The regular Beulah City Council meeting of March 2, 2015 was called to order at 7:00 pm at Beulah City Hall by Mayor Darrell Bjerke. Present: Brant Keller, Kathy Kelsch, Ben Lenzen, Roger Gazur, Travis Frey, Kirby Morgenstern, Alan Kok, Clyde Schulz Also Present: City Attorney Scott Solem, City Engineer Loren Daede, Public Works Foreman Kenny Yeager, Economic Development John Phillips, Water/Wastewater Foreman Gary Neuberger, Police Chief Frank Senn, Chris Erickson, Sonja Dutchuk, Vern & Jolene Muscha Pledge of Allegiance Gazur made a motion seconded by Kelsch to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the last regular meeting on February 16 and approve as furnished to the Council by email. Roll call vote found Keller, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Kok abstained. Sonja Dutchuk commented on pool issues. She stated she requested a Pool Board meeting to review pay raises for pool employees and was informed of a job opening posted for a full-time pool manager. Dutchuk stated she cannot work forty hours per week due to her job at the clinic, so she would not be able to reapply for the position. She commented that she was told there were numerous complaints last year. Dutchuk commented the past year ran very smoothly, training was given, and they did not have any major complaints. She commented she would like to see the complaint list. Dutchuk stated she has been guarding for twenty years and has a lot of experience with swimming, was an American Red Cross Instructor for ten years, and is currently pool and spa certified. Associated Pool did not have time to fix problems at the pool and Dutchuk and her husband took time to fix the items. Dutchuk stated she has been asking for meeting minutes and complaints and has not received those from the Board. She stated she believes the increased wage advertised for a new manager should be given to the lifeguards. Bjerke questioned if this issue has been brought to the Pool Board. Dutchuk stated it has not. Gazur questioned what Dutchuk s main concern is. Dutchuk commented her concern is that the pool would go downhill in training. She stated there is a lack of communication from the Board. Kelsch commented we need to keep an eye on this situation. Since the pool is an extension of the City, we need to be informed if there are problems and to address them. Bjerke commented on an agreement with Consolidated Construction Co. to look over the area of the Boeckel Trailer Court and set up a plan for the City. Bjerke stated he approved the agreement. If funding is approved through Housing Finance, this would be a tentative place where the essential service worker apartments and daycare center could be built. He commented on the Surge Fund money to be received by the City. Lenzen commented on 2015 Street Improvement Estimates. Kelsch commented they have been busy meeting with potential developers. Kok made a motion seconded by Schulz to accept the municipal court reports for December and January. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Kok stated Christopher Bailey has been rehired as a police officer. He was
previously let go because he did not have a ND Peace Officer License. He is now approved for a ND license. Keller commented that on February 17 he and a group met with Gene Jordan regarding remote water meters. The cost would be approximately $400 per water account plus additional expense for the device. It will be looked into. Bjerke commented the presentation was very impressive. Discussion followed. Gazur presented the 2015 Summer Temporary Employee Wage Schedule. It shows the $.75 per hour increase that was agreed to at the Employee Relations Committee meeting. Gazur made a motion seconded by Frey to accept the 2015 Summer Temporary Wage Schedule as presented to the Council. Roll call vote found Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Keller was absent. Gazur commented on changing the employment status of Renee Carlson from part-time to fulltime Administrative Assistant with a pay increase. Carlson expressed interest in the full-time position and has accepted the position with a $1 per hour rate increase. This is an approved position and the wage scale has already been approved by the Council. Gazur commented on posting for a part-time Administrative Assistant at an approved salary range of $12.08 - $14.08 per hour. He also commented on posting for a part-time City Assessor at a salary range of $14.00 - $16.00 per hour. The Assessor is an approved position, but it is implementing a new wage scale. Gazer made a motion seconded by Schulz to authorize the posting for a Part-Time City Assessor at a salary range of $14.00 - $16.00 per hour. Roll call vote found Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Keller was absent. Gazur made a motion seconded by Schulz to accept the SRF Task 2, Chapter 2 revision to the District Zoning Code as generated by SRF. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Gazur commented P&Z gave direction to Gary Miller to bring to the Board a formal request with formal drawings of what he was proposing to do. P&Z would then decide what type of formal position they would take. If they decide the proposal is warranted, they may issue a building permit to the applicant. Bjerke commented the workforce housing project is still alive and the location of first choice is Liebelt s land located west of the gymnastic club. Frey commented he serves on Mercer County Fair Board. The board is looking at upgrading the electrical in the beef barn facility. Schulz commented West River Transportation had their quarterly meeting. The Wellness Center Board has had a couple meetings and the Foundation is moving forward. Schulz commented the Pool Board has been meeting to revise the pool policy. The Board received comments from the managers before they started the revision and will ask them to review the policy when they finish. He stated the past few Board meetings were just to review the policy. He commented on the manager position and the posting for a full-time manager. Schulz stated they have asked
Dutchuk not to leave; she is an asset to the pool. There are other positions available that are not full-time. Schulz commented minutes are emailed out to Dutchuk just as they are to him. He commented the job descriptions are also now being updated. Gazur questioned if the Council has the right to remove someone from the Pool Board if needed. Schulz commented within the last eight months there is a whole new Board. He stated the City approves the appointments to the Pool Board and has the right to remove them. Discussion followed. Schulz commented Jolene Muscha is now the new Chairperson of the Pool Board. Morgenstern had no report. Daede commented a sewer line is now being bored under 7 th Street. A manhole will still need to be put in. Daede commented on Street Improvement Estimates. Gazur questioned if there is an engineer s estimate for each of them. Daede stated he does not have them listed but they correspond with the budget. Gazur stated he would still like to see the amount estimated for engineering. Daede stated he will send the estimates out for bids. Solem had no report. Yeager commented they went through flags and replaced some of them, worked on diseased trees, fixed picnic tables in Sun Valley and took down the brackets on Main Street. They also worked on the sucker truck, took recycling to Minot, changed oil on both dump trucks, and cleaned the shop for West River Judging. Ferebee presented a raffle permit for Ducks Unlimited on April 25, 2015 at the Grandview Steakhouse and Lounge. Lenzen made a motion seconded by Gazur to accept the raffle permit as presented. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Ferebee presented a raffle permit for Beulah Education Foundation on March 6, 2015 at the Beulah Middle School for the Carnival. Lenzen made a motion seconded by Kok to approve the raffle permit as presented. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Ferebee recommended the balance in the Police Pension fund be transferred to the Employee Pension fund as of the end of 2014. Gazur made a motion seconded by Lenzen to approve the balance transfer from the Police Pension fund to the Employee Pension fund as presented. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Ferebee commented the City Employee s health insurance through NDPERS will be changing service providers from Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND to Sanford Health Plan. She stated the information provided shows that the plan design remains the same and has met specifications of the existing plan. The bids NDPERS received from Blue Cross included a 19% increase and Sanford Health included a 15% increase. The City s grandfathered status will not change and we will not need to re-enroll. NDPERS has contacted providers so that employees can remain with the doctors they currently use. Bjerke commented on some sessions he attended at the ND Housing Conference in Bismarck. He stated the third story is going up on the hotel in Beulah.
