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Lanesboro City Council Regular Meeting
Monday, July 7th, 2008
Council Chambers at 5:30 p.m.

Present: Steve Rahn, Kevin Drake, Joe O’Connor, Tom Dybing and Vince Jeannette
Absent:
Visitors: Robert Thompson, Jan Meyer, Jade Wangen, John Pieper, Jim Ostrem, Kate O’Neary, David Drake, Lois Peterson, Margo Underwood (Waste Management), Geno Wente (Waste Management), Dillon Dombrovski (Yaggy Colby), Gordon & Virginia Gullickson

REGULAR MEETING:
The regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Steve Rahn.
The agenda was approved, with the additions of Farmer’s Market concerns with Amish, Date change for Sandwich board permits, 3.2 liquor permits, tobacco permits and games permits, with a motion by Dybing, second by Jeannette, motion carried.
The minutes from the Regular Meeting on June 16th, 2008, were approved with a motion by Dybing, second Jeannette, motion carried.
The minutes from the two Emergency Meetings held on June 9th and June 11th were approved with a motion by Jeannette, second Dybing, motion carried.

PERSONS WITH BUSINESS BEFORE THE COUNCIL:
LHPA (Lanesboro Historic Preservation Association): Board Members were present
Ostrem led off the discussion, noting that Experience Works or the Green Thumb program could no longer staff the museum and that a paid employee would have to be considered. Ostrem stated that the hand out given to Council members before the weekend states what the committee is asking for. Ostrem said that with the Museum being a City building and a benefit to the community that he and the board felt that the City could give a sum of money to help fund staffing. The Board is asking for $6,000 or $7,000 from the City as a one time fee for the year. Ostrem stated that the money would be then used by the committee to hire staff for the Museum. O’Neary stated that any amount of money would be fine, that they were seeking as much of the dollar amounts requested as possible. Mayor Rahn thanked the board for their work and stated that we would look into the possibility during the budgeting process.
Kate O’NEARY: Art in the Park (street) complaint
O’Neary mentioned that she would appreciate in the future, that if the City gives a pubic property permit that they require those obtaining the permit to be considerate to property owners affected. O’Neary felt that the coordinators of Art in the Park were rude and intimidating and that she made a simple request to move the band, and it was not until threatened lawsuit for which anyone responded. She said she was glad that the Art in the Park worked well on the street by her business, on West Coffee Street, but asked that in the future they need to work with people that are affected. O’Neary thanked the Council for their time.
Margo Underwood and Geno Wente from Waste Management: Garbage Issues
Underwood introduced Wente as Lanesboro’s new contact for garbage services. The first issue discussed was the weight issues of the trucks and the damage they are doing to the alleys. Wente answered by stating that currently Waste Management did not have any smaller trucks, but felt that the most recent trucks purchased may be beneficial. He stated he would look into that option and get back to the City. Underwood then thanked the Council for allowing the recycle bins throughout the City; she noted that she and Waste Management were happy to be a part of this new program! Underwood then handed out a sheet with some rate changes. The rates that were affected were for the garbage bag rates, can rates and environment charges. Vickerman noted that the rates for garbage were adjusted to pay for the extra environmental charges and that the end users of the carts and bags would be paying the cost differential for those items. Rahn made a motion to approve the rate changes, second Jeannette, motion carried.
Dillon Dombrovski from Yaggy Colby: Pleasant Street Bids
Dombrovski presented the six bids for the Pleasant Street bids. O’Connor made a motion to award the contract and accept the bid of Winona Mechanical as low bidder at $102,079, second Dybing, motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Park: June 20th, 2008 – Vickerman
The Park Board discussed the new tree ordinance. The Park TMI group was discussed too. It was noted that all the work that the TMI group did was damaged by the recent flooding. Will work with the TMI Group to see if together we can redo some of the projects.
PU: June 16th, 2008 – Vickerman
The PU discussed the damaged areas from the recent flooding. Vickerman noted that the Dam may have been damaged above and beyond both sides that were damaged during the flooding, will know more once the FEMA members come around. Also, the WWTP outflow area was damaged and will be fixed after FEMA sees the damage. The Hydro is being installed at the plant and hopefully will be up and running soon!

HOUSEKEEPING:
Flood Update: Vickerman noted that FEMA representatives will be coming around to visit each City. She also noted that the all area meeting will be at the Community Center in Lanesboro on the 9th of July to discuss what the process is.
BBD Fire Relief Association Liquor License and Street Closure: Jeannette made a motion to grant the liquor license and to close the street for the Friday night event to be held on August 1st, second Dybing, Rahn noted to O’Neary that this would be held in front of her building, she responded that she had no problem with the Firefighters as they are always respectful to her, Rahn continued with the vote, motion was carried.
Union Prairie – BBD Bingo: Jeannette made motion to approve the gambling for the BBD event, second Drake, motion carried.
BBD Events Approval: Vickerman noted that this year’s events consisted of volleyball, softball, Beer/Brat Tent with canned beer, arm wrestling, food vendors and craft vendors in the Park and kids’ games. Vickerman asked Meyer, a member of the committee, if she had any items to add. Meyer noted that there will be a Don Ward Historic Walk, Reenactments and that there will not be a teen dance or the car show this year. Rahn made a motion to approve this year’s Buffalo Bill Days events, second Jeannette motion carried. O’Neary asked to let the Committee know to let the parade entries know not to spray water at the spectators, she felt assaulted by last year’s water spraying by the Emil Farqart float.
Road Name for Gravel Back to Old Lumber Yard: Vickerman noted that Kevin Meyer would like the road named for access to his flea market he intends to open. He requested to have it named River’s Edge Market Drive. Council members felt that would be too long. Various suggestions were given. Rahn made a motion to name it River’s Edge Road, second Drake, motion carried.
IRS Mileage Rate: Vickerman noted that the IRS has raised the mileage rate to 58.5 cents per mile. For January 1st, 2008 the Council voted to reimburse mileage at the IRS rate of 50.5 cents per mile. She is asking if the rate should be increased or left the same until 2009. Drake made motion to leave the mileage rate at 50.5 cents per mile, second O’Connor, motion carried.
Farmer’s Market: Amish Question: The Farmer’s Market has had some concerns with the Amish selling in the Park. Members question why they should pay when the Amish do not. The number of Amish selling was also questioned. The Council discussed reasons to allow the Amish, such as tourism, exposure for the Market and the original reason that they allowed the sales, which was the culture of the Amish. Council members understand where the Farmer’s Market vendors are coming from, but feel that they should be able to work together. Mayor Rahn asked for the Farmer’s Markets’ suggestion on how to handle the issue.
Sandwich Board Permits and 3.2 Liquor, Cigarette and Game Permits: Vickerman requested the Council to change the permit dates to the fiscal year – January 1st to December 31st. She noted this would be easier to have the permits due at the same time as the other liquor permits. O’Connor made a motion to approve the change of the permit dates from January 1st to December 31st, second Dybing, motion carried.
Dump Station: Vickerman noted that persons outside of the Lanesboro area have been dumping into our dump station located in the Park for our Campers O’Connor made a motion to roll this issue to the Park Board for their recommendation, second Rahn, motion carried.
Citizens Comments: Marlin Miner asked about the Junk Issues and Health Issues in town. He noted that residents must be held accountable for cleaning up their properties. He also noted that he felt that the Ethanol roll over the week prior was due to excessive speeds, he feels some better patrolling needs to take place. He asked about why the skateboarders are boarding downtown again when a Park was built for them to use. He feels that these items are not being properly watched by the police.

ADJOURN:
At 7:12pm, Jeannette made a motion to adjourn, second O’Connor, motion carried.

Respectfully Submitted By:

Bobbie Vickerman – City Administrator/Clerk

City of Lanesboro Steven L. Rahn, Mayor | Bobbie Vickerman, City Administrator 202 Parkway Avenue South - - Lanesboro, MN 55949 507-467-3722 | lanesboro@acegroup.cc

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