. However, Alliant told him the lights to be fixed were the responsibility of the city. Swearingen will call Alliant for further information. It was brought to Otto’s attention there are some street corners that have branches blocking the sight of oncoming traffic. The city hopes to work with property owners to make safer intersections.
The claims for the evening were presented. The council approved the claims list as presented.
The council approved the minutes from the May 23 meeting.
Louks had two items. The first was the annual agreement with The Electric Pump Co. This agreement covers the inspection of the seven pumps within the city for $800. The council approved the agreement. Louks next brought to the council’s attention mosquito spraying within the city. Last year the city was sprayed around Ellendale Days and this year the dates are a little earlier. The council moved to have two applications done if possible before Ellendale Days. Each application will cost about $500. The council asked Louks how often the Ellendale Web site is updated, as there has been some inquiry about the site. Louks said the site is updated when some of the bigger events in town are about to happen. Louks also told the council that businesses can run a link from the city’s site to their own site.
Swearingen told the council during his report that at the June 27 meeting there will be a lot of information. The audit should be ready, the street report will be presented and the financing firm will also be here. Swearingen asked the council to mark calendars to make sure everyone was present for the next meeting.
Paulson gave his report. He passed out the spread sheet he makes for the Municipal Liquor Store. Paulson was pleased with the numbers for the year so far. Paulson felt the off-sale was improving and helping the overall numbers. Paulson said new shirts and hats are in. Paulson reviewed with the council some advertising campaigns for the MLS, which were approved by the council.
The next meeting of the Ellendale City Council will be June 27 at 7:30 p.m.