The City Commission Meeting began on Tuesday, October 20th, 2020 at 5:00 PM CT, at City Commission Chambers, 254 2nd Avenue NE, Valley City, ND. Members of the public were not permitted in the Commission Chambers due to COVID-19 and as allowed in ND Executive Order 2020-16.
President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM.
Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Gulmon, and Commissioner Erickson.
Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Deputy Auditor Klein, Fire Chief Magnuson, Police Chief Hatcher, Chad Petersen from KLJ.
Approval of Agenda
No Changes
Approval of Minutes
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve the October 6 and October 12, 2020 Meeting minutes seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
Approval of Consent Agenda
- Approve Application to Block off Street Request from JE Dunn Construction for the dates of 11/2/2020-11/6/2020 on Viking Dr. SW, from 4th Ave SW to VCSU Student Center Drive Way for the Center for the Arts Underground utilities.
- Approve Raffle Permit for North Dakota Hereford Assn. for the date of 12/5/2020 held at the North Dakota Winter Show.
Commissioner Erickson moved to approve the Consent Agenda, seconded by Commissioner Magnuson. Motion carried.
Public Comments
There were no public comments.
New Business
- Form Selection Committee for City Engineering/Planning Services (RFQ). (City Administrator Crawford)
City Administrator Crawford stated we have three companies that turned in for an RFQ. Before we can set time lines we need to form a committee. City Administrator Crawford stated she and Operations Superintendent Klemisch would be on the committee, City Attorney Carlsrud recused himself, President Carlsrud, Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Gulmon, Commissioner Magnuson and Commissioner Bishop all stated they would like to be on the committee. Discussion also took place inviting Dan Bernhardt and/or Lance Coit to fill spots.
Commissioner Gulmon made a motion to form the committee as mentioned inviting Dan and if Dan declines invite Lance, seconded by Commissioner Erickson. Motion carried.
- Consider Final Review and Acceptance for Paving Improvement District No. 121. (KLJ)
Chad Petersen from KLJ stated the seal coat was completed in June satisfactorily and we are working on the final review and acceptance.
Commissioner Magnuson moved to approve, seconded by Commissioner Gulmon. Motion carried.
City Administrator’s Report
City Administrator Crawford stated she received an email from Love’s and there is an issue with the weather and the asphalt plant shutting down. We are evaluating our options.
5th Ave NW has issues between driveways and sidewalks but we want to get the first layer down. There is a meeting tomorrow for our game plan.
Today was the first meeting on the I-94 landslide. In 2021 they will lay out the plans and in 2022 would be the project.
We realized the emergency flood protocols that are currently in place are great but we also realized we don’t have protocols in place for anything else really so we are working on that.
City Administrator Crawford also stated she did a ride along with Brandi from the PD and the crew from the North sanitation route. It was beneficial to see firsthand the process and the issues these employees are facing. With the upcoming snow there are vehicles that need to be moved. The sanitation crew wanted to commend Bob for the work he did on getting several of the branches cleaned up. An issue they also have is yards that have the wooden garbage holders. Sometimes in order to get the can out you have to lift them really high and they can be heavy.
President Carlsrud thanked Gwen and added that on his walks he sees lots of cardboard and encouraged everyone to recycle. If it is recycled it pays for itself but if it goes to the garbage we pay to have it removed.
City Updates & Commission Reports
City Attorney Martineck reported we had 2 applications for the City Planner/Building Inspector position. We will be reviewing those in conjunction with the RFQ process.
Chad Petersen from KLJ updated on Streetscape Phase II that bids were open by the DOT last week and will have more information at the November Finance/Commission meeting. Strata was the low bid at $2,197,000, the Engineering estimate was around $2,180,000. More will be presented at the next meeting so a decision can be made.
Chad Petersen from KLJ provided an update on the 5th Ave project. Two blocks of curb and gutter are complete with three more to go. The sidewalk work is happening and if not already complete the electrical is almost completed up to 12th St. Completion date is set for October 16th but will likely extend beyond that but shouldn’t be by much.
Commissioner Gulmon stated in regards to the COVID situation it would be best if all citizens do our part. Wear masks and encourage businesses to ask customers to wear masks. We need to step up and do a better job.
Commissioner Bishop continued off of Commissioner Gulmon’s statement stating he knows firsthand as he is in quarantine now due to being in close contact.
Mayor Carlsrud reported he was on a call with the Governor and City Mayors and they were calling it a COVID storm due to the escalation. We are at about 41/10,000 active cases. We’ve been doing a good job, we were down to about 25 a week ago. We need to rededicate ourselves to doing the right thing. Kudos to the Public Schools and University along with their employees represent around 2,750 people. Infections in that group are in the range of 20. The school systems are doing a great job and part of that is because they are wearing masks everywhere.
It’s simple, social distance, wash your hands, practice good hygiene and wear a mask when you can’t social distance. Business owners and operators, Fargo is afraid this could move them to red down the road and we don’t want to go there. I invite you to put signs on your door and when you can’t social distance put your mask on. I don’t know how many can afford to be shut down again but I don’t want to see it. Please help and respect the signs on the doors.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:24 PM