Jackson, Minnesota

August 21, 2018

The Jackson City Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers of
City Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 with the meeting called to
order by Mayor Wayne Walter. On the roll call, the following persons were
present: Mayor Wayne Walter, Aldermen Matt Madden, Larry Anderson, Ken
Temple, Donnie Schoenrock and Dave Cushman, City Administrator Matt Skaret,
City Attorney Brad Anderson, Shannon Sweeney of David Drown Associates,
Shane Zahrt with the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Chuck Dunker, City
Clerk/Recording Secretary Dave Maschoff and Justin Lessman of the Jackson
County Pilot. (Alderman Brandon Finck was absent.) (A quorum of the City
Council was present.)

CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER

Mayor Wayne Walter called the regular meeting of the Jackson City Council to
order. On the roll call, Mayor Walter noted Alderman Brandon Finck was absent.

There were no public hearings, no bid lettings and no open forum.

CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Walter asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.
Alderman Cushman asked to pull Consent Agenda item 6(L) regarding a Park
Board recommendation to approve the City paying for remodeling of the
restroom in Albertus Field estimated at $18,705 to bring the restroom up to code,
new electrical, fixtures, siding, plumbing and paint.
SCHOENROCK/TEMPLE moved and it was unanimously carried to approve
the Consent Agenda as presented minus item 6 (L).
Cushman said he wanted to get clarification regarding the remodeling of the
bathroom at Albertus Field. He said it was his understanding that the bathroom
remodeling was part of the Splash Pad Project.

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 Alderman Anderson explained part of the bathroom remodeling is part of the
Splash Pad Project. He said Splash Pad Committee members attended the Park
Board meeting on August 13th. Anderson explained the Splash Pad Committee is
about $18,700 short. Anderson said the City is responsible for part of the
bathroom remodeling because of the softball fields.
Anderson said he wasn’t exactly sure what part of the remodeling project
that includes but the City’s funding of that will come out of the Park Board
budget, the $23,000 that’s budgeted for the parks each year. Anderson said the
Park Board felt they needed to update those bathrooms because of the activities
that take place at Albertus Field along with the new Splash Pad and Memorial
Park that’s going to be developed. Anderson said the Park Board voted
unanimously to recommend to the City Council that the City help in remodeling
the bathrooms at Albertus Field because of the increased use that the bathrooms
will have.
Cushman asked what the total cost was to remodel the bathrooms.
Anderson said he didn’t remember what the total cost was.
Cushman noted usually when the City gets involved; the City seeks bids to see
what the high and low bids are and has a choice and an option. Cushman said he
feels that he doesn’t have a choice now and feels the City almost has to pay it.
Skaret noted he believes there was also some in-kind labor for the bathroom
remodeling project.
Anderson said there was some in-kind labor donated for the bathroom
project.
Schoenrock referred to the Park Board minutes that stated the estimate for
the bathroom remodeling was $18,705. He asked if that was the total cost for the
project or if that’s how much it was short.
Anderson said that’s the amount that they are short and are asking for.
Schoenrock said he wanted to make some clarification before the City Council
approved the Park Board’s recommendation. He said if it’s a parks project and
the City needs to do it and the Park Board has unanimously approved it then he
would consider it more. However, Shoenrock pointed out the City has already
committed to operation costs for the Splash Pad for years after it’s installed. He
said he didn’t think there would be any pre-costs for the City. Schoenrock said
the City has a pretty deep list of things in the park budget already that are going
to tax that budget in the years to come.

