Local News

Wednesday, January 30, 2008


Meeting Watch
Includes: Bertha City Council, Eagle Valley School Board, Bertha-Hewitt School Board, Eagle Bend City Council


Bertha City Council
by Carolynne Bisel
The regular council meeting was held on January 14, 2008. The meeting lasted approximately two hours with one member absent, councilman Rach. Guests present were: Geri Anderson, Dan Almquist, James Gritz, Gary Kleen, Kent Lauwagie, Paul Olson, Alan Shamp, Kathryn Sletto, Marvin and Kim Stokes and Mark Woelfel.
Actions
· Approved the Consent Agenda, which included the minutes from the December 10 meeting, the December disbursements and the building permit for the Bertha Medical Clinic.
· The Council heard a presentation from Kent Louwagie, an engineer from Bolton & Menk, Inc. Louwagie explained the Comprehensive Plan, the design criteria and cost estimates and the application deadlines to MPCA, concerning the Sewer and the wastewater treatment plant needs for the City of Bertha.
· A public hearing was held at 7:15 p.m. The purpose of the hearing was to give the public an opportunity to meet with Kathryn Sletto, the DEED Grant Administrator for the housing rehabilitation project that the City of Bertha is proposing to apply for. The hearing was closed at 7:33 p.m.
· Approved the resolution adopting the 2008 schedule of fees and charges for various services, licenses and permits and the official job designations and annual appointments.
· Accepted the resignation of Dale Schaefer as Public Works Supervisor effective May 01, 2008 and heard the other Staff Reports.
· Granted the request from Janet Umland to attend the Clerk Conference in March.
· Approved Mayer, Porter, Beinhorn & Rowe, Ltd. as the 2008 Auditors for the City of Bertha.
· Approved the insurance package from Peterson Insurance Agency, Inc. for general liability and the employee health insurance plan from Blue Cross BlueShield Blue Plus of Minnesota.
· Accepted the LSS Senior Nutrition Program Site Use Agreement for 2008.
Discussion Without Action
· The Council heard from the new Fire Chief, Gary Kleen. The discussion centered around the purchase of new jackets for the firemen.
· Pete Wallner brought up the new siren that would be installed and wanted to see if the city should keep the old siren. The thought being that it should possibly be placed near the Bertha school where it could be heard in case of an emergency. Also, Wallner said the testing of the new siren would be going on during the week of January 14 through January 18, and for the public to not be concerned with the sporadic testing. The Council agreed to sound the siren at noon, 6 p.m. and once a month on a Wednesday for Civil Defense.
· The Council discussed the idea of centralized services, one building, for the Fire Department, Ambulance and City Hall. The discussion included the possible need to expand the off sale space noting that the growing trend is with an increase in off sale at the municipal liquor store.
· Briefly, the Council discussed the need to keep a key at the community center for the storage room where the circuit breakers are located. Also, the maintenance staff phone numbers will be posted at the center incase of future problems.


Eagle Valley School Board
by Karin L. Nauber
The regular meeting of the Eagle Valley School Board was held on January 14. All members of the board were present. They also held their annual organizational meeting. The meetings lasted approximately two hours.
Actions
The board approved the election of the following officers: chairman-Joel Godding; vice chairman-Sharon Notch; clerk/treasurer-Marie Busch.
The board approved the following yearly details: official newspaper-Independent News Herald; meetings-second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. fluctuating between Clarissa and Eagle Bend; authorized use of a signature machine and Pam Pontius and Superintendent Stephen Twitchell to make electronic transfers; official banks-Star Bank of Eagle Bend, Unity Bank of Clarissa and Liquid Asset Fund; authorized Pontius and Twitchell access to the Imprest Fund; official posting place-east entrance of both buildings; human rights officer and Title IX officer-Deanna Mattson-Millar; substitutue teacher pay-$100 per day; extra-curricular worker pay-$25 per event; mileage-80% of the federal rate about 40 cents per mile; set the per diem; $60 for regular, special and committee meetings and $90 for all day meetings. This is the same as last year. Board Member Tom Eckel voted against the motion because he felt that they should not get paid. Annual salary for clerk/treasurer and chairperson-$500.
The board approved the same admission price for athletic events as last year except for students which rose to $3 instead of $2.50. J. Eckel said that parents of kids participating in an event should be able to get into that event free of charge. Twitchell said they would discuss that at a future meeting.
Approved the consent agenda items of the regular meeting which included: a lane change for Teacher Mark Lundin from 3 to 4 effective October 1, 2007; a schedule change for the high school beginning second semester which increases the lunch period by five minutes per day; the first reading of the financial policy.
Authorized Twitchell to advertise property for sale.
Approved a senior class trip from April 3 to April 6. They will stay at the Grand Rios Water Park and see a Twins game. It will cost each student approximately $70 and at least 20 have to sign up.
Adopted a 2007-2008 calendar revision due to a late notice of the sectional music contest being held at Eagle Valley on March 19.
Reported that the superintendent's evaluation was satisfactory.
Discussion Without Action
Millar said that Principal Mary Merchant from Bertha-Hewitt has requested that the two schools combine a knowledge bowl team and split the costs.
Five minutes has been added to the lunch period daily. Along with this change, menu choices were also discussed. The students will also have access to the gym during the lunch period. Chief of Police Bobby Berndt will come to the school to help supervise students during this time. J. Eckel said that he had talked to some of the teachers at the high school and they are not in favor of the open/free lunch time. Students can only go to the gym or stay in the cafeteria, not go wherever they want. Millar has the authority to make it a closed lunch again if incidents occur or if it gets out of control.
They are also looking at having more of the meals prepared at the elementary building. Currently, the high school has no stove and food is prepared in the microwave or oven.
Twitchell, Godding and Notch will meet with the sports boosters because at this time there is not enough revenue for prom. They are also not getting enough people to help with concessions. Prom is May 9.

