Regular Meeting of Burns

CITY OF NOWTHEN REGULAR ROAD & BRIDGE MEETING TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2016 7:00 P.M.

Present: Al Viall Dana Henjim Randy Bettinger Phil Nicholas Joe Glaze Perry Olson Bill Schulz

Guests: Jeff Pilon Mary Rainville

 Meeting called to order by Phil @ 7:00 PM.

 Amend/Approve Agenda –

Al made a motion to approve July 19, 2016 Agenda. Phil Seconded. All in favor, motion carried.

 Amend/Approve June 21, 2016 Meeting Minutes

Al made a motion to approve R & B June 21, 2016 Meeting Minutes. Phil seconded. All in favor, motion carried.

1) Floor Items – None

2) Old Business –

a) Road Repair – Funding Sources

Al stated that we have to find a process to build up funds, this should have been done years ago. He asked if anyone else has any ideas.

Perry brought up an idea an old friend of his mentioned. Some cities are able to access some of the gas tax funds taken in by local gas stations. He seems to recall projects in the past, where they’ve been able to tap into this source. If gas is sold in your city, you may have recourse to go after that source of funds. We would need to check with the State, see if that could be a resource. Randy said that is usually where you have to have a population of 5,000, in order to use those funds. Perry said it might still be an idea to look into.

Randy said we would need an assessment policy. Almost every city assesses back City of Nowthen July 19, 2016 Page 2 Road & Bridge Minutes

to the residents, the cost to repair the roads. The assessment would not be forever, but it is a discussion that needs to be started. Perry said that once again, his opinion is to do a study involving both the residents and business owners. Knowing we have to do a public hearing, we should get some feedback first. After receiving back an “anonymous survey”, you would have a pretty good idea what the feeling would be. The Council is figuring out the budgets now and we need to get started. Instead of just surprising residents that we’re assessing them, at least include the residents with a survey. Then, the Council can do what they need to do. It would be a short, simple survey, with 2-3 questions to try to get a feel of how the resident or business owner feels about being assessed.

Bill suggested this survey could be sent out with newsletter? That way, it would go to every resident. The possible cost of the survey was discussed, staff’s time, etc. Perry mentioned that we would need to give them a “ballpark figure, so they would have an idea what the assessment would be. This way, with a survey, we’re including the residents. Randy reconfirmed that before you can assess, you still have to have a public hearing, do a Feasibility Study, then have a public hearing. The project would never go forward without a majority of residents approving. In the survey, you would need to address our concerns; there’s a lot of bad roads, and we need to explain our current process and ask for input.

Joe was asked, when you fixed the last roads, how did the City pay for it? He said they’ve been fixing the patches; it’s a good repair and no individual has to pay for that. Bill mentioned that there are additional spots that need to be repaired and that the problem is escalating. Joe would like a figure to get to the Council, this is the time to do it, to increase the Road Improvement Fund. That way, the City would have some idea of the amount we may need to assess. One figure could be $100,000 for the City, so they have something to work with, something to budget. Perry said we need an assessment policy, rather than a figure. One we can use again, year after year. Joe said the policy can be changed, whenever it needs to be.

Randy said this could be a percentage. At the last meeting, there was some discussion on possible cuts on the current budget that could be made. We talked about cutting the budget. Joe said he wasn’t sure where you could cut $50,000 from budget. Randy brought up that Anoka gets assessed for their road repairs.

The Committee reviewed some of the items on the 2016 Budget. Joe stated that if we needed an assessment, it would be up to the Council, not us. But right now, the budget doesn’t include enough to do anything, but to patch the roads. We need to build up the budget, so we can do something. City of Nowthen July 19, 2016 Page 3 Road & Bridge Minutes

Randy stated that the idea is to add to the budget and an assessment is an entirely different matter. Perry’s concern is he’d like all the residents to hear what we’re talking about. Joe said, before we make a recommendation to the Council regarding any assessment, we need figures from Engineering. $50,000 goes in now each year, we would like to add another $50,000 each year. Perry said, if the budget is $1.5 million, and you need $300,000 to fix roads, then we need to find the funds within the $1.5 million. Not add $300,000 to $1.5 million. If some folks feels it’s ok to add $300,000, isn’t that the same as assessment? Do we raise the Levy? Wouldn’t that mean taxes are increased? Randy said this would be spread out amongst property owners, with a minimum charge per resident. Perry said he’s not completely against this. Bill said we have estimates for Watercrest, Ebony & Garnet, Waco, and Old Viking – the overlay would be about $450,000. People should see what these figures are.

Perry said we need a combination of all these ideas. But, he believes cutting the budget is the first goal. One item would be cutting out the Sheriff’s contract, which is approximately $250,000. If we’re asking for a recommendation for a Levy for Road Improvements Funds, the survey would be a good idea for the newsletter in September, so we would need something really quick.

Randy said we need a cost per mile for reconstruction, etc., for a survey. Using a statement like that, ask the question: do you feel taxes should be raised, or would you be willing to be assessed and if so, how much? Perry agrees, we might be amazed at what we find. But, we might see valuable input also. It might cost a couple $100, plus staff time, and mailing and hope people return the surveys. It was suggested it might be a good idea to distribute at the Heritage Festival, but Committee agreed it might be a better idea to limit the survey to residents only.

Phil made a motion to request that the Council add an additional $50,000 to next year’s budget. Al seconded. No votes were heard, motion dropped.

Perry made a motion to have the Survey ready to present to the Council by the next workshop. Bill seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Phil and Dana will work together to have a draft of the survey done in time for the next workshop. It could include the cost per mile and that 25 miles of road are in dire need of repair. Randy said the result we’d like is if they would like the taxes raised, or leave the roads as they are. City of Nowthen July 19, 2016 Page 4 Road & Bridge Minutes

b) Update – Ebony & Garnet -

Joe updated the Committee on Ebony & Garnets progress and that in one area they hit water, and about 450’ of drain tile was installed.

3) New Business –

Perry has some questions regarding items on the 2016 budget & will contact Corrie for further details.

Joe asked Bill for clarification on what part of road he had mentioned at last month’s meeting that was tore up and that Bill stated it wasn’t prepped. Bill said, yes, it could probably have been prepped a little more. It was the first section, in about one half mile from the intersection, and that it is terribly rough. Joe hadn’t noticed any ATV tracks as a cause for the road being tore up. Bill said that there were still other spots, but not the entire road. Randy clarified that Bill had questioned if Joe had adequately prepped the road, before the dust control was done. Joe said he will grade again, if needed. But, in the future won’t waste the funds on dust control, if grading is what’s needed . 4) Meeting Adjourned -

Motion was made by Al to adjourn at 8:00 p.m. Seconded by Phil. All in favor, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Glaze, Maintenance Supervisor