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 Cushman asked for clarification of where in the budget the $18,705 will be
coming from.
Anderson said the $18,705 is coming from the operating budget of the Park
Board. He said it’s not coming from the City’s general fund.
Madden asked if the bathroom remodeling was something that needed to be
done this year to go along with the schedule of the Splash Pad.
Skaret said the bathroom remodeling wanted to be completed before the
Splash Pad was installed so when people started using the Splash Pad there would
be a decent restroom facility available.
Madden asked if the Splash Pad Committee was close to reaching their
fundraising goal and if they were going to start construction next year.
Skaret said the Splash Pad Committee’s goal is to raise $300,000 and he thinks
they are currently at between $270,000 and $280,000.
Anderson read the Park Board minutes pertaining to the Park Board’s
recommendation to the City Council to pay for the remodeling of the restroom at
Albertus Field estimated at $18,705 to bring the restroom up to code, new
electrical, fixtures, siding, plumbing and paint. He said the motion was made by
Lynne Anderson and seconded by Jen Eicholz and unanimously approved by the
Park Board. Anderson said they were asking for help from the Park Board
Cushman said the $18,705 is coming from the Park Board and the other
balance of the bathroom remodeling is coming from the Splash Pad Committee
themselves.
Schoenrock noted the City’s commitment already to help the splash pad
project by taking over operational costs after the splash pad is installed. He
pointed out about tying up $18,705 of the Park Board’s budget when there’s
already a list of a lot of projects on the table to do. He said he would like some
clarification before the City Council votes on it.
Anderson said as the Park Board discussed at their meeting, with the addition
of Memorial Park and the Veterans Memorial in Memorial Park and the increased
activity of using Albertus Field on a regular basis there’s going to be a lot of traffic
in that area especially with the walking trail and the Splash Pad coming in.
Anderson said the Park Board felt there was no choice about upgrading the
bathrooms at Albertus Field especially with the addition of the splash pad. He
said the Park Board voted that they should be part of the bathroom upgrade.

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 CUSHMAN/ANDERSON moved and it was carried on a 4 to 1 vote to approve
Consent Agenda Item 6(L) of the Park Board’s recommendation for the City to
pay for the remodeling of the restroom in Albertus Field estimated at $18,705 to
bring the restroom up to code, new electrical, fixtures, siding, plumbing and
paint.
Aldermen voting in favor of the motion included Aldermen Matt Madden,
Larry Anderson, Ken Temple and Dave Cushman.
Aldermen voting against the motion included Alderman Donnie Schoenrock.

There were no unscheduled guests who attended the meeting.

Council Discussion Items

WATER STORAGE TANK PROJECT FINANCING – SHANNON SWEENEY

Shannon Sweeney said he was attending the Council meeting to discuss
initiating the process to finance the proposed water storage improvements. He
explained a construction contract has been awarded. Sweeney said there are
total estimated construction, engineering and contingency costs of $2,163,640.
Sweeney said for some time they have tried to coordinate the water storage
tank project with the South Highway Project and some utility improvements that
are supposed to occur as part of that project. He said based on recent discussions
with the City’s engineer, it was felt it was likely the South Highway Project was
not going to be implemented until 2019. With that being the case, Sweeney said
it seemed appropriate to proceed with funding the water storage portion of the
project at this time.
Sweeney said for the last couple of years, he’s met several times with the
Finance Committee, Public Utilities Commission and the City Council to talk about
the plans for financing these proposed projects. He said as discussed in the past,
the utility rate increases, water in particular, need to increase over the next
several years in order to be able to accommodate that project. Sweeney said that
plan hasn’t changed from when it was first discussed until now. He said as a
matter of fact, it’s probably improved a little bit based on actual interest rates
being less than what was being projected when planning was taking place.

