At its Jan. 11 meeting, three members took their oaths of office: mayor Brent Bengtson, and council members Troy Huschle and Pat Becker.
Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall appeared before the council. ?ÄúCrime is extremely low in Eden Valley, on the Stearns County side,?Äù she reported. ?ÄúEither the criminals aren?Äôt coming to your town, or they?Äôre catching them on the Meeker County side.?Äù
The City of Eden Valley is not currently utilizing the county?Äôs diversion program. The county has quadrupled the size and scope of the program to be more effective. County resources are now being focused on a higher level of youth offenders (under age 18). The program originated with low-level offenders who are generally very compliant with a simple warning.
Since July, the Eden Valley Police Department has been doing electronic citations.
There were more than 1,100 felonies prosecuted in Stearns County last year; there was only one citation in Eden Valley that went through her office, and there have been no felonies in three years. (The city contracts with Stearns County for prosecution, and the Eden Valley contract is the smallest in the county in terms of both number of offenders and cost to the county.) Because of this shift, there will be fewer youth doing community service in local towns.
Crime is up in the county, as is child protection, but juvenile crime is down. Serious crimes are up, but they?Äôre being caught and sent to prison. Human trafficking is a big issue in St. Cloud. Now that the economy is picking up, thefts are increasing too.
Appointments were made within the council as follows: Acting Mayor Dan Thielen, Emergency Management Jim Rademacher, Street Commissioner Pat Becker, Police Commissioner Dan Thielen, Fire Commissioner Janice Sheets, Water & Sewer Commissioner Troy Huschle, EDA Council Representatives Brent Bengtson and Dan Thielen, Asst. Tree & Weed Inspector Jim Rademacher, Emergency Management Director Jim Rademacher, City Attorney Adam Ripple of Rinke Noonan Law Firm, official newspaper Eden Valley-Watkins Voice, official depository Farmers & Merchant Bank. Official daytime meeting reimbursement was set at $40 per half-day, and $80 for full-day (anything over five hours).
The council approved the fee schedule with two changes from last year: street sweeping is $150/hour, and penalty for rental ordinance fee late payment is $100 (was $25).
The council unanimously approved paying off the 2003 bond that would otherwise come due in 2019. The city is charged 4.10 percent interest, has the needed $70,000 on hand to pay it off, and can use the money saved for other projects. The 2003 bond was for various street and water projects.
The council unanimously approved Administrative Offense Penalties for the city. These include $45 for curfew violation, $35 for winter parking violation, $65 nuisance, $55 unlawful operation of snowmobile, $45 for dog barking nuisance first offense ($75 for second, and $105 for third), $100 for loud music first offense ($200 for second, and $300 for third), $40 illegal burning, $65 public consumption, $65 for parking violations and motor vehicle noise, and $100 for rental ordinance violations. Each of these includes a penalty plus a $15 administrative fee.
The council unanimously approved reapplying for a DNR Outdoor Recreation grant. They applied last year and the application was good, but the DNR ran out of funds; they were encouraged to reapply in 2017. If approved, the grant would match up to $250,000 in donations toward Fredericks Park; the Lions have already committed $100,000 in matching funds, and there are other commitments as well.
The council discussed a new logo and motto for the city, anticipating ordering city shirts. Mayor Bengtson has some ideas to re-market the city, and this would be part of that effort. The current one may be from 25 years ago, and it was the result of a contest. The city may do a contest for local residents and/or students to come up with a new logo and motto, and they will decide on the details at their next meeting. The winner possibly could be announced at Valley Daze or MidSummer Blast.
BergenKDV will conduct the city audit again this year, at a cost about $150 above last year ($14,975). City clerk Mona Haag and mayor Bengtson agreed that they do a very good job for the city.
The city received a $20,572 from the League of Minnesota Cities insurance.
There was $11,700 unused snow removal from last year. This will be put into an escrow fund for city stormwater projects. This was discussed at the budget meeting with a goal of setting aside $5,000 a year for this.
$10,000 was budgeted for the Parks Department in the event the city received the DNR grant; $1,700 of this was used for supplies; $3,000 was budgeted for repairs, and $500 was spent. The council unanimously approved transferring $10,000 into a special revenue park dedication fund. If they do not get the grant this year, there will be some funds available to start on the park project.
April 5 will be the annual Board of Review: 7 p.m. for Stearns,
7:30 p.m. for Meeker, with the regular meeting at 8 p.m.
Police Chief Ernie Junker presented the 2015 and 2016 police reports; the numbers are nearly exactly the same. There were five search warrants conducted in Eden Valley with the drug task force. Drugs are a problem everywhere, he says, and heroin is back. ?ÄúWe?Äôve got some issues that are concerns?Äù for us all. A few vehicles were towed after a snow. Body and squad cams have been ordered.
Public Works Director Jim Rademacher got four bids on automatic meter readers, ranging from $175,000 to $220,000. His preferred bid was for 423 meters for residential and commercial (not including the trailer park) at $175,720; this includes software and training, but there would be an additional $923 yearly charge. They run on batteries and have a 20-year life cycle. There are fancier models, at a higher cost, but this will allow Public Works to get meter readings by driving by the properties. The city will look into financing options through Rural Water. Rademacher wants to implement the new meters this year, if possible.
The next regular meeting of the Eden Valley City Council will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. They will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 25, to wind up 2016 projects and to continue work on codification or city ordinances.