February 5, 2014

The City Council of Comfrey met in regular session Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 7:00 PM in the community center with all members present. Mayor Richter presided.

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was recited.

Oath of Office was administered by Paul Muske to Councilor Rick Kastner.

            The agenda was approved as presented.

            January 6, 2014 regular meeting minutes were read and approved on motion of Arnsdorf, seconded by Evers and carried unanimously.

On motion of Evers, seconded by Schmitt and carried unanimously, the following bills were approved:

Alliant Energy

Electricity - December

$       2,367.25

Choice Financial

Replenish Petty Cash - Postage, misc supplies

$           71.02

Clements Lumber

Florescent bulbs, panels for shop,

$         236.34

Comfrey C-Store

Fuel

$         912.19

Comfrey Fire Dept

Expenses

$       1,817.26

Comfrey First Responders

Vaccinations

$           80.00

Comfrey Times

Publications

$         318.97

Electric Pump

Service call and repair - WWTP

$         809.20

Forms & Systems of Minnesota

Police Citations

$         495.04

Gene Friesen

Windshield Wipers for City Truck -Mileage

$           53.30

Frontier

Telephone/Internet - January

$         455.25

Gopher State One-Call

Annual Fee and 1 locate

$         105.90

Hawkins

Tank Demurrage

$             5.00

Heiderscheidt Digging, Inc

Snow Removal and WWTP pipe break

$       1,650.00

Indoff Incorporated

Expanding file, note pads

$           34.18

League of Minnesota Cities

Police CE - Patrol Subscription

$           85.00

Library

Bills and Wages

$       1,637.74

Jim Meyer

Squad car laptop, wiper blades, str whl cvr, files

$       1,390.48

Muske, Muske & Suhrhoff

Professional Services

$         162.00

Payroll Expense

Payroll and Annual Payroll

$       4,968.14

Plunkett's Pest Control

Quarterly Rodent & Insect Control

$         108.16

Running’s

Brake cleaner, seafoam, reflect jacket & sweatshirt

$         145.80

Schwarzrock, Eric

Police laptop

$         112.50

Utility Consultants, Inc

WWTP Tests

$         190.50

Verizon Wireless

Police Cell Phone - January

$           67.36

Waste Management

Res. Garbage pickup - December

$       1,242.40

 Fire Chief Warner reported the Comfrey Fire Department did lose 12 sections of Adrian Township and now will serve sections 1 – 6 with the Darfur Fire Department serving the remaining sections. Warner stated it has to do with 911 dispatching and the location of the City of Darfur in relation to the township. The annual fire department and township meeting will be at 7:30 on Tuesday, February 25, 2014.

The January financial report will be reviewed at the next meeting.

Police Chief Meyer presented the monthly police report. He reported his laptop for the squad car was ordered and is set up. The total cost was $1336 but costs do include all of the software and accessories he needs to have it work in the car.

Public Works Director Berberich reported the continued cold has caused several problems. We did have one water main break and also a break out at the waste water treatment plant. A line has also frozen up out there due to one of the pumps being down and needing to be pumped manually. Heiderscheidt’s have been in town twice to help remove snow. He has been trying to do the majority of the snow removal on his own. Berberich also notified the council the post office lights are in need of repair and he is having a hard time getting parts. He would like to look into replacing the fixtures and will bring pricing to a future meeting.

Arnsdorf presented the library board report. They held election of officers with Darlene Arnsdorf as President, Carol Hayes as Vice President and Jessica Nachreiner and Jennifer Redman sharing the Secretary/Treasurer position

John Schmitt was appointed as the City of Comfrey Emergency Manager on a motion by Arnsdorf, seconded by Evers and carried unanimously.

It was decided to hire Moonlight Floor Cleaning to wax and polish the municipal building floors after the winter season at a cost similar to last year of $3600. A motion was made by Arnsdorf, seconded by Evers and carried unanimously.

Board of Equalization is scheduled for Monday, April 21, 2014 at 7:00 PM in the community center. The appropriate notice will be published in the Comfrey Times. Councilor Kastner let the council know he would not be available that evening.

The 2013 clerk-treasurer report was reviewed and approved on motion of Evers, seconded by Schmitt and carried unanimously.

The first reading of Ordinance #172, an amendment to Section 1 of Ordinance #157 stating the utility deposit may be refunded before termination of service if the customer has a payment history with no delinquencies for a period of 12 consecutive months.

Approval was given to the Comfrey Bar & Grill for an On Sale, Off Sale and Sunday liquor license on motion made by Arnsdorf, seconded by Schmitt and carried unanimously. Because the City licensing period is July 1st to June 30th, a license renewal will need to be done in 3 months. A motion was made by Arnsdorf, seconded by Schmitt and carried unanimously to prorate the license charges to the extent allowable for the initial license period of March 10th, 2014 to June 30th, 2014.

The March council meeting time was changed to 5:00 PM on Monday, March 3, 2014 due to scheduling conflicts on motion of Evers, seconded by Schmitt and carried unanimously.

Community Center fees will be waived on April 15 and October 21, 2014 for Brown County Triad meetings on motion by Arnsdorf, seconded by Evers and carried unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned on motion of Arnsdorf, seconded by Kastner.