Town Council Meeting Minutes January 2011

10 January 2011 | Approved: 14 February 2011

The item known as the Approval of the Agenda was mistakenly left off. Georgette Cole moved to approve the agenda. Bill Robertson seconded the motion. The agenda was amended and approved. Vote: 5-0.

Public Appearances

Charlie Challstrom brought up the streetlight conversion project. A discussion about 23 watts vs. 40 watts and the overall cost savings ensued. Ted Kelly moved to approve the 40 watt bulb with the color spectrum chosen by residents for Town streetlights. Georgette Cole seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0.

Approval of Minutes

Georgette Cole moved, Joe Clark seconded that the Town Council minutes for December 13, 2010 be approved. The Clerk was asked to change one of the notations in the Deer Park Bridge Update from Roberts to Robertson and to add the following language to the discussion notes concerning a reimbursement to Gary Hayward for hiring an outside consultant; “This action is not intended to set a precedent”. Vote: 5-0.

Treasurer’s Report

• Georgette Cole moved, Ted Kelly seconded that the Treasurer’s Report for December be accepted. There was a discussion about the Uniform Manual of Financial Reporting, Street Sanitation, Budget Planning and the categories used in the Town budget. Vote: 5-0.
• Bill Roberson moved, Georgette Cole seconded the motion to transfer funds from savings to checking in order to pay bills. Vote: 5-0.
• Treasurers Report 2011-01 pdf

Mayor’s Announcements

• Deer Park Bridge – Mayor Anderson reported that the meeting originally scheduled for January 4, 2011 had to be cancelled as there was no new information to discuss. The Town committee will meet at the beginning of February. There was a discussion about the proposed speed limit, the stability of the road bed under Railroad Street, speed cameras along Railroad Street and the height of the road at the intersections where Hickory and Chestnut meet Railroad Street.
• LOS Committee – Mayor Anderson reported that there was nothing new. M-NCPPC representative Brenda Sandberg’s report will not be available until February or March 2011.
• Mayor Anderson also reported that because of the current budget crisis, the relocation of County service parks may be off of the table for a while.

Council Reports

• The Mayor and Council discussed recycling pickup after a holiday, Town tree trimming priorities, Department of Natural Resources requirements for trimming and removal, liability issues and creating a separate budget category for pruning Town trees.
• Town Council Reports – January 2011 pdf

Joe Clark moved to accept the Council Reports for December 2010, as amended. Georgette Cole seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0.

Ted Kelly moved to approve the posting of the Council Reports for December 2010, as amended, to the Town website. Georgette Cole seconded the motion. Vote: 5-0.

McCathran Hall Rental Policy

Mayor Anderson suggested that public input about this policy be sought in next month’s Bulletin. The top four (4) issues to consider are the fee schedule, frequency of events, types of events and noise. He went on to say that the rental policy should be placed in the next Town Bulletin. A discussion about having the Hall use calendar available on the Town website ensued. Ted Kelly will talk to Bill Saar about a more useable calendar. Mayor Anderson asked the Council to put some thought into this and come to the next meeting with new ideas for the policy.

Begin Budget Discussions for FY 2011-12

With the first budget draft coming in March, the Mayor and Town Council discussed the following; personnel budget, storm water management,
Maple Lake drainage, Mulch Alley clean up, revenue generating items for Memorials and money for gravel. The annual Budget Work Session was scheduled for March 28, 2011.

New Business

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.