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 Sweeney said ultimately, their finding was that a 3,500 gallon customer, a
single family residential household, would need to pay approximately $32 per
month for a water utility bill. He said that’s an increase from where the City was
at in 2015 and 2016.
Sweeney explained the City Council has already adopted rate structures and a
rate plan to implement this process to be at that $32 level by 2020. He said that
should accommodate the proposed debt service of not only the Water Storage
Project, but the South Highway improvements assuming they come in at what
was previously identified for project costs.
Sweeney said we’ve created the capability or have the understanding of what
needs to be charged to implement the project. Regarding the financing itself,
Sweeney said it’s being suggested to be put in place through a competitive sale of
bonds which is what the City has normally done on larger projects in particular,
meaning we assemble an offering document that describes the City’s ability to
repay the proposed debt and we obtain a credit rating that costs about $10,500.
He explained that’s an independent analysis that involves a management call with
him and the City Administrator where they ask a number of questions during the
course of an hour about the City’s existing debt, existing cash balances,
information management and a variety of questions like that. Sweeney said the
City will then receive a credit rating, which in the past and what’s foreseen in the
future, is anticipated to be very good for the City of Jackson. He noted the City’s
credit rating has been at a Double-A minus credit rating for a few years now and
it’s not anticipated that will be changing as a result of this project.
Sweeney said once the City has the credit rating, ultimately that’s used along
with offering documents to solicit bids from underwriters. He explained
underwriters are businesses that purchase bonds and resell those bonds to
investors. Sweeney said they bid competitively against each other for the
purchase of these bonds and based on the size of these bonds, he would expect
there would be at least three bids submitted, perhaps more depending on what
the climate is on that particular day.

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 Sweeney said ultimately the City has a project that’s the right size to fund
competitively and seek a competitive bid. He said the City has a good credit
rating which solicits multiple bidders and the City has the ability to basically, on
the day of sale, determine what the lowest overall cost of borrowing is by
evaluating those bids and presenting them to the City Council that evening for
award.
Sweeney said it is recommended to use the State of Minnesota’s Credit
Enhancement Program. He explained the State of Minnesota, through the Public
Facilities Authority, provides a limited guarantee on debt service for utility
projects.
Sweeney said the financing has been structured over a 20 year term which
has been consistent with the discussions all along and the rate structure that’s
needed in order to support this.
Sweeney explained the process of borrowing money includes authorization of
the competitive sale process. He said on October 2nd would be when the bids
received would be presented to the City Council for the purchase of the City’s
bonds at which time the Council would have the opportunity to award. Sweeney
said they would close or have the funds received by the City on or about
November 1st. He pointed out the resolution that was in the City Councilmembers
packets that initiates that process. Sweeney said the resolution authorizes the
start of the competitive bond sale process.
SCHOENROCK/CUSHMAN moved and it was unanimously carried to approve
Resolution No. 21-818 authorizing the start of the competitive bond sale
process.
Mayor Walter thanked Sweeney for his help and explaining the bonding
process.

SHANE ZAHRT WITH THE COALITION OF GREATER MINNESOTA CITIES

Shane Zahrt introduced himself to Mayor Walter and the City Council. Zahrt
said he is with the firm of Flaherty and Hood who represents the Coalition of
Greater Minnesota Cities. He explained the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities
is an organization of 97 member cities including the City of Jackson.

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 Zahrt said the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities likes to be the voice of
Greater Minnesota Communities at the State Capital.
Zahrt said there are five categories under a broad umbrella that the Coalition
of Greater Minnesota Cities focuses on for its member cities. He said that
includes LGA (Local Government Aid) and property taxes, economic development,
transportation, annexation and environmental regulatory. He said the
environmental regulatory in recent years has dealt with water and wastewater
infrastructure, regulatory issues, funding for programs, PFA programs and grant
loan programs to help cities fund some of those costs.
Zahrt provided the Mayor and Council information and gave a recap of the
2018 Minnesota Legislative Session and the issues that pertained to cities in
greater Minnesota. Zahrt provided an analysis of the current Local Government
Aid (LGA) and the efforts to increase LGA in the 2019 Legislative Session. He also
recapped present future endeavors to secure funding from the State Legislature
for transportation, economic development, market rate housing and center and
home-based childcare services. Zahrt also discussed legislation that was designed
to provide more funding for programs to assist cities in upgrading their water and
wastewater treatment facilities.
Zahrt invited the Mayor, City Councilmembers and City Administrator Skaret
to attend the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities Fall Conference that will be
held on November 15th and 16th, 2018 in Alexandria. He also invited everyone to
attend the Legislative Action Day that will be held on January 30th, 2019 at the
State Capital. Zahrt said next year’s Summer Conference will be held in Bemidji.
Mayor Walter thanked Zahrt for his report.
Skaret told Zahrt that the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities is the premier
organization representing cities outside the metro area and does a lot of great
work.

