City of Randolph
Regular Council Meeting
July 10, 2024
The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob.
Roll Call
Present were Mayor Marie Jacob, Council Members Jake Friedrich, Todd Carlock and Tony Price, Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro.
Also, in attendance was Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer and city attorney, Greta Bjerkness of LeVander, Gillen & Miller.
Approval of Agenda
Motion to approve the agenda was made by Carlock, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Public Comments
No comments.
Minutes
A motion to approve the June 12, 2024, regular council meeting minutes was made by Friedrich, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Approval of Treasurer Report and Payment of Bills
Motion to approve the payment of bills including the payment to Mary Haro for cleaning for two months at $180 and to Northland Grading for the sewer project in the amount of $929,788.27, made by Friedrich and seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Old Business
None.
New Business
Randolph School Permit
Superintendent Mike Kelly came before the council for approval of a permit for the new schoolhouse to be built on a vacant lot next to Jake Friedrich. He presented two sets of drawings and the permit application. They have been working with Mark, our building inspector, on the permit. They would like the driveway to come off of Highway 88. We told them to check with Dakota County regarding the driveway. If Dakota County does not approve the driveway off of 88 then they will turn the house around and the driveway will come off of Cynthia Path. They would prefer to have the back yard facing Cynthia Path. They would also like to hook up this house to the sewer system when that is available. They are going to have to wait to sell the house pending the hook up to the sewer system.
He also presented a payment for a permit for the new garage doors at the bus garage.
Motion to approve the permit for the new school house was made by Friedrich, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Vacation of Alley
Marie gave us some photos of an alley. There is an alley that runs from Dickman to Danel and it is overgrown. The property owners are maintaining it. We are not using it or maintaining it. We discussed this with our legal counsel about vacating the alley. There are two other unused and unmarked alleys. The alley off of Dickman behind City Hall is being used so that is not being considered to be vacated. There is one between Distad Path and Dickman and the other goes along the old railroad track when Ron and Cindy Woodbeck's property is. They are completely grassed over and are not being maintained by the city. Most of the alleys have been vacated.
Greta informed us that vacation can be done two ways – the landowner that the alley is adjacent to can petition the council to do it or the council can unilaterally vacate it, with a majority of the council approval. The threshold that we need to meet in order to do it, is whether it is in the best interest of the public to do so. There is a formal process which involves having a public hearing. She noted two important items for us to consider – (1) if the property owned by Geischen is developed would we want a roadway there then we don't want to vacate it and (2) are there any utilities in the right of way. We did receive an email that one of the landowners was interested in buying the property from us. Matt's concern is utilities and drainage on the property.
Marie's consideration is to give the land to the southern landowners from Dickman to Danel. Marie made a motion to move forwarding with vacating the alley from Dickman to Danel, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Greta needs a little time to do some research before we have the public hearing. We need to make sure we have an easement for drainage.
Randy Ferguson – Land Use
Randy inquired about land use for some of his property from Dixie to Cooper. He was told that it is zoned Rural Residential / Agricultural. He had some inquiries regarding purchasing the property. He was told that there are not utilities that would go to that property such as water and sewer. Dakota County is in charge of septic systems for Randolph so any questions would need to be addressed to them. It was noted to him that there are certain stipulation for shoreland property. Dakota County manages that as well as the city which would be Bolton & Menk as our engineers for questions regarding shoreland. The minimum lot size would be two and one-half acres. He just was inquiring about land usage and would get back to us with any further questions.
Dakota County Deputy
Dakota County Deputies came in to tell us there is an ongoing investigation regarding the missing person case of Nicole Mies Anderson. They could not share any information other than it is ongoing. We thanked them for everything that they are doing to try to find her.
It was noted that semi-trailers have been going through the city which are closed to them and should be going around.
Also someone noted that a semi-trailer that came through the city almost took down their cable line on 290th Street. She was told to call Midco and tell them that they need to raise the line because it was almost hit.
Holding Pond Fence
We need to do some research regarding the CDBG grant before we move forward with removal of the fence. Greta will check to see if any restrictive covenants have been recorded on the property. She will do a title search to check. If we do take down the fence can it be used elsewhere like the holding ponds. Matt will check but it may not meet the height for the fence. We will table this until we get further information regarding the grant.
Appointment of Election Judges
Motion by Mayor Jacob to approve the Election Judges of Colleen Taubman as head judge, Heather Siebenaler, Michelle Splichal, Sarah Murray and Mary Haro for the Primary Election set for August 13th, seconded by Friedrich. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0. Haro abstained from the vote.
