CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Brad Foss called to order a regular meeting of the City of St. Croix Falls Common Council on Monday, August 28, 2006 at 7:08 p.m. Roll call: Councilpersons Darrell Anderson, Lori Erickson and Arnie Carlson were present. Jon Cermin was absent. Also present: Administrator Ed Emerson, Clerk Bonita Leggitt, Attorney Brian Nodolf, Police Chief Paul Lindholm, Chris Strom of Cedar Corp, the public and the press. All Present joined in the salute to the flag.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Lori Erickson moved to approve the Minutes of the August 14, 2006 Council Meeting, second by Darrell Anderson, voice vote, motion passed.

REPORTS OF PUBLIC OFFICALS

Arnie Carlson: Matt Sontag will be preparing a WiFi proposal and feasibility report for wireless internet.

Watering and Burning Bans have been lifted.

APPROVAL OF CLAIMS

General Fund $11,042.37, Water $1,758.65, Sewer $3,556.70 Darrell Anderson moved to approve claims, second by Lori Erickson, roll call vote, 3 ayes, 1 absent, motion passed.

NEW BUSINESS

Consider Phased Approach for Water Well System Improvements

Gilbert Gabanski, Hydrologist with GTG Consultants and Dan Nubbe and Nick Schultz of Mineral Plus have reviewed the City’s wells and believe that inactive Well #3 could be made viable by air scrubbing, increasing diameter of bore and pumping out sand, as this well is currently not in use there would be no impact on water system. It would cost $500 to pull the pump and then $185 per hour to run process, 24 hours after start of process we should be able to tell if process is worth continuing, estimates do not include any repair cost to the pump. With another well operating City will have ability to take another well off line for maintenance, with maintenance volume of other wells could be increased.

Darrell Anderson moved to authorize Mineral Point Plus to work on Well #3 for a cost not to exceed $7,500, second by Arnie Carlson, roll call vote, 3 ayes, 1 absent, motion passed.

Consider “Eco-Village” Concept for Rousselow Lands

Paul Anderson of Partners & Sirney Architects and Shannon Somers: Eco Villages are economically and ecologically sustainable communities designed with nature and incorporate principals of “new urbanism”. Aim is for a Gold Leed Rating, intent is to keep quality of building materials high by saving space through small layouts with shared extra spaces so as to keep homes affordable.

Consider Approval of Operators Permits

Lori Erickson moved to approve Operators Permits for Mindi Zappa, Trisha Swagger, Stephanie Greene, Elizabeth Bona, Erin Hultman, Kelsie Schjenken, and Nikki Gehrke, second by Arnie Carlson, voice vote, motion passed.

Consider CSM for 3.5 Acre “Maple Blufflands” Property

Through the approval process for a housing development south of Menards, Greg Radefelt agreed to deed wooded sloped area along Maple Dr to the City as part of his Park Dedication, Lot 1 of the proposed CSM would be deeded to the City at no cost to the City.

Arnie Carlson moved to approve the CSM for the Maple Blufflands, second by Lori Erickson, voice vote, motion passed.

Consider Continuation of Deer Hunting in City Limits

Police Chief Paul Lindholm: Deer Committee met last night and reviewed tally of deer survey, majority were in favor on continuation of hunting.

Lori Erickson moved to authorize continuation of archery deer hunting in the City limits, second by Darrell Anderson, voice vote, motion passed.

Consider Request of Crystal and St Croix Tavern to Close Portion of Thompson Parkway on September 24^th – Packers Football Game

Mary Abrams of the Crystal Tavern and Kathy Cross of the St Croix Tavern have requested that a portion of Thompson Parkway be closed on September 24^th for a tailgate party during the Packers Football game from 10am to an hour after the end of the game. Police Chief Lindholm recommended approval of the request, noting that he had spoke to the City Crew and would work with them for placement of barricades.

Darrell Anderson noted that neighboring businesses and property owners need to be informed and on board with what is being proposed.

Lori Erickson moved to approve the request to close off a portion of Thompson Parkway from 10 am to 5 pm on September 24^th contingent upon notification of neighbors, second by Arnie Carlson, voice vote, motion passed.

Arnie Carlson moved to take Agenda Item 8i, Consider Closed Session, next, second by Lori Erickson, voice vote, motion passed.

Consider Closed Session Pursuant to State Statute 19.85 (1)(e) and 19.85 (1)(g) to Deliberate the Purchase of River Street Properties, to Consider the Investment of Public Funds, and to Confer with Legal Counsel Concerning Strategy to be Adopted by the Body in Respect to Litigation as these items relate to the City Waste-Water Treatment Plant; and Pursuant to State Statute 19.85(1)(g) and 19.85 (1)(e) to confer with Legal Counsel and Deliberate the Securing of an Option to Purchase the Old Holiday Store Building.

Lori Erickson moved to enter Closed Session Pursuant to State Statute 19.85 (1)(e) and 19.85 (1)(g) to Deliberate the Purchase of River Street Properties, to Consider the Investment of Public Funds, and to Confer with Legal Counsel Concerning Strategy to be Adopted by the Body in Respect to Litigation as these items relate to the City Waste-Water Treatment Plant; and Pursuant to State Statute 19.85(1)(g) and 19.85 (1)(e) to confer with Legal Counsel and Deliberate the Securing of an Option to Purchase the Old Holiday Store Building, second by Arnie Carlson, roll call vote, 3 ayes, 1 absent, motion passed.

Arnie Carlson moved to reconvene in open session, second by Lori Erickson, voice vote, motion passed.

Consider Any Action From Closed Session

Arnie Carlson moved to authorize Administrator Emerson to solicit Requests for Proposals for an update to the Waste Water Treatment Facility Plan, second by Darrell Anderson, voice vote, motion passed.

Mayor Foss noted that the purpose of the update was to determine if the existing Treatment Plant could be re-tooled to serve the City’s needs.

Ronald Hamburg, Army Corp of Engineers: Corp has contract with Ayers & Assoc, if City hires another firm to update Facility Plan, information included in Plan may not be usable by the Corp and costs incurred would not be eligible for City’s cost share. If you want to look at utilizing the existing plant Ayer’s contract could be expanded to do so.

Consider Budget Overview: Louisiana Street Project Expenses

Chris Strom, Cedar Corp: adding 5% to account for increased material costs due to delay in starting project, resulting in a preliminary cost estimate of $1.9 million. The City has a MSIP Grant of $459,138 towards the project and Xcel’s share is $538,000, leaving a balance of $902,862, portion of costs for water and sewer lines could be allocated to the Water and Sewer Utilities.

Darrell Anderson moved to table Agenda Items 8h, Consideration of Adopting the Main Street Approach to City Revolving Loan Funds and 8i,Consideration of Adopting the 2030 Challenge for New Construction, second by Lori Erickson, voice vote, motion passed.

ADJOURNMENT

Darrell Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Lori Erickson, voice vote, motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 10:55 pm.

Brad Foss, Mayor Bonita Leggitt, City Clerk