CHANGE NOVEMBER 6TH COUNCIL MEETING DATE DUE TO ELECTION DAY

SCHOENROCK/MADDEN moved and it was unanimously carried to change
the regular November 6th City Council meeting to Monday, November 5th at 6:30
p.m. due to the General Election being held on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018.

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SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE 95 ADOPTING SUPPLEMENT TO CITY CODES
Skaret explained Ordinance 95 was introduced at the August 7th meeting. He
said Ordinance 95 incorporates a couple of ordinances that have been adopted
since the last update into the full City Code Book. Skaret reminded the Mayor and
City Councilmembers to bring in their Code Books to City Hall to get the updated
pages inserted into them.
TEMPLE/MADDEN moved and it was unanimously carried to adopt
Ordinance 95 to supplement the City Codes.

PAY REQUEST FOR UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC PROJECT

Skaret explained this was the first pay request for this year’s underground
electric project to the contractor Castrejon, Incorporated of Blaine, Minnesota.
Skaret said the pay request is for $76,441.50. He noted the project is coming
along really well. He said Castrejon, Incorporated anticipates being done with the
ground work by the end of October. Skaret said according to MRES Jackson
Distribution Maintenance Foreman Jeremy Boogerd, Castrejon is in Jackson
working whenever the weather cooperates.
Schoenrock asked if there have been any calls to City Hall regarding lawns
being dug up because of the underground project.
Skaret said there have been a few complaints about disturbed lawns, but the
contractor and City staff have been very responsive.
SCHOENROCK/CUSHMAN moved and it was unanimously carried to approve
the pay request to Castrejon, Incorporated for $76,441.50 for the underground
electric project.

COUNCIL WORKSHOP DATE

Skaret said the Council had preliminarily set Thursday, September 6th as a City
Council workshop date. However, Skaret said Councilman Anderson will be
unable to attend that meeting since he will be out of town due to a previous
commitment.
MADDEN/CUSHMAN moved and it was unanimously carried to have the City
Council meet for a Council Workshop on Thursday, September 13th at 5:30 p.m.
at the Jackson City Hall.

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HIRING OF FULL-TIME ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK
Skaret said there were 21 applicants who applied for the full-time
Administrative Clerk’s position. He explained the field of applicants was narrowed
down to five finalists who were interviewed by him and City Office Manager Deb
Mitchell.
Skaret said from the five finalists, Katelyn Schoeberl was selected for the
position. He said Schoeberl is a native of Jackson and currently is in the process of
moving back to Jackson with her husband from Madison, South Dakota. He said
Schoeberl has a tentative start date of September 4th upon City Council approval.
ANDERSON/MADDEN moved and it was unanimously carried to hire
Katelyn Schoeberl as a full-time Administrative Clerk at City Hall.

Other:

Garage Doors on Ashley Park Shelter House

Cushman asked whether the garage doors were needed on the Ashley Park
Shelter House. He said it had been discussed at the Finance Committee meeting.
Anderson said it was due to air-flow. He said Building Inspector Harry Jenness
inspected the shelter house and said it’s structurally sound.
Cushman noted the shelter houses at the State Parks don’t have doors on
them and are open air. He asked if it could be discussed by the Park Board about
opening the entire shelter house up and not replace the garage doors.

