City of Russell
Council Meeting
January 7, 2019
Present: Duane Bedford (Mayor), Council members: Chris Feehan, Terry Newcomb, Casey DeHoedt
Jay Pierschbacher and City Maintenance Supervisor Jim Larrington and Cindy
Smith, City Clerk.
Duane
Bedford, Mayor, called the meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m.
Minutes from
Meeting on December 3, 2018 were reviewed and motioned for approval by Casey
DeHoedt and seconded by Chris Feehan.
Aye’s – All
approved
Nay’s – None
Minutes from
meeting on December 12, 2018 were reviewed and motioned for approval by Terry
Newcomb and seconded by Casey DeHoedt.
Aye’s – All
Approved
Nay’s – None
Jay
Pierschbacher joined the meeting at this time (7:06 pm)
Income and
Expenses were reviewed and motioned for approval by Chris Feehan and seconded
by Terry Newcomb.
Aye’s – All
Approved
Nay’s – None
Vickie
Jordan had requested that the Council review and approve the renewal of the
liquor license for Harley Haven. This
was motioned for approval by Chris Feehan and seconded by Terry Newcomb.
Aye’s – All
Approved
Nay’s – None
Officer
Dustin Hardin was unable to attend, but he did submit a written report to Mayor
Bedford. This report was reviewed by all council members in attendance. Per his report he will be working on the junk
and debris ordinance that is in place and will be taking pictures and
submitting in writing to property owner’s area’s that will need to be
addressed.
Chief Brian
Beaty also was unable to attend, Chris Feehan had spoken with Chief Beaty and
stated that there was nothing new to report. The new recruit’s are still in
training.
Jim
Larrington made his reports on water/waste water and streets:
Waste water
– with all the rain/warm weather and backup into the lagoon.
Water –
water loss in December was at 26%. Terry
Newcomb has assisted in getting some meters changed. This is a change that is taking place as time
and resident scheduling can be accomplished.
Streets –
Jim and Lyle have been trimming and cleaning up trees, he will have the lift
until the 15th of the month.
He has been graveling roads as he can.
Gravel was frozen and unable to spread and now needs to be reordered as
all the rock has been used. Roads will
be rocked as he can get to once the rock is here.
It was noted
that someone has taken rock from the rockpile and has not reported use to the
city.
Garden and
Associates are still in the initial phases.
Duane stated that he will be talking with them to see where they are at
in regards to the DNR and scheduling.
Old
Business: Budget work session that had
been previously scheduled was delayed due to illness and has been rescheduled
for Monday January 21, 2019 at 6:00 pm.
Terry
Newcomb questioned whether the steps in front of the post office should have
been addressed when the concrete work was completed in front of the city hall
office. Duane stated that it will be
completed in stages and that he had discussed with Scott McGee how to proceed
with the next phase.
Terry
Newcomb also stated that he has received some complaints about several culverts
that aren’t working correctly. One had a
tree stump that has since been removed and is now working correctly. The culvert at the end of Shaw street will be
blown out by a fire truck to determine if it is plugged or if it has
collapsed. Once this is determined it
will be decided if it needs replaced. If
it does need to be replaced it will not be until spring.
Terry
Newcomb also stated that he had a complaint of someone firing a firearm at a
dog to scare the dog as it had gotten loose from the tether line. It is unknown who fired the gun, but it is
against city ordinance to fire a gun inside city limits. Officer Hardin will be notified of the
incident so that it can be investigated.
All dogs to be on a leash at all times. They are not allowed to roam
free.
Terry
Newcomb also requested of the Council to allow Ed Sellers use of the community
center for a money raiser for the Russell Historical Society. Mr. Sellers will be having a dance class starting
Monday February 4th through March 25th.
Chris Feehan
motioned for approval of the use of the community center at no charge by Ed
Sellers this motion was seconded by Terry Newcomb.
Ayes’ – All
Approved
Nay’s – None
Terry
Newcomb has had several complaints about the old mill located at the west end
of Shaw street, it has become a real hazard to the community. Jay Pierschbacher stated that he has heard of
kids “exploring” this old building.
Issues with the railroad may also be involved.
Maintenance
of right of ways was discussed. The appropriate
ordinance will be amended to clarify that the property owners are required to
maintain from curb to curb. In right of
ways which have shrubs and tress, the city may clean them one time then it will
be the landowner’s responsibility to maintain after that.
Lockridge Networks
has requested that our attorney review the contract that we currently have with
Skybeam. Cindy will contact Skybeam about
their frequency. If Lockridge Network
wishes a review of the contract by an attorney, they will need to proceed with
that.
New
Business: Jim and Chris have been in
contact with the county in regards to purchasing their used road grader. Jim has been researching what our grader may
be worth and how payments may possibly be made to purchase the county’s grader. Chris will contact the county about details
and let the Council know what he finds out.
The skid
loader was also discussed, we may look into upgrading this as well and/or look
into a grapple hook for the backhoe.
Casey
DeHoedt motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 pm. and this was seconded by
Jay Pierschbacher.
Aye’s – All
Approved
Nay’s - None
___________________________
Approved by:
Duane
Bedford, Mayor
___________________________
Attest:
Cindy A
Smith, City Clerk
