Warba City Council Meeting 

September 12, 2005

The Warba city council meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm.  The pledge of allegiance was read.  All members were present.  There is currently one council vacancy.  Minutes were discussed and a motion was made by Ellen Coffel, seconded by Dana Marrier.  Approved 4-0.  Treasurer’s report was read.  A motion by Niki Mistelske seconded by Ellen Coffel to accept the treasurer’s report.  Approved 4-0.  Bills were read and a motion by Ellen Coffel seconded by Niki Mistelske to pay the bills.  Approved 4-0.  Dana Marrier asked who present was in attendance to run for the vacant council person position.  Only one person, Don Hawk.  Dana Marrier asked Amy Marrier to swear him in.  Don Hawk has filled the vacant council position.  

Utility:  Ken Seibert is waiting to hear back on the siren.  Water testing is going well reported Brian Borgman.  Brian Borgman is trying to get a book regarding how to operate the water tower levels.

Zoning:  Niki Mistelske volunteered for the Zoning Committee lead position.

Community Center:  An exercise group has reformed and would like to use the community center.  ECEF is in danger of being cancelled due to poor turnout.   

Recreation:  Dana Marrier attended the last recreation meeting.  The Rec board is discussing with the school to maintain the bathrooms and maybe repair the dugouts at the baseball field.  There was a brief discussion of looking at purchasing some form of a tractor or maintenance machine to upkeep the recreation park.  Don Hawk is the new recreation board representative. 

Fire:  The next meeting will be October 3, 2005.

Cemetery: The next meeting will be held at the CC at 6:30 p.m. on October 27th, 2005.  

Other:  The annual budget was discussed and Dana Marrier made a motion to accept it as the same as last year and Ellen Coffel seconded it.  Approved 5-0.  Amy Marrier will send a letter out to

Correspondence:  The Bethal Luthern Church sent a Thank You for allowing them to use the community center for their annual benefit dinner.  The P.C.A. sent out the wastewater permit with no changes made since the August 21, 2000 permit.  The P.C.A. sent a copy of a letter that was sent to Scott Keller regarding a release of petroleum that occurred from storage tank facility and it was titled; “Petroleum Storage Tank Release Investigation and Corrective Action.”  The Itasca County Township invited council to their meeting that is held the same night as ours to review the, “Help America Vote Act” equipment.  Also, a letter was sent from the Itasca County Auditor/Treasurer asking for attendance to a meeting on the equipment that they are holding September 14th from 2 to 7 p.m. in the County Board Room.  Since the city has mail in ballots does council want to look into this equipment further?  A quote and agenda of the sidewalk work was mailed to the City Attion: Dana Marrier for review.  LMC sent an invitation to a valuable training opportunity regarding Technology Issues for Cities, which will be held at the Sawmill Inn Wednesday, September 28th from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Itasca County Zoning/Solid Waste sent a letter regarding unacceptable waste being dumped in the Demolition Landfill section at the dump.  There cannot be such materials as paint cans, plastic pails, strapping and packaging material, empty caulk tubes, and a variety of household items in the Demolition section of the landfill.  A letter was sent from John Dimich to Chad Sterle in regards to the Berghammer Property (School).  LMC sent a booklet on Resources and Services they provide to the City.  A letter was sent in regards to low fixed interest rates in special project funding opportunities.  A Certificate of Liability Insurance was sent from the Northern Lights School’s Insurance Company.  MNDOT sent a letter regarding a request for the submittal of projects to be funded up to 80% by federal Enhancement funds, which cover Pedestrian, and Bicycle, Historic, and Scenic and Environmental projects.  A letter was received from the Iron Range Resources JOBZ Program regarding changes found on page 6 and 7 of the 11 of special session law.  LMC sent an invitation to the Annual Conference and Marketplace in Rochester December 1-3.  

Old Business:  Karen Fleming announced to the council that the first week of school went terrific.  They had 80 students attend and have 5 on a waiting list.  Vern Skelly is the schools facility manager, math teacher and technical education teacher.  Karen and Vern reviewed school lease.  Vern also reviewed safety compliance within the school.  Niki Mistelske asked if the buried tank in the back of the school was ever filled.  Vern and Karen do not believe the tank was ever filled.  Lease aide will not be released until approximately 16 items have been dealt with.  An asbestos inspection revealed that the floor tile will have to be removed and a sprinkler system will have to be installed.  They are looking at finishing the garage to add additional space and allow 20 additional students.  Karen Fleming announced that there is a food committee.  They are trying to discover who in the area would work out for catering the school.  The Junction announced that they would be willing to provide cold sandwiches but nothing else.  Using the Community Center as a lunchroom was mentioned.  Amy Marrier explained that the insurance company stated that there would be insurance increases both on behalf of the school and the city.  The school wanted to negotiate the daily rental of the Community Center.  Dana Marrier also wanted to discuss the back lot behind the school.  The school announced that they have been making use of the baseball field.  Dana Marrier mentioned that there was garbage on the Cities property behind the school that needed to be cleaned up.  Dave Hagmann asked Vern to ask where we were at with the purchase of the school.  The contingencies were discussed by council and the school board representatives relating to the purchase agreement by the City.  Niki Mistelske discussed that there were funds available to help aide with cleaning up Brown Fields.  Niki explained that maybe we should try and clean up the old dump and turn it into something meaningful.  CounDana Marrier said the plastic injection company is still interested in the old dump site JOBZ area and would really appreciate it if it were to be cleaned up.  Niki Mistelske is going to look into the Brown Fields at the old city dump location.  Dana Marrier mentioned the Itasca County Approved Burning barrel guidelines and that it is posted at the post office.   

New Business:  Ellen Coffel mentioned that Cole’s city charge account should have specific names so Dana Marrier asked Ellen to go ahead and name only herself, Ken Seibert, and Jerry Carey.  Also, Ellen Coffel mentioned that Fred Bohn contacted her regarding the fact that he recently had to replace his water heater and the city was unable to shut off his water shut off.  Fred had to hire a plumber to fix it.  Don Hawk mentioned that the fire department would like to clean out the Quonset and asked that the city goes halves on the dumpster.  Dana Marrier made a motion that the city of Warba pay half towards a dumpster and Amy Marrier seconded it.  Approved 5-0.  

A motion was made by Amy Marrier to adjourn the meeting seconded by Ellen Coffel.  Approved 5-0.                           

Respectfully submitted, 

Amy Marrier - City Clerk