Lenzen inquired into the possibility of using a projector system during Council meetings to show the Council areas in town being discussed. Gazur stated this could be budgeted for. Gazur commented on the Land Use Plan. He stated SRF is already involved in the district zoning code and there are other firms that could be used. Bjerke commented he was impressed with SRF s strategy. Lenzen made a motion seconded by Schulz to approve the bills as presented. Roll call vote found Keller, Kok, Kelsch, Gazur, Morgenstern, Schulz, Frey, and Lenzen in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm Darrell R. Bjerke, Mayor Heather Ferebee, Auditor Check Range: 32151 to 32246, -99891 Payroll Check Range: -82776 to -82712 Employees 68,119.10 FIT 10,683.61 SDU 527.08 FIT 12,377.96 SDU 527.08 AFLAC 802.38 NDPERS 22,269.22 US Federal Contractor Registration 599.00 MDU 11920.29 Frank Senn 478.18 Mainstay Funds 132.92 New York Life 78.13 Marco Inc. NW 7128 4820.00 Bronson's Marketplace 108.13 HAWKINS INC 593.68 USA Blue Book 926.41 Downtown Gas & Auto 4681.58 Farmers Union Oil Company 5619.64 West River Telephone 1456.03 BHG, Inc. 2429.41 Mercer County Treasurer 5151.56 New York Life 1468.20 Mainstay Funds 4675.54 Black Mountain Software 4284.00 Loren Wiest 490.00
WatchGuard 9590.00 Gregg Hoffner 248.68 Magnum Electric 1300.00 Ethanol Products LLC 109.52 Kollman Construction 1650.00 VESSCO, INC 128.73 SRF CONSULTING GROUP INC 3693.71 Coal Country CHC 245.00 L-Tron Corporation 635.10 Butler Machinery Company 907.96 Display Sales 1181.00 Kart-Man LLC 1747.85 DirectMED 149.25 Southwest Business Machines 183.57 Sakakawea Medical Center 15.00 Public Agency Training Council 1050.00 Colonial Research Chemical Corp 149.57 Uniform Center 70.11 Motorola Solutions, Inc. 10104.75 Lonny Buchmann 540.00 Bank of North Dakota 3991.40 Skeels Electric Co. 180.32 Lignite Tire 1728.56 Ramkota 74.70 Beulah Lumber Company 159.98 J-S Sanitation 210.00 ND Dept Of Health 64.00 Presort Plus 11.50 INFORMATION TECH DEPT 160.10 Verizon Wireless 466.16 Roughrider Electric Cooperative Inc 3260.55 Solem Law Office 3927.24 NAPA Auto Parts 1816.19 CDS Administrative Services LLC 208.00 AmeriPride Linen & Apparel Services 332.38 Beulah Airport Authority 8184.76 Interstate Engineering, Inc 15919.71 NDWPCC 40.00 Darrell R Bjerke 100.90 Nancy Bickerstaff 22.15 USA Blue Book 681.87 VESSCO, INC 399.80
Dakota Pump & Control, Inc 1235.00 Mercer County Sheriff's Department 200.00 Obenauer Plumbing 115.56 Uniform Center 864.29 North Dakota Surplus Property 360.00 Quill Corporation 138.05 Mid-States Organized Crime Info 100.00 First Security Bank West 75.00 Galls/Quartermaster 1138.81 Electronic Communications Inc 1025.00 North Dakota One Call Inc 6.60 J & M Hardware Inc 120.33 Sakakawea Medical Center Foundation 20000.00 Joy Ward 50.00 Nathan Hotz 50.00 Dave Leingang 50.00 Trotter Construction 50.00 ND Planning Association 50.00 Gary Neuberger 10.50 Kenny Yeager 10.50 North Dakota Public Health Assoc 30.00 MARC 557.37 Convention & Visitors Bureau 8213.33 POST BOARD 45.00 US Bank 2200.12 Dakota Sanitation Inc 636.00 American General Contractors 5584.90 Sletten Excavating, Inc. 25708.15 Postmaster 361.04 AT&T Mobility 121.13 Darrell R Bjerke 107.90 Dakota Child's Advocacy Center 50.00