Draft-Minutes are not official until approved by council at the next regular meeting.

City of Effie August 13th, 2007

Minutes In attendance: All

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Motion by Grady to approve the minutes of the last meeting, seconded by Liza, MCU

OLD BUSINESS:

Rodeo Daze: Matt David thanked the Rodeo Daze Committee and the American Legion for all their hard work to make the weekend a success. It was noted that the vendors would prefer to be stationed at the old school next year. Grady wanted to thank the Bigfork Wilderness Bar which offered a wonderful service by providing a bus that ran from Bigfork to Effie and back. Mike Marthaler mentioned that his pyrotechnic license was expiring and asked if the council would pay to renew it. The fee for renewal is $100, and the license is good for 4 years. Motion by Matt to pay for the license, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Sewer Project: The bid has been awarded. There will be a pre-construction meeting for the sewer committee soon. Kootasca and Midwest Assistance are looking for grants for the individual hook-ups. Chuck Hughes from Boise Cascade wrote a letter stating that Boise Paper Solutions is interested in harvesting the aspen on the 5 acres that the city is purchasing. He said that if they harvested before September 1st, they could harvest with a Cut-to-Length system. This would leave the top and limbs on the site. This method is their second choice. They would prefer to wait until after September 1st and harvest with a Conventional Harvest system. They would be able to remove the full tree and pile the logging slash in one pile to be disposed of by the clearing contractor. Motion by Liza to allow them to harvest the trees after September 1st provided it doesn’t interfere with construction, seconded by Bill, MCU. Matt stated that is was time to begin the process of hiring a Sewer Operator/Superintendent. Motion by Liza to post the job, seconded by Bill, MCU. Matt also said that Chuck Almhjeld has been helping with the preconstruction phase of the project and should be compensated. Motion by Grady to hire Chuck as a contracted worker and to pay him $22/hr, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Ordinances: Bill stated that Jerry was out of town. Bill did find out that it would cost $64/hr to hire the county deputies. He will be talking to Cohasset as they have a contract in place with Itasca County.

Flags: Bill is still waiting to hear from the company. He will be contacting them this week.

Rec Area: The rink has been brushed and looks very nice. The Girl Scouts have paint and are ready to go. The Pam Porter’s crew still have $2276.36 in their fund. Matt received another $400 from First State Bank of Bigfork, which leaves $210 left to raise in order to sealcoat the tennis court. Motion by Grady to donate $210 from the Community Fund, seconded by Liza, MCU. Tranette will call Ferguson Sealcoating to set up the job.

Liza mentioned that Hamburger Helper gives out community grants and maybe Pam Porter could check into it. Matt also mentioned that a sign will be posted at the rec area that thanks the people and businesses which donated time and money.

Joint Powers Board Community Plan: Bill said that there hasn’t been a meeting since the last council meeting. The next one is scheduled for August 29th at 6:30 pm at the Marcell Family Center. Matt will try to attend.

Old School: The estimate for boarding up the 17 windows came to $1600. Motion by Grady to use $1000 of CD interest and $600 from the Community Fund to pay for the boarding, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Flooring: Tom Magni looked at the floor and didn’t figure that he was liable for anything. Grady said that the building committee could have put in a wood floor, tile, or used epoxy and they chose to tile. He feels it is their responsibility. He thinks the floor is holding up alright and that it may have to be addressed sometime in the future but it will be costly.

Streetscape: Matt will be meeting with Brian Anderson to talk about the city’s ideas.

Hwy 38 Leadership Board: Tom Boland said that John Bray has said that the Hwy 38 overlay has been pushed back to 2009. Tom spent 2 days meeting with Congressman Oberstar’s Chief of Staff and learned that Minnesota could get plenty of federal funding but that the problem that has always held this up was Minnesota’s ability to meet the 20% copay.

NEW BUSINESS:

Propane Contract: The city purchased 1500 gallons last year. 800 of these gallons were used; 500 of which are still in the tank. 864 gallons are left on credit which means that the city has over 1300 to use before making a payment. Motion by Grady to sign the propane contract and use the credit to purchase gallons, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Tax Levy: The city has not raised the tax levy since it was set at $15,000. Matt stated that costs for the city are going up and recommended setting the preliminary tax levy at $22,000. Tranette said that the levy can then be lowered but not raised. Motion by Matt to set the preliminary tax levy at $22,000, seconded by Grady, MCU.

It was mentioned that there have been complaints about the cleanliness of the Community Center after it has been rented. Tranette stated that she has not heard any complaints, verbal or written, and as she is the one receiving rental forms and deposit checks, all complaints should go through her.

Tom Boland said that the hospital is again hosting a 3 mile run and 4 ½ mile walk on September 8th.

Bills: Motion by Grady to pay the bills, seconded by Liza, MCU.

The meeting was adjourned.