Southwest Broadband Outage

Schoenrock explained there was an outage on Saturday, August 18th due to a

line that was cut somewhere in rural Georgia. He said besides that, there have
been several other service issues. Schoenrock said he and Southwest Broadband
General Manager Travis Thies are planning to travel to Atlanta to meet with
company officials supplying the IPTV service to discuss those issues.

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Park Board

Anderson pointed out the Park Board meeting minutes in which the Park
Board decided on their top three big projects that they are most concerned
about. He said they include the Veterans Memorial Park, the shelter house at
Ashley Park and the repaving, resealing, recovering of the tennis court at Ashley
Park and tennis court at Central Park. He said those are the three projects the
Park Board is focusing on now.
Mayor Walter asked Anderson if he could mention to the Park Board at their
next meeting about eliminating the doors on the shelter house in Ashley Park.
Anderson noted in the winter, the Street Department stores the picnic tables
in the shelter house.
Temple noted the Garden Club also stores their plants in the shelter house
the night before their annual plant sale in the spring.
Mayor Walter noted the shelter house at Patterson Park does not have any
doors.
Anderson noted the shelter house at Sunset View Park is also open and does
not have any doors. Anderson said he would mention the suggestion of
eliminating the doors at the Ashley Park Shelter House to the Park Board.
Schoenrock noted the City Council has already approved the paving and
installation of the basketball hoops in the tennis courts at Ashley Park.

House at 120 Maple Street

Mayor Walter said he received a letter signed by people in the neighborhood

about a dilapidated house at 120 Maple Street in Jackson. He said he spoke with
City Attorney Brad Anderson about several possibilities the City can proceed with
to resolve the nuisance. Mayor Walter said there are some other properties that
may also need to be addressed.
Temple said the property has been an eyesore for years. He said he would
like the City to start proceedings.
City Attorney Anderson said there are several properties that need to be
addressed. He said there would be several procedures the City could take to
address the nuisance properties.

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 Mayor Walter said City Attorney Anderson, City Administrator Skaret and
City Clerk Maschoff could take a look around town at properties and then come
back to the Council with a recommendation.
Cushman asked what criteria are used in judging a property.
City Attorney Anderson said in the past they have used fire issues such as
whether there’s a fire load or fire danger, sanitary, health and electrical. In cases
where the building would have to be torn down, the City would have to show the
building is in a dilapidated condition. In that case, Attorney Anderson said the
City could get a court order to take the building down and the expense would be
taxed back to the property owner. He said if the taxes are not paid, the property
gets forfeited for non-payment of taxes. Attorney Anderson said after four or five
years the City would get the property back for hopefully resale.
Anderson asked how much does it cost to tear down a house like 120 Maple
Street.
Attorney Anderson said according to what he’s seen in the past with smaller
to mid-size houses, he would guess the cost would be in that $5,000 to $10,000
range. He said sometimes the houses are burned.
Anderson suggested maybe the property owner could be contacted and asked
if the property could be used as a training burn for the fire department. He said
that could reduce the cost for the property owner other than removing the
rubble.
Skaret said he could contact Fire Chief Mark Temple to see if the Fire
Department would be comfortable doing a training burn at 120 Maple Street.
Cushman said he was pleased to hear there is a criterion that’s followed in
such cases. He asked if the process starts with a letter being sent to the property
owner.
Skaret said Maschoff has already sent a letter.
Maschoff said a letter was sent to the property owner and it was suggested
about tearing the house down. He said he hasn’t heard any response. Maschoff
said the property owner lives in Mississippi and the property taxes are paid.
Mayor Walter said City Attorney Anderson, City Administrator Skaret and City
Clerk Maschoff will take a look at properties and report back to the Council.

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Liquor Store Project

Skaret said the Liquor Store Project is moving forward. He said a pre-
construction meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 30th with the contractor
and all the parties involved.

ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, SCHOENROCK/ANDERSON moved and it was
unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting.

_________________________________
David A. Maschoff, Council Secretary

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