Long Prairie City Council Proceedings
City of Long Prairie
7:00 P.M., Monday June 17th, 2024
City Council Meeting Held in Person &
Via-Teleconference
The Long Prairie City Council met in person and by phone at City Hall, 7:00 pm, on Monday June 17th, 2024. Mayor David Wright called the meeting to order with Council members Jim Kreemer, JoAnn Schroeder, Lilah Gripne and City Administrator/Clerk Candace Bruder present. Clint Krueger was absent. Police Chief Ryan Hanson, Officer Trevor Larson, Officer Rodger Lowe, Public Works Director Chad Bosl, Kent Louwagie, Germina Santos, Rafael De La Cruz, Kevin Berrios, Chris Haasser, Otis Ostendorf, and Reggie Lambrecht
Council member Schroeder motioned Kreemer seconded to approve the consent calendar:
a) Approve Agenda for June 17th, 2024 with the addition of new business item #7 – Review Resolution 24-06-17-18 authorizing sale of land.
b) Approve Meeting Minutes for June 3rd, 2024
c) Approve Bills, May-June 2024.
(Public Comment)
Germina Santos, Rafael De La Cruz, and Kevin Berrios were present to discuss a liquor license application. The council did not have the application for review and will need to presented to them at the July 1st council meeting.
(Council Reports)
Public Safety: Council member Kreemer provide and update on the Police and Fire Departments. Calls of service for the police department totaled 233 for the last two weeks. The department was involved in various events for Prairie Days. The Bike Rodeo was successful in giving out all 10 bikes. Starting on June 8th, orange door hangers were used to notify residents of ordinance violations. Chief Hanson has applied for a COPS Grant to assist in funding for a police officer. The Fire Department reached 100 calls for the year. The Fire Department participated in the Prairie Days Parade. The department will be assisting in various Todd County Fair activities from June 26th through June 30th.
Liquor Store. Council member Schroeder provided a Liquor Store report. The liquor store has received and installed the new cooler door.
Parks & Rec: Council member Schroeder reported on the current members for the Park Board. Sue Lowe has requested to come off of the board. The council discussed replacing and adding board members.
Health & Library: Council member Gripne provided update on upcoming Health & Library activities. On Monday July 22 to July 29, all day at the library will be a self-directed “Save Your Food” exhibit. It will show better ways to store food so that you waste less. The exhibit is provided by the State Library Services and the Minnesota Pollution Agency. July 22 and July 23 will provide youngsters with Summer Storytime from 6 to 6:45 pm., babies, preschoolers and school age children are welcome. Health & Wellness, the Hilltop Regional Housing Project will be looking for a letter of support form the city for this project.
Admin, EDA, Tourism, Community Concerns: Mayor Wright provided an update on the next EDA meeting which will be on June 26th, 2024. Mayor Wright and city staff will be coordinating a meeting with Central Bi Products regarding on going odor concerns. Mayor Wright complimented the Police Department and the updated process for handling ordinance violations, specifically the grass and mowing violations.
(Old Business)
The council reviewed the request form the Todd County Fair Board to close 9th ST NE on Sunday June 30th.
Council member Gripne motioned seconded by Kreemer to approve the closure of 9th ST NE on Sunday June 30th for the Todd County Fair. Motion carried.
(New Business)
City Engineer Kent Louwagie with Bolton & Menk presented a memo to the City Council regarding the road project, pavement correction items, and forth coming agreement to complete the pavement on this project. Kent provided a brief recap on how the corrective actions were agreed upon. The agreement will state that the contractor will remove and replace the bituminous base course where it is obviously failing, seal all cracks in the base course and any gaps between the base course and curb, apply an extra heavy tack coat prior to paving the top layer of pavement, when paving the top layer, increase the mat thickness by ½-inch at the crown to provide additional thickness and increase the cross slope, apply a fog seal in 2025, and provide an additional two year warranty. The corrective actions outlined will be at no cost to the city. The city will still have payments for the original project costs for the pavement that are outlined in the contract. The total estimated time is one to two weeks, weather depending, to complete the additional corrective items, along with applying the second layer of pavement. The council discussed this proposed agreement, no decisions were made on the proposed agreement, with the council asking for the final agreement to be presented for approval at the July 1st council meeting.
Mayor Wright motioned seconded by Gripne to table the approval of the decision on the pavement correction items until the official agreement is presented. Motion carried.
The council reviewed the recommendation from the hiring committee for the Utility Clerk Position. The committee is recommending the hiring of Joseph Miller for the Utility Clerk Position.
Council member Gripne motioned seconded by Schroeder to approve the hiring of Joseph Miller to start on July 1st at $22.76 an hour with a 90-Day probation Period. After the 90-Day Probation Period Review, the wage may be raised to $24.00 an hour. Motioned carried.
The council reviewed the recommendations from the hiring committee for the full-time police officer position. The committee would recommend the hiring of Jeremy Puff at $29.77, step 1 of the police officer wage scale. Jeremy currently has been serving as a part-time officer for the City of Long Prairie.
Council member Kreemer motioned seconded by Gripne to approve the hiring of Jeremy Puff at step 1, $29.77, with a start date of June 24th and a 6-month probationary period. Motion Carried.
The council reviewed proposals provided by Police Chief Ryan Hanson for updates related to the Police Departments, Body and Squad Cameras, and the server options needed to store the footage. Our current camera server has reached the end of life, meaning that if it fails or has an error there is no support for the server. Our body camera warranty ends in December of this year. Our squad camera warranty is already over. We have one squad camera system that is not automatically downloaded to our server. The council reviewed the request and proposals from Baycom, Axon, LensLock, and Motorala. Questions were raised about the needed for replacement now and why the equipment needed to be replaced. Chief Hanson provided details on the transition of Watch Guard to Motorola and the compatibility of the equipment with the need for and update server. The city had budgeted $45,900 in the capital equipment fund for the police department to replace the current Motorola/Watch Guard system. The additional expense would come from either Software and Maintenance fund for the department which was budgeted at $30,000 for 2024 or the Police and Fire Emergency Aid funds which totaled $162,000. Through discussion the council would accept the quote from LensLock listed as option 2 in the amount of $82,590.
Council member Schroeder motioned seconded by Kreemer to approve the LensLock lock quote in the amount of $82,590 to purchase body, squad cameras, and to update the server holding this data. Motion carried.
Council member Gripne motioned seconded by Kreemer to approve the budgeting of a $1,750 donation to the Initiative Foundation for 2025. Motion Carried.
Council member Gripne motioned seconded by Kreemer to approve the Gambling Permit request for St. Mary of Mount Carmel Parish for September 8th, 2024. Motion Carried.
The council reviewed resolution 24-06-17-18, which is a correction to resolution 24-06-03-17. The city council approved resolution 24-06-03-17 at the June 3rd meeting authorizing the sale of real property located in the City of Long Prairie SW Industrial Park. Upon review it was determined that additional language was needed in the resolution by Minnesota Management and Budget Department. This additional language is presented in resolution 24-06-17-18 for council approval.
Council member Kreemer motioned seconded by Gripne to approve resolution 24-06-17-18 authorizing the sale of land within the City of Long Prairie. Motion Carried.
CITY OF LONG PRAIRIE
RESOLUTION NO. 24-06-17-18
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF REAL PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE CITY OF LONG PRAIRIE
Said Resolution is on file at City Hall and may be viewed Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
There being no further business, motioned by Gripne seconded by Krueger to adjourn the meeting at 8:24 p.m.
Candace Bruder,
City Administrator/Clerk
David Wright,
Mayor
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