City Administrator/Clerk Wendy Meyer to retire May 4, 2018
Preceding their regular Tuesday evening, December 5 meeting, members of the Mountain Lake City Council held a public meeting to discuss the 2018 City Budget.
Discussion topics included:
- Review of the history of Local Government Aid (LGA).
- The annual transfer of $120,000 from the utility to the city. At their last meeting, the Utility Commission went on record that the transfer should be discontinued. Commission members realize that eliminating the transfer from the 2018 City Budget in December does not give the council sufficient time to adjust the budget. The maximum levy increase for 2018, as set in the preliminary budget, is 4%. To replace the transfer, the levy would need to be increased an additional 18.6%.
- The budgets of individual departments and capital purchases.
- Council members agreed that better communication with the street department is needed, as there is no board or commission that oversees these city employees. The Streets and Parks Superintendent will be asked to attend one of the council’s two monthly meetings.
- A citizen complaint about the Mountain Lake Police Department was raised, and will be investigated.
Need for a new city administrator/clerk in five months
Current Mountain Lake City Administrator/Clerk Wendy Meyer presented her resignation to council members. Her final day of work will be May 4, 2018.
The council accepted the resignation and thanked Meyer for her service.
In other business
+ Set the 2018 levy at $644,431.94, an increase of 3% over 2017.
+ Adopted a resolution establishing procedures relating to compliance with reimbursement bond regulations under the Internal Revenue Code. By adopting this ordinance, the city is declaring its intent to reimburse itself for costs incurred prior to receiving funding for a project. Wastewater treatment facility costs that will be incurred prior to the city receiving Public Facilities Authority (PFA) were discussed.
+ Transferred ownership of the Mountain Lake Commercial Park from the city to the Mountain Lake Economic Development Authority (EDA). The land was purchased by the city because EDAs are prohibited from owning land outside city limits. Since that purchase, the land has been annexed into the city.
+ Heard a review of the Mediacom Franchise Agreement from Mountain Lake City Attorney Maryellen Suhrhoff. The city does not have a right-of-way ordinance, and does not require that a permit be applied for and issued before utility work is done in the right-of-way. A public hearing on the agreement will be held at the Tuesday, December 19 regular council meeting.
+ In connection with that topic, learned from City Attorney Suhrhoff that new telecommunications provisions (small cellular wireless) were passed by the 2017 Minnesota Legislature. In response, she is recommending that the city adopt a right-of-way ordinance that addresses these and other issues. She suggested a committee be formed to draft an ordinance. Mountain Lake City Council Member Dana Kass volunteered to serve on the committee, along with Administrator Meyer, Suhrhoff and an electric department employee.
+ Briefly reviewed the efforts of the police department and city attorney to address public nuisances and noise complaints.
+ Approved partial payment #3 in the amount of $260,802.84 to the Mountain Lake Commercial Park’s general contractor, GM Contracting of Lake Crystal.
+ Approved the hiring of Andrew Klassen to Mountain Lake Fire & Rescue, effective December 5, 2017.
+ Accepted a $2,000 gift from the Fire Relief Association.
+ Heard from Jason Kruser during Public Forum. Kruser asked when the burn site had closed for the season. It was explained that the date is not fixed, but is determined by the weather. He was unaware that a key can be picked up at city hall by residents (with a $20 deposit, reimbursed upon return of the key) when the burn site is not open. Kruser suggested the information should be on a sign at the burn site and on the city’s website.
+ The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, December 19, 6:30 p.m., in the Mountain Lake City Council Chambers.
2017 meeting schedule
Council meetings will be held on the traditional first and third Mondays of the month – with the exception of:
- The second meeting in June had been rescheduled to Thursday, June 22 due to the annual Pow Wow celebration.
- Both July meetings were rescheduled to the Fourth of July on Tuesday, July 4. The first meeting of the month will be Monday, July 10 and the second, July 24.
- The first meeting in September has been shifted to Tuesday, September 5 due to the observance of Labor Day on Monday, September 4.
- New dates have been scheduled for both meetings in December due to local school holiday events. The first meeting of the month will be on Tuesday, December 5 and the second on Tuesday, December 19.
- Meeting start times are 7 p.m.
City of Mountain Lake Meeting Dates
+ Mountain Lake City Council meets the first and third Mondays of every month at 7 p.m.
+ Utilities Commission meets the second and fourth Thursdays of every month at 7 a.m.
+ Economic Development Authority (EDA) meets the second Friday of every month at 12 noon.
+ Lake Commission meets the second Monday of every month at 6:30 p.m.
+ Library Board meets the second Wednesday of every month at 4:45 p.m.
+ Police Commission meets the second Thursday of every month at 7 p.m.
+ Planning and Zoning meets the last Monday of the month, if needed.
+ Tree Commission meets quarterly – January, April, July and October – at 7:45 p.m.
