MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETINGOF THE HILLS CITY COUNCILAPRIL 11, 2006Mayor Jim Jellema called the meeting to order with the following council members present: Jim Jellema, Keith Elbers, Pete Hoff, Ross Metzger, and Linus Svoboda. Employees present: Joanne Goehle, City Treasurer; Connie Wiertzema, City Clerk; and Wayne Ward, City Maintenance. Guests: Gene Scheerhorn; Richard Bakken-Rock County Commissioner; and Lexi Moore-Hills Crescent.Motion by Elbers, seconded by Svoboda to approve the minutes of March 14th. Motion carried. Reviewed copies of the audited 2005 Reporting Form for the Hills Fire Relief Association. The fire chief and treasurer will be invited to attend a council meeting. Reviewed the City and Fire Department expenditures. Motion by Svoboda, seconded by Hoff to approve payment of the March expenditures, with the exception of reimbursement to the Fire Relief Association for light bulbs $7.52. Motion carried. March expenditures: General $60,576.59; Park $739.87; Fire $37.65; Street $1,661.83; Legion $368.29; Sewer $1,016.99; Garbage $1,949.82; Recycling $2.00; Water $3,753.98; Law Enforcement $9,746.50. Motion carried. General Checking 55,077.41General Fund CD#18924, 3.55%, 6/9/05 (prev. #18614) 251,002.85General Fund CD#19056 (prev. #188764) 4.25%, 9/15/06 124,865.21Fire Truck Replacement CD#19200, 4.150%, 12/9/06 3,000.00Hills EDA Security Deposit Account .04Hills EDA Checking – Acct. #1248 5,593.49EDA CD#18870, 3.25%, 5/7/06 76,869.87EDA CD#19293 (prev. CD#19164) 4.5%, 2/14/07 35,713.74EDA CD#19165, 4.25%, 11/15/06 138,000.00Motion by Metzger, seconded by Elbers to refund a utility deposit to Cory and Vicki Busswitz, and to approve the Treasurer’s report. Motion carried. Gene Scheerhorn inquired whether it is necessary to replace the sidewalk in front of his commercial building. Council members reviewed the sidewalk prior to the meeting and agreed with Scheerhorn that his sidewalk is in good condition and no replacement is necessary. Richard Bakken, Rock County Commissioner, attended the meeting to inquire whether the Council had any grievances, also to discuss use of the Heartland Express bus. The Council questioned winter maintenance of County Hwy 6, and future maintenance of State Hwy 270 becoming a county highway. Bakken informed the Council that there is a commitment from the County Highway Department that they will begin snow removal and sanding efforts on County Highway 6, with a one hour earlier start time. State Hwy. 270 is not maintained by the County at this time, but possibly in the near future.Regarding the Heartland bus, Bakken inquired, for cost effective purposes, if a one-day-per-week shopping trip to Luverne for Hills residents, combined with the Tuff residents, is feasible. The Council agreed that the purpose of this bus is to serve the elderly, and the funding is mainly through state and federal funds, therefore the elderly in all cities of Rock County should have use of the bus just as much as those in Luverne. Bakken estimated the funding as such, $7,000 to $8,000 from the County and bus fees; and the remaining costs through State and Federal funding. Bakken informed the Council that he is meeting with the Beaver Creek City Council and local cell phone service tonight to discuss proposals for a cell phone tower near Beaver Creek. Another item that the Council discussed with Bakken was the construction of a new County Sheriff’s Office, and agreed that a new sheriff’s office is needed, but questioned why the County Commissioners proceeded with the project when it was voted down by the people. Bakken explained that the Commissioners tried the most democratic way, but sometimes to get things done, you just do it. Motion by Hoff, seconded by Metzger to invest the $5,000 from the sale of the fire tanker truck into the fire truck replacement fund CD. This was discussed and agreed to with Martin Township at a previous meeting. Motion carried. Jeff Bass, Fire Chief, stopped in to present a bill from Heiman Fire Equipment. Motion by Elbers, seconded by Svoboda to pay Heiman $32,435.86 through FEMA grant funds. Motion carried. City maintenance was instructed to submit information to Rock County in order to obtain a seal coating bid to include all city streets. The Council reserves the right to reject any and all bids. The Council approved to spend up to $4,000 for rock around the lagoons.Motion by Metzger, seconded by Hoff, to proceed with the sidewalk replacement project along east Main Avenue, between 2nd and 3rd Streets, excluding that portion in front of Blue Chip Book Binding. Verhey Construction will be contacted to begin the project, with a completion date being prior to Friendship Days, June 9th. Council approved to have items within the Legion kitchen, which are no longer useful, to be sold on auction or junked. Motion by Hoff, seconded by Svoboda to donate an additional $1,000 to the Hills Community Club for band costs for the Friendship Days parade, and that this is the last donation that the City of Hills will make toward the 2006 Friendship Days celebration. Beaver Creek and Steen also donated toward band costs. Motion carried. Spring junk pickup for the city residents of Hills is scheduled for May 20th.A Rock County household hazardous waste collection is scheduled for May 9th from 4:00-6:00 p.m., located at the Hills city shop. Discussed complaints of debris from the recycling buildings. A wire fence will be installed on top of the cardboard recycling area; and the pop cans must be removed. The Board of Review meeting for the City of Hills is scheduled for May 9th from 6:30-7:00 p.m.The procedure for negotiating employee salaries and benefits with committee members was discussed. Due to the concern that little to no information was shared with the entire Council, or the employees, prior to a committee member making a motion. Council members outside the committee were under the assumption that an agreement was reached between the committee and the employees prior to bringing it to the table. Mayor Jellema suggested that another meeting be scheduled to discuss this matter. No further discussion, meeting adjourned at 8:08 P.M./s/ Connie J. WiertzemaCity Clerk(5-18)