Bertha-Hewitt School Board
by Karin L. Nauber
Mick Stokes and Sharon Thiel were absent from the meeting of the school board on January 15. The meeting was 40 minutes in length.
Actions
The board held the annual election of officers for 2008: chair-Jerry Haase; vice chair-Darrell Hoemberg; clerk-Sharon Thiel; treasurer-Sharon Howe.
The board also approved other yearly details including: school depository-Star Bank of Bertha and MSBA Liquid Asset Fund Plus; official newspaper-Independent News Herald; regular meeting-third Wednesday of every month except June (fourth Tuesday) at 7:30 p.m.; board salaries remain the same as last year; mileage was raised to the current federal rate of 50.5 cents per mile.
The board authorized the following to make electronic fund transfers and to conduct financial business for the district: Ann Wachlin, office manager; Robert Sieling, superintendent; Sharon Howe, treasurer; and Jerry Haase, chairman.
Approved a resolution to make reductions if necessary. This is an annual resolution.
Approved the school calendar for 2008-2009 which will schedule graduation before Memorial Day.
Approved the resignation of Rick Mitchell as custodian and the retirement of Nancy Erickson as special education teacher.


Eagle Bend City Council
by Marlo Benning
All members were present at the January 22 meeting that lasted approximately one hour and 20 minutes.
Actions
Approved to send in a compliance report that by law has to be completed and sent in every three years on pay equity. For example, if a female is making less than a male in the same position, the city must correct it, Administrator Kevin Hess noted. The city has been in compliance in the past.
Approved committee appointments after adjustments were made.
Approved to pay Ulteig Engineers $4449 for Engineering services on utility improvements at Park Ave., NW. This included 48 hours of work plus mileage. A payment for $24,743 was also approved to Ulteig for wastewater improvement related services.
Approved to raise the fire department's retirement benefit from $800 to $850 per year of service. If the department would fall short financially, the city agrees to pay the difference by approving this.
Approved the purchase of six radios for the fire department for $2560 and two defibrillators for $2590. Ninety-five percent of the cost will be covered by a FEMA grant.
Approved an ordinance requiring anyone digging in the city's right-of-ways to pay fees and to document any additions to the areas. Approved to publish the ordinance as well.
Retroactively approved the hire of part-time police officer Ron Smith effective December 21, 2007.
Approved to jet and proceed with televising the sewer line from CSAH #22 west to Nelson Street.
Adjusted sick day carryover from year to year from 24 to 30 days and added three additional paid holidays per year for city employees. Currently six sick days are accumulated from hours worked each year.
Discussion without action
Police Chief Bobby Berndt noted a quiet month with no accidents and 26 citations in his monthly report.
The city was awarded $1000 through a disability grant to replace the front and side doors of city hall.
A representative from Arvig Communication Systems presented a cable franchise agreement for council review. He explained the procedure for renewing which includes holding a public hearing. Hess will send to the city attorney for review as well.
marlo@inhnews.com