2017 September 13th Meeting Minutes


The Round Lake City Council met in regular session on Wednesday, September, 13th, 2017 at 6:15pm at City Hall.

Council members present were: Paul Cunningham, Court Baumgard, Walon Habben, Gary Larson and Mayor Doug Knuth. Also present were: Abraham Algadi, Regional Economic Development Corporation, Executive Director, Angie Schieck, Robert Lopez, Derek Nelson, Bruce Bentele and Clerk Elaine Walker.

Meeting was called to order by Mayor Doug Knuth at 6:13pm.

Additions to the agenda: CTAS 2017 beginning balance change.

Motion by Habben, second by Cunningham to approve the agenda and the addition to the agenda. All ayes: Carried.

Motion by Larson, second by Baumgard to approve the minutes from August 16th regular and August 30th, 2017 special meetings. All ayes: Carried.

Motion by Baumgard, second by Larson to approve bills and receipts as presented. All ayes: Carried.

Abraham Algadi, REDC, Executive Director – talked to the Council about the Minnesota Department of Transportation application to improve Rohrer Street. As a 10 ton road, it qualifies for a special program through the Local Road Improvement Program. Funding is available for 2018 projects and Abraham will be working with Mayor Knuth and Clerk Elaine Walker to fill out the proper paperwork, deadline is not until December 2017.

Resolution 2017-09-13 – Authorizing the City, its Mayor, Clerk and/or its agents to file an application with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to provide funding to the City of Round Lake to undertake local road reconstruction and related improvements as part of the Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP). Motion to approve by Baumgard, second by Larson. All ayes: Carried.

Robert Lopez – addressed the Council about the letter he had received regarding the number and condition of the vehicles parked on his property. He explained that most of them were from his former shop and he was actively trying to sell them. They are all currently licensed and he said there are around 8-9 on the property at this time. The Council stated that as long as he did not add to the number and continued to seek out buyers for these vehicles, they were ok with it.

Ronald Strike – Building permit for a new wooden deck on the front of his house and the replacing of the boards on his backyard deck. Motion by Baumgard, second by Habben to approve the new front deck and replacement of boards on the back deck. All ayes: Carried.

The Round Lake Fire Department would like to put the old fire truck up for sealed bids. The Council instructed Bruce to take pictures and work with Clerk Elaine to create a flyer for the fire truck. The sale will be subject to the discretion of the seller in regard to the light bar and other related equipment.

A Community member asked about the City’s interest in being a part of the creation and funding of a Veterans’ Memorial in Round Lake. Clerk Elaine will check with the League of Minnesota Cities and the City of Brewster to see what we can legally do in this respect.

2018 Taxes Levy – Motion by Baumgard, second by Larson to approve the proposed budget for the 2018 tax year. All ayes: Carried.

Short Term/ Long Term Disability quote for the City employees – motion by Cunningham, second by Habben to approve the Guardian policy that will be 100% employer paid (roughly $200/mo.) and will show as income on the employee’s W-2. They are setup this way so that the benefits will be tax-free in the event of a claim. Policies to go into effect October 1st, 2017. All ayes: Carried.

CTAS – Clerk Elaine voided 2 checks that were written in 2016, since they have either been replaced or chances are they were thrown away. The total amount is $83.33. In CTAS the program doesn’t automatically recalculate when you void a check, so the account wasn’t able to be balanced. Clerk Elaine called the State Auditor’s office and they suggested getting permission to correct the beginning balances for the two funds that were affected, with the amount of the checks taken into consideration. Motion by Habben, second by Cunningham to allow Clerk Elaine to adjust the General Fund by $30.00 and the Electric Fund by $53.33 for the 2017 starting balance. All ayes: Carried.

Mayor Knuth’s update on Southwest Minnesota Broadband Services meeting. They are working on a questionnaire to use for employee reviews. They have not been doing employee reviews as of yet.

Next Council meeting will be on Wednesday, October 11th, 2017 at 6:15pm.

City Hall will be CLOSED on October 9th, 2017 in observance of Columbus Day.

Motion by Habben to adjourn, second by Cunningham. All ayes: Carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm.