City Council Minutes

City of Russell

April 6, 2020

6:00 PM

Present:  Mayor Chris Feehan, Terry Newcomb, Kelli Anderson, Robert Smith, Jay Pierschbacher, City Maintenance Supervisor Jim Larrington and City Clerk Cindy Smith.  As we were less then 10 and able to stay at a safe distance, the meeting went ahead and took place.

Mayor Feehan called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. 

Minutes from the March 3, 2020 meeting were reviewed and motioned for approval by Casey DeHoedt, this motion was seconded by Terry Newcomb.

Aye’s – All Approved

Nay’s – None

Motion carried.

Minutes from the March 19, 2020 Public Hearing and council meeting were reviewed and motioned for approval by Robert Smith, this motion was seconded by Kelli Anderson.

Aye’s – All Approved

Nay’s – None

Motion carried.

Income and expenses were reviewed from March 2020.  Terry Newcomb motioned to approve income and expenses for March 2020, this motion was seconded by Casey DeHoedt.

Aye’s – All Approved

Nay’s – None

Motion carried.

Police report was provided by Mayor Feehan – Letters that Officer Jeffries has been sending out are getting some response on.  There are some new ones that will be going out along with a reminder of our City Clean Up Day scheduled for May 2, 2020 so that they are aware of a way to easily get rid of debris.

Fire Department report was also provided by Mayor Feehan – the Russell Volunteer Fire Department ham supper will now be at the Russell Fire Station as a drive though pickup to meet the regulations regarding the mandate from Governor Kim Reynolds during the Covid-19 isolation.  Tickets are still available from any Russell Fireman.

City Maintenance Supervisor Jim Larrington then gave his reports for water/wastewater and street reports:

Water loss for the month of March was at 44%.  This loss was due to the tower repair that had to be completed and two (2) water main breaks that occurred south of the old school house.

Storm drain cleaning on Shaw streets and on Main street will be completed the next to weeks to open up/clean/camera the drain lines.  Shaw street needs to have the ditches re-dug and the road shaped prior to applying any new gravel. 

There are still some meters that need to be replaced, but these are on hold until the virus isolation is over.

Bids were reviewed for water tower repair that needs to be completed.  The pipe inside that water tower needs to be replaced.  There are two (2) bids that are under review for replacement of the pipe and then the possible addition of replacing the insulation and connector pipe joint.  The council had a few questions and Robert Smith was appointed to call these two (2) companies to ask the questions that the council had.  After these questions are answered, council will then decide how to proceed.

Stop sign replacement has been completed and the grant information has been submitted to the state for the replacement cost of the signs.

Jim then related the pricing on the culverts that need to be replaced.  Council will determine if there are monies left in the current year budget to purchase these culverts at the next meeting.

Jim Larrington, Lyle Dorsey and Terry Newcomb have also been working on getting the ditches cleaned up prior to new spring growth.  The bridge on Main Street is still under consideration on how to repair as the removal of some of the debris has shown where more work will be needed.

This was the completion of City Maintenance report.

Old Business:  Mayor Feehan then gave an update on the sewer project.  Garden and Associates were to do the float test on the lagoon last week, but to his knowledge this had not been completed.  This work needs to be completed to be added into the plans that need to be submitted to the state for final approval.

Sealed bids for the skid loader, dump truck, blades and fencing were then opened and reviewed.  The skid loader was the only item that had been bid upon and the bid went to Craig Stansberry at the bid amount of $2,501.68.  Mayor Feehan will contact Mr. Stansberry and let him know.

The other items will remain open for bid until the May 4, 2020 meeting.

Mayor Feehan the discussed the pricing that he has received on putting gutters up on the shelter house and band stand.  It was decided to put this project on hold until the next fiscal year.

Mayor Feehan then submitted to the council the skid loader pricing information that he has received.  The council decided to proceed with the lower cost skid loader.

Resolution 2020-04 was then voted on regarding the process to continue to proceed with the final submission of grant money request through the USDA and a public hearing was set for May 4, 2020 at 6:00 pm.

Jay Pierschbacher motioned to proceed with Resolution 2020-04 to complete submission of grant request to purchase the skid loader, this motion was seconded by Casey DeHoedt.

Aye’s – All Approved

Nay’s – None

Motion carried

Mayor Feehan submitted to the council two (2) bids that he received regarding the concrete work for the completion of the fire station culvert work, sidewalk repair at the post office and additional repair work that needs to be completed on Prairie Street.  The council decided to proceed with the lower bidder to have the work completed.  Work should be completed by the end of the month.

It had been previously discussed to remove and clean out a ravine/hill on Crocker Street that also has property that is owned by another party.  Discussions with property owner on what needs to be accomplished has met with the property owners approval and they will pay half of the work that needs to be completed to assist in cleaning up the area and allowing some road work to be done to help in draining the road.  This will be accomplished as work/weather and contractor can be scheduled.

New Business:  Utility Bills – during the Covid-19 we are not allowed to turn anyone off from delinquent water bills.

With the ditch work that we have been doing and clean up processes, there are some area’s that we do not have the equipment to handle the grades Jim Larrington will contact the county to see if they can assist in some of these area’s.

News was released today from Governor Reynolds that all public parks were to be closed.  Jim Larrington will put on signage and rope off playgrounds as much as possible to show these closures.

Casey De Hoedt motion for the adjournment and this motion was seconded by Jay Pierschbacher.

Meeting adjourned.

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Approved by,

Chris Feehan, Mayor

_________________________

Attest

Cindy A Smith, City Clerk