Northern Natural Gas Encroachment Agreement
As part of the sewer project with the land that we purchased there is a natural gas easement on it along County Road 83 and since we cross it with a pipe we need to enter into an encroachment agreement with Northern Natural Gas. Greta reviewed the agreement and found it to be satisfactory.
Friedrich made a motion to approve Resolution No. 24-08 adopting the Encroachment Agreement between the City of Randolph and Northern Natural Gas, seconded by Carlock. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
290th Street
Mayor asked that this be added to the agenda before the potholes were filled in. One concern is the shoulders on the south side from Dawson to Davisson. She asked if this was going to be open when school starts. Yes it will be.
Bolton & Menk Sewer Update
They are planning to go up Dawson to 290th and take a right over to County Road 83 for this year. We have had plenty of rain which doesn’t help with the project. The utilities out front and storm sewer are finished on Stage A and are moving toward Dickman on the storm sewer. They need the road dried out to put down the gravel. The curbs will be done in about a week. The road will be paved from the railroad tracks to Dickman. The sidewalk flat work will happen right after that. The will begin east of the tracks. The rest of the pipe work is done up to Danel. They will go up Dawson and do Stage C and finish up 88. Even with all of the rain they expect the project to be done on time and on budget for this year. They do expect to complete all phases that were planned yet this year. It was noted that we received our first payment from the state. It was asked if dewatering was done and it is not yet. They may work some extra hours and on weekends. They will be notifying citizens that are affected by the project regarding their driveways by newsletters directly to each home that is affected.
Matt indicated that they are coordinating with the fire department daily. The fire hydrants will be getting replaced along the county road.
Council Reports
The culvert on the corner of 290th and Davisson is plugged. Someone stepped in it and had to get 7 stiches. So a citizen placed a bucket there for people to be aware of it as it is overgrown with grass so it is not easily noticed. She did clean the grass around it so you can see it more clearly. We need a temporary solution. It is not an open culvert but we need to add something to fill the hole in. Matt noted that the culvert will be replaced next year with the project. Jake volunteered to take care of fixing this for the time being before it is replaced.
A citizen noted that a farmer has been coming down 290th to get to the elevator with his trailer of grain. He went through the residential area which is above the load limit. If we find out who it is we can talk to him.
Todd noted that the North Cannon River Watershed is going to have a walking tour in Randolph for the next meeting which will be at the water reporting station at Chub Creek and then they will meet at the Town Hall in Hampton.
Filing for elections is open July 30th until 5 pm on August 13th. Clerk Haro will post some hours that she will at city hall for citizens to file for candidacy. It was asked if there is a place that people can find out about candidates who are running. It was noted that previously it was in the Beacon and on Facebook. Greta indicated you have put a link on the city website to the Secretary of State website with any information about candidates. We could do a public forum if interested and include school board members also running for office.
Clerk Haro noted that there is a leak on the roof in City Hall as she has noted the carpet being wet several times. She will contact Atlas Roofing to look it and give us an estimate.
Sandy noted that she mailed out water bills.
Mayor Jacob indicated that she has not heard back from the contractor that she meet with regarding renovating the rest rooms in City Hall. She will follow up with him.
Mayor Jacob inquired about getting a projector to use during meetings to put items up on a screen for all to see. We thought this was a good idea.
The mayor received a call regarding ATV in the staging area and they should not be there. We need to put "No Trespassing" signs up.
The mayor indicated that she received a phone call from the FCC regarding interference with their weather radars from our water tower. The only equipment we have on the tower is Northfield Wi-fi. She indicated that this was resolved.
Duane a supervisor with Sciota Township discussed the Waterford mine that is being proposed. He is trying to get a collation of township and cities together to work on support for Waterford Township. They are overwhelmed with the issues going on with this big mine. They put a moratorium on any permitting for the mine with the intent of creating a ordinance but that moratorium expires in November. If they have to deal with their existing ordinance they will be working with an interim use permit which they can put conditions on what can happen on the permit. They are not in a good position to create a good comprehensive list of conditions on their own. They will be looking at the their own township and what type of issues they will have to deal with but they will not be able to address things beyond the borders of their township. He indicated that they are working on issues with dewatering. All of this water will be going into Chub Creek and with the talk about water table recently being raised 9 feet with just 18 inches of rain, we can imagine it will be much worse if the mine starts pumping as much water as what the proposals are talking about. If we have concerns how an issue would be addressed, now would be the time to create a list of concerns to submit to Waterford Township. They are trying to schedule something in August for their first meeting and we would talk about potential concerns. They would like current board members involved or someone appointed by the board. He was just present to inform us that they are just trying to get a collation of people together to consolidate our concerns and efforts.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Friedrich, seconded by Haro, the meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 5:0.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Haro
