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

City of Effie November 13th, 2007 Minutes

In attendance: Mayor Matt David, Council Members: Liza Erickson, Lil Black, Bill Hastings, & T J Grady See attached for list of community members in attendance.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Motion by Grady to approve the Special Meeting minutes, seconded by Liza, MCU. Matt stated that a motion was left off of the regular meeting minutes regarding the recreation infrastructure. Motion by Liza to approve the minutes of the last Regular Meeting including the additional motion, seconded by Matt, MCU.

Sewer Project: Most of the treatment plant is done. All of the lines are in. Wagner will be fixing up problem areas before they leave for the winter. The Boise land purchase closed today. Lil mentioned that the corner of Summit Ave needs to be fixed. Matt will mention it to Wagner.

Streetscape: Tim Johnson wrote a grant for the city requesting $145,863 for lighting, sidewalks, benches, etc. The north side of the flashing light in the center of town is out. Tranette will call North Itasca Electric to place a work order. She will also request that the Christmas decorations be put up soon after Thanksgiving.

Old School: Fred Wass’ equipment is by the school. The materials have been purchased. Matt has been calling to make sure the windows are fixed before it snows again.

Saddle Club: Tranette checked on the 40 acres that used to be the old city dump. The county values the land at $48,700. She found that there are no restrictions on the land because it had been a dump but there were restrictions because the land is zoned “public”. There are “permitted uses” for land zoned public: · Commercial forestry · Agriculture, but not including ag related buildings or feedlots · Public parks and campgrounds, rec areas, etc · Leases for residential and rec purposes · Construction of access roads to remove timber · Extractive and mining uses · Towers meeting the requirements · Transmission and distribution lines and pipelines of public and private utility companies · Temporary Borrow Areas

Matt stated that other people have expressed interest in the land. The land would have to be rezoned in order for the Saddle Club to use it for their arena. Grady stated that the land would need to be tested in order to be sold or leased, and if soil borings are done and it tests positive, then it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. Rose from the Saddle Club said that they need a yes or no from the council now because the Blandin grant is due soon. The council did not feel that they could give an answer at this time.

KAXE: Effie was voted the capitol of community radio. They would like to put up a 4x8 ft sign and would like to know where to put it. The sign was approved by the Hwy 38 Sign Ordinance. Motion by Matt to put the sign by the mosquito, seconded by Liza, MCU.

Old Catholic Church: Tranette received a letter in the mail stating that Dave Olson’s insurance on the building had been cancelled due to non-payment. This is in violation of the contract-for-deed. Kent Nyberg recommended insuring the building right away. Dave’s latest payment is late, and Kent stated that when payment is 45 days late, he will again be in violation of the contract. It was mentioned that Dave may not be living in the area anymore. Tranette will try to contact him.

Biofuel Energy Facility: Bill asked if the electricity produced would be sold to North Itasca Electric. Matt said that it would be sold to Great River Energy. Bill also stated that the reason the plant in Northome didn’t go through was because the time ran out on the permits. He said that people in Effie are dead set against the plant. Grady, Liza, and Matt said that they’ve only heard positive comments about it. Grady said that the longevity of the alcohol plant is 10 years and that he is interested in finding out the longevity of the butanol plant. Matt said that he doesn’t feel comfortable giving Dean an unconditional letter of support without knowing what it will cost the city. The DNR said that the area lands could support the plants needs until the housing market picked up. Matt asked if the council was in support of the plant upon further review. Motion by Liza to continue to research the plant, seconded by Grady, with Bill in opposition, motion carried.

Lil mentioned that she could find cleaning supplies in the community building over the weekend. Matt told her that any council member can charge at Effie Country Service or Jacobson’s and that the cleaning supplies could be purchased there.

The Sled Dog Races will be put on the agenda for next months meeting. Amy Pifher has been attending the meetings.

Tom Boland was not in attendance and will be put on the agenda for next month.

Nothing new to report on the city flags.

Motion by Grady to approve the Claims Not Formally Approved, seconded by Liza, MCU. Motion by Liza to pay the bills, seconded by Bill, MCU.

Motion by Matt to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Bill, MCU.