Pursuant to due call and notice a regular meeting of the Deerwood City Council was held on Monday,
May 7th, 2012 at 6:00 pm. The following members were present: Pat Trask, Debby Leonard, and Tom
Nixon. Mike Aulie and Jessica Richau were absent. Acting Mayor Nixon presided at the meeting
following the Pledge of Allegiance. Leonard made the motion to accept the minutes as presented. Trask
seconded the motion. Motion carried. Trask then made the motion to approve the invoice list as
presented. Leonard seconded the motion. There was some discussion on the removal of a tree. Nixon
gave a brief history of what occurred. Motion carried.
Amendments to the Agenda: Nixon added Train Whistle Ordinance to new business.
There was no one present for public comment.
Engineer’s Report: Phil Martin
 He said that the contractor has until June 15th to wrap up the project. They should start thinking
about getting him back here to take care of the various areas we have issues with. Martin
walked the site just prior to the meeting and catalogued and took photos of all the areas that he
feels are questionable. The main item that needs to be done is the final lift of black top. They
had been waiting to see how things materialized during the winter. He feels that they now need
to have direction from the council. One of the areas is along Alder. He asked how they want to
leave that ditch. Regardless of the option they choose, there will be costs involved. The other
thing is that there is a lot of water standing across from the city garage, significantly more than
he anticipated. He feels that water could potentially sit in there a long time and become a
mosquito haven. His recommendation is that they install a culvert under the road to drain
behind the SLSSD lift station and into Cranberry Lake. There was quite a bit of discussion. He
feels that now is the time to do this. Nixon commented that since there continue to be more
issues arising along Alder we might want to wait until we have a chance to identify all of the
potential problems. Martin replied that we could push our time line out a ways. Nixon asked
about the asphalt pile behind the city garage. He thought it was to be removed in December.
Martin said that the City worked out a deal with the contractor that in exchange for being
allowed to leave the pile there, they would do some extra paving at no charge to the city. When
the contractor removes the pile, he will have them run their loads over the new road so that
they can see if there are any further problems. Martin shared some pictures of the project area
with the council.
Martin then pointed out that the brand new curb that was installed last fall was apparently hit
by the snow plow during the winter. It is pretty beat up. They actually took chunks out of the
curb. He didn’t know if any arrangements have been made with the snow plow contractor to
take care of that. Martin feels that at the very least there are three sections which need to be
replaced.
Leonard commented that the easy part of this is the culvert under the road by the shop. She
made the motion to install a culvert by the city garage where the water is running across the
road. Trask seconded the motion. The estimated cost is between $500 to $700 for materials.
Martin said that he wished that they had done this initially. They will need to take out about a
5’ section of blacktop. He will firm the price up with the contractor. Leonard would like to see a
firm number. Leonard withdrew her motion. This will be addressed at the next meeting.
The council then moved on to a discussion on the ditch which abuts Paul Anderson’s property.
Nixon asked what it would cost to install culvert there. Martin replied that it varies according to
the length of culvert they are referring to. To put in a 30’ culvert and build an approach would
be around $1000. A 50’ culvert would be around $1500 and 90’ would be $2500. Nixon asked
Anderson what he would like to see happen. Anderson replied that he isn’t sure they need to
do the full 90’. Maybe they could just do two 30’ sections. He asked if the city is going to
maintain the ditch as it is. Martin said they would not be able to mow it. Basically, it would just
grow up with weeds. Anderson said that if the city would put in 60’ of culvert, he would be
willing to put in the other 30’. It would really improve his lot. Nixon asked what we would
normally provide for an approach. That answer could only be provided by the maintenance
supervisor. Anderson said that he would be willing to pay up to $500 for his portion. We also
need to have better cost estimates on this. Trask moved to table so that Martin can get more
information. Leonard seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Martin added that as a point of clarification for the next meeting, it would be good to have
some information on the curb and what has been discussed with the snowplowing contractor.

He did get back some information from Jordan Vandal in regards to the radio read grant. IRRRB
only funds economic development projects. It doesn’t look positive for obtaining funds for the
radio reads.

He has put together a couple of assessment rolls for the grinder station project. The first
includes just the original 14 stations. The second roll includes the 15th station that was found on
the Schultz’s property. He needs to know if the council wants to assess 15 properties at the
previous percentage amount of 1.43% which is based on 14 properties or do they want to divide
the 20% of project costs over the fifteen properties at a lower percentage point of 1.33%. Nixon
asked if there are 15 signed agreements. Martin replied that we have fourteen. We didn’t
know about the 15th until we were well into the project. He obtained a verbal understanding
from them that they would be responsible for that second station. Martin said that we do not
have a signed agreement from them so it is not written in stone. Leonard feels that to divide
the cost up among the fifteen stations would be the fairest way to handle that. Trask said that
since property owner #15 has not signed an agreement, we can’t make a decision. The clerk will
send out another waiver of appeal along with a letter of explanation.

