07-27-2020 Regular CCMMeeting of the Elk River City Council
Held at the Elk River City Hall
Monday, July 27, 2020
Members Present: Mayor John Dietz, Councilmembers Garrett Christianson, Nate
Ovall, Matt Westgaard, and Jennifer Wagner
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: City Administrator Calvin Portner, Human Resources Manager
Lauren Wipper, Finance Director Lori Ziemer, IT Manager Seth
Calvin, IT Specialist Bob Pearson, Police Chief Ron Nierenhausen,
Building Maintenance Supervisor Gary Lore, Public Works
Superintendent Tim Sevcik, Public Works Director Justin Femrite,
Chief Wastewater Operator Matt Stevens, Stormwater Coordinator
Brandon Wisner, and City Clerk Tina Allard
I . Call Meeting to Order
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council
was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Dietz.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
3. 2021 Budget
Ms. Ziemer presented her staff report. Various staff presented their departmental
budgets as outlined in the report.
Council
Council consensus increase contractual services for fireworks to $16,500.
Finance
Council consensus to review credit card fees.
Building Maintenance
Councilmember Ovall expressed concerns with keeping up with maintenance on the
multipurpose facility and all its new spaces.
Street Maintenance
Councilmember Westgaard questioned if Council wanted to expand sidewalk
plowing.
Mr. Sevcik indicated costs would be approximately $300,000 with equipment and
staffing.
City Council Minutes
July 27, 2020
Page 2
Mr. Femrite stated a new sidewalk machine is on order and should help staff not to
get as far behind next year.
Mayor Dietz and Councilmember Wagner were not interested in expanding this
program due to financial concerns.
Mr. Portner stated Council may want to consider a vehicle allowance for the public
works director position due to the amount of travel to the various city facilities
overseen by the position.
Mayor Dietz asked for a memo from the city administrator to justify the cost.
Park Maintenance
Councilmember Wagner asked about beautification of medians along Highway 169
and Main Street.
Mr. Sevcik stated the city is only responsible for the northeast corner because
businesses are responsible for the other areas.
She asked about contacting the area businesses to clean up their sites.
Mr. Femrite provided some history, noting the city has struggled with contact and
participation from these corporate property owners. He stated the city may not want
to spend a lot of resources in these areas due to the upcoming 169 Redefine project,
but suggested staff could pull dead stuff and leave the areas as a mulch bed
Mr. Portner further reiterated the difficulty of getting participation.
Councilmember Wagner further suggested having the code enforcement stop by the
businesses.
Mayor Dietz suggested enlisting volunteers for the two-year period to help maintain
the area.
Mr. Femrite noted the Chamber retaining wall is in disrepair. He stated they had a
volunteer group a few years ago but it has wained. He asked if the retaining wall
should be removed but was not sure who the responsibility would fall to.
Engineering
There was discussion about personnel service fees versus professional service fees.
Council consensus was to keep consulting services in the professional service fee
category of the budget.
2012 Capital Outlay
Ms. Ziemer reviewed capital outlay.
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City Council Minutes
July 27, 2020 '
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Page 3
Mr. Portner stated the fire department would bring a future discussion on whether to
eliminate the emergency outdoor warning system program due to today's phone
technology and notifications.
Mayor Dietz felt because of the savings in the 2020 budget, due to the COVID-19
pandemic, he would like to remove about $42,000 worth of items from the 2021
budget and purchase them this year.
4. Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Dietz adjourned the meeting of the Elk
River City Council at 7:11 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Tina Allard
Tina Allard, City Clerk
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