Warba City Council Meeting 

March 14, 2005

The Warba city council meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. The pledge of allegiance was read. All members were present. Minutes were discussed and a motion was made by Niki Mistelske, seconded by Jason Foley. Approved 5-0. Treasurer’s report was read. A motion was made by Dana Marrier seconded by Niki Mistelske to accept the treasurer’s report. Approved 5-0. Bills were read and a motion by Jason Foley seconded by Niki Mistelske to pay the bills. Approved 5-0. 

Utility: The Severe Weather siren did work this month. Ken Seibert reported that the city replaced one water pump and motor. We are having some glitches with the controller on one of the two pump systems. Dana Marrier showed the council the filter used to filter the water on the north end of town. Brian Borgman explained that because there has been so much movement with the pumps that it is probably causing the sand and different substances to appear in the water at Marrier Estates. The reason it may be appearing in Marrier Estates homes is because they are at the end of water system line. Brian Borgman said the best thing to do is shut one of the pumps off until a decision is made on the alternate pump. The pump is turning on because it is so sensitive and it shouldn’t be. Just a train going down the tracks has been triggering the pump because of its sensitivity. The pump can be used, but only manually at this time. Dana Marrier expressed his concern for the utility expenses incurred by the city. The city attorney Chad Sterle gave Amy Marrier a revised tower agreement that is to be proposed to Meadows.net in August when the city is up for renewing the current agreement. Dana Marrier explained that he felt this year we should strongly consider raising the water and sewer rates 10% to $30 monthly. The city needs to consider being more prepared for a possible problem happening such as possibly having to drill a new well. Ellen Coffel made a motion to raise the utility rates to $30 per month and send an explanation from Brian Borgman in the utility bill of what happened to the pumps and why we decided to raise the rates, and Jason Foley seconded it. Approved 5-0. Dana Marrier mentioned that Warren Spawn asked to put a street light up at the corner of Hwy. 2 and 10. Ellen Coffel made mention of the automated system that Lake Country Power provides for emergencies for power outages. This system was completely automated and happened to be nonfunctional. Ellen Coffel expressed concerns that how are you to get a human if you had a major emergency with Lake County Power. She sent a letter to management and has received no response. Dana Marrier asked Ellen Coffel to address the same letter to Don Simonson or make contact with her concerns. 

Zoning: Jason Foley reported that the committee was at the final draft on the booklet they have been working on. 

Community Center: Rental rates were discussed again concerning the community center. The discussion was tabled until the April meeting. Gina Saric resigned from her cleaning position at the community center. Dana Marrier said to run the position in the paper for a Wednesday and a Sunday. Amy Marrier will run the position and then she and Ellen Coffel will make a decision as to who will be hired. It was decided that the Community Center should be cleaning once per week. 

Recreation: Nothing this month.

Fire: Ellen Coffel reported that the next meeting is March 15, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. 

Cemetery: Emily Norton is working on a map for the cemetery; the committee is still looking for benches to purchase. April 25th at 4:00 p.m. to discuss what needs to be done before Memorial Day. There has been some movement with the graves. Frank Fairchild is going to be doing the mowing. The next official Cemetery meeting will be October 27 at 6:00 p.m. 

Other: Becky McCauley mentioned some options the city has for a CD that is mature. Becky McCauley said our financial advisor made the recommendation of putting our monies into a mutual fund. A motion was made by Jason Foley to put the CD monies in to a Mutual fund, seconded by Ellen Coffel. Approved 5-0. Becky McCauley requested that the city pay for a copy of Excel for her to do the treasury job. Dana Marrier made a motion to purchase the Excel software necessary to do Becky McCauley’s treasury job, seconded by Ellen Coffel. Approved 5-0. A resolution was received from the American Lung Association that council felt was not in proper format. Amy Marrier is going to mail back the form and request it to be corrected for consideration. Amy Marrier reviewed the Itasca County annual road maintenance contract that is due April 30, 2005. Discussion took place regarding the contract and was tabled until the next meeting. Dana Marrier would like to have a phone at the community center so people know via the message whom to contact for what department within the city. Dana Marrier made a motion to have a phone line installed and Ellen Coffel seconded it. Approved 5-0. Amy Marrier mentioned insurance for Niki Mistelske and Jason Foley. Amy Marrier reviewed the LMC Manual Premium notice.

Correspondence: A letter was received from the MN Dept. of Agriculture regarding a Noxious Weed Training Conference to be held Wednesday March 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The LMC sent out a letter announcing that Steven Davis, the former Chief Financial Officer for Berkley Risk was indicted for allegedly misappropriating fore than $1.5 million of BRAC funds. First Call for Help sent out a packet to be filled out with current information. The Warba food shelf sent out their annual letter asking for a donation from the city. The LMC sent out a booklet and letter regarding financing city government. 

Old Business: Niki Mistelske discussed fund raising drives with Jerry Carey and he felt that he was not personally interested in a project like this but possibly one of his volunteers would be interested. Niki Mistelske is going to be getting together again with Jerry Carey for further discussions regarding the food shelf. 

New Business: Dana Marrier discussed the meeting he had with a company interested in coming into the JOBZ 2020 area. The company is a bottled water company looking to hopefully be in Warba. This business would bring in approximately 7 or better new jobs. 

A motion was made by Amy Marrier to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Niki Mistelske. Approved 5-0. 

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted, Amy Marrier - City Clerk