Anderson then came forward and said that he had some further concerns to address in regards
to the alley. He drew a sketch of the area for Martin and the council. People are driving over
one part of his property and parking on it. He has a sawhorse over the area of concern. He feels
that it is just going to be a mud hole. The road used to be 4’ wider and now this area juts out
into the road. People are driving on that area because two cars can’t meet on that road safely.
Anderson would like to see another 4’ of blacktop placed there. He said that since the alley is
now higher than his property, water no longer drains into the alleyway. He is sure that the
additional inch of black top is going to bring the grade above the level of his slab. He believes it
could flood that building. He can’t afford to have that happen. Martin said that he would take a
look at it and make some recommendations.

Broadway Street – Nixon feels that it would be worse to pull up the pavement at this time. He
wondered if there is something else they can use to do some patchwork. Martin said that it is
really a destroyed road. It is a possibility that pulverizing it, putting fabric down and then
blacktop might work. A lot of the cost comes from removing the Deerwood clay. Leonard is not
in favor of just trying to band aid it. That is a waste of money. Martin said they also need to
look at where the Trail project is going to be located. There was further discussion. Martin said
that he believes to do this right it would cost around $60,000. Nixon reported that Aulie agrees
that we need to have a planning meeting for capital improvements such as this.
Fire Department Report – written report submitted by John Taylor.
 Nixon expanded on the report. Leonard asked what equipment they are looking to purchase
with the DNR grant. Nixon replied that with the DNR it is usually wild land equipment and they
do a match of 50% up to $1500. Nixon then referred to item #4 regarding the storage of pull
tabs. The department is wondering if they could possibly use the back bathroom at the
auditorium. The clerk replied that it is the only handicapped accessible restroom in the
auditorium. If you eliminate that bathroom, you basically have one bathroom stall for women’s
use. During a wedding reception that would not be acceptable. The police department is
already using the men’s handicapped bathroom for storage. There was discussion on the use of
the storage rooms at the top of the stairs. The clerk explained that all of the City’s documents
are stored in one. The other room is where the switches for the ceiling fans are and renters
would need to be able to access those. The video room is too small. There was then discussion
on the possibility of building a shed.
Police Department Report – written report submitted by Chief Gottsch
 There were 112 calls last month compared to 103 for the same time period last year.
Old Business:
 K & J C-Stores – Letter concerning in house charges
The clerk spoke with Kent Cummings. There would only be one fleet card and that could be
stored in the safe at Holiday. He would keep copies of all signed receipts and send them to the
City at the end of the month. This would solve the accounting issue for us. However, there
would be no after hour charges. The individual departments would need to be responsible for
making sure that vehicles are topped off and ready to go before Holiday closes, unless they want
to use their personal cards and submit the receipts for reimbursement. Leonard made the
motion to allow Mary to apply for the Fleet Card which will be locked in the safe at the Holiday
store as long as they keep records and mail them to us as they say. Trask seconded the motion.
Motion carried.

Sidewalks – Information from the State – The clerk explained that the information they have in
front of them is an excerpt from an agreement that the City entered into when Hwy 210 was
constructed. She has the full agreement on file. However, it is quite lengthy. Basically, it states
that the State turned over all responsibility for repair and maintenance of storm water facilities,
sidewalks, and concrete driveway pavement to the City at the completion of the project.
New Business:

Bid for auditorium floor repair – It includes the repair and replacement of approximately 150 sq.
ft. of maple wood flooring, sanding, and refinishing at a cost of $10,164. Nixon asked why we
didn’t collect the damages from the renter. It was explained that the damage was not
discovered until much later. The council went into the auditorium to take a look. The clerk will
check with our insurance company to see if we are covered.

Train Whistle Ordinance – Nixon said that he has been visiting with some people from out of
town. They said that they have ordinances that address the blowing of train whistles within the
city limits. He would like to investigate this further if there is any interest. Leonard thinks it
would be a good idea. Martin said that he is surprised to hear that they have that type of
ordinance on their books. Typically the railroads are very powerful and very difficult to work
with. In order to get quiet crossings, there are significant costs to make it such that when the
arms come down, no traffic is able to get around them. They usually have to put medians in.
They also look at how far back there are intersecting roads. He feels that it makes a ton of sense
except for the costs involved.
Leonard made the motion to adjourn. Trask seconded the motion. Motion carried.