City of Effie February 12th, 2007

Minutes In attendance: Matt David, Liza Erickson, Bill Hastings, and T.J. Grady

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Motion by Matt to approve the minutes of the last meeting seconded by Grady, MCU. Motion by Matt to approve the minutes of the Public Hearing, with the following changes: 1. Requirements to hook-up would be the law if the council adopted that resolution. 2. Existing septics will need to be filled with sand also, seconded by Grady, MCU.

Streetscape: John Bray, Brian Larson – Project Engineer, and Kevin Rohling from MnDOT spoke about the 2008-2009 Hwy 38 road overlay. The streetscape that the City of Effie had written to MnDOT about will not be included in this project. They suggested making a comprehensive plan, which Matt said residents could have input on, have the Hwy 38 Leadership Board petition for Effie, and ask Tim Johnson to write the grants. John Bray spoke about the specific things requested in the city’s letter. He suggested having short and long-term plans. Brian Larson stated that wider shoulders along Hwy 38 from Bigfork to Effie would be much safer, but the right-of-way is restricted and so are the funds, but the shoulders within the city limits will be looked at. However, wider shoulders outside of the city limits could be considered for the long-term plan. Construction will include working on the catch basins. Broken curbs and gutter drains will not be addressed in the first project. He did say that street lights from Hwy 1 to Hwy 38 could be possible. Brian Larson said that they had talked about removing the red flashing light in the middle of town. The council and citizens talked about different options; such as having a two-way stop with flashing lights on the stop signs, a four-way stop with event signing, a stoplight, etc. Hidden signs are an issue in Effie because of where cars are parked at the café and gas station. Brian stated that they will mention that to the traffic engineer. A citizen stated that it was impossible to make a legal turn onto 6 from State Hwy 1 and State Hwy 14. The group said that this was in the jurisdiction of the Bemidji department, but that they would talk to them about it. Brian will be working with Tim Johnson on long-term plans for the streetscape. The city will need special congressional permission and funding for this. John stated that transportation funding just has not kept up with the state’s needs, although, now is the time to apply for funding as Congressman Oberstar is the head of the transportation committee.

Sewer Project: Matt stated that the grant application has been submitted and the city won’t find out until the end of March. Kent Nyberg has finished with the right-of-way/easement map and will forward it on to Rural Development. Tranette said that the sewer CD is maturing and asked if the council would want to change it from a 180 day CD to a 90 day CD. The council was in favor of switching to a 90 day CD. Bud Drewlow presented a petition to the council with signatures from 6 households, which is over 10% of the population of Effie, requesting that the council reconsider its position on the city sewer plan and that the council give residents an opportunity for a referendum majority vote. Grady stated that everything has been just preliminary and asked that the citizens have patience. Matt stated that things change with plans and costs, which are just estimates, when dealing with a municipal sewer system design. He said that the council and many professionals are working together to design a system that it best for the community. There were concerns from citizens: · Will the monthly cost being too high? · Does the city have insurance for a failing system? · Is the council responsible for the apartment building not being up to code? · Has the engineering company lied to sell their “product”? · Will the pipes, in fact, be below the frost line, etc? Drewlows stated that the county will approve a non-mound system called a “coffin box” which costs $5000 and has 2 holding tanks that sit in the same amount of space as the existing systems. They said that it should last as long as the system that the city is putting in. They will research it and get back to Liza.

City Flag: Bill stated that he got the original city flag back and that he may have found someone to do the silk screening for more flags.

Sale of Old Church Resolution: Motion made by Matt to approve the resolution, seconded by Grady, MCU.

Ordinances: Bill is waiting for a couple of people to come back from out of town in order to schedule an ordinance committee meeting.

Record Retention Resolution: Motion by Grady to approve the resolution, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Liquor License: Motion by Matt to approve the off sale, on sale, and Sunday liquor licenses for the Neighborhood Tavern, seconded by Grady, MCU.

Range Water: Range Water had a problem and hired an electrician after trying several times to reach Matt. They did not contact Tranette. The electrician did not do anything, but the bill came to $200 which was forwarded on to the city. The council decided not to pay the bill until after more information is gathered. Tranette will write a letter to Range Water including a contact list in case problems arise. Matt has done troubleshooting for them in the past, as sometimes it is unclear where the problem lies, which, in turn, determines who is responsible for the bill. Matt stated that it was his opinion that they needed to bring in their own maintenance man for this from now on. Bill stated that we do not have a lease with them at this time, so they are not responsible and suggested charging them a water tax. Tranette will put a lease together.

Other Business: A resident stated that the city needs a nuisance ordinance. The council replied that the ordinance committee is working on it. Another resident asked if the livestock ordinance will be addressed as well. Bill replied that all of the ordinances will be looked at and redone. He said that the ordinance committee consists of Lil, Bill, Jerry, and Corky. The committee will recommend new ordinances and changes to old ordinances to the council. The council will then decide on approving them. Liza stated that the livestock ordinance states that residents just need special permission from the council to have livestock within the city limits. Bill said that the current ordinances have no repercussions and need law enforcement. Liza stated that she believed that no one on the council was against allowing livestock within the city limits. Tom Boland asked if the council was going to add any more computer hours. Tranette stated that currently only one person has been using the computer on Tuesdays. Tom asked if the computer could be open on council nights. Tranette said that she would unlock it on those nights. Grady stated that there is no new information on the floor tile. Liza asked if Grady could get a hold of Tom Magni to ask about it. Tranette stated that she would contact the Sheriff’s Department to find out why the new addresses have not been implemented.

Bills: Motion by Bill to pay the bills, except Liesch and the $200 Ranger Water bill, seconded by Liza, MCU.

The meeting was adjourned.