March 12, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes

Call to order:

The regular Randolph City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Marie Jacob.

Roll Call:

Present:

Mayor Marie Jacob
Council Members Tony Price, and Randy Ferguson. Jake Friedrich was absent
Treasurer Sandy Nicolai and Clerk Mary Haro
Also, in attendance was Bolton & Menk engineer, Matt Blazer and legal counsel, Greta Bjerkness of LeVander, Gillen & Miller.

Approval of Agenda:

Motion to approve the agenda with the adjustment of moving the Eco Materials item before Public Comments was made by Jacob, seconded by Haro. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.

Public Comments:

A citizen asked if Matt was observing the site where work was being down by Northern Salt especially with the water pooling and the way it is flowing. It was also noted that they are starting work before 7 am which is very noisy and disruptive.

Prior Meeting Minutes

A motion to approve the February 12, 2025, planning commission meeting minutes was made by Price, seconded by Ferguson. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.

A motion to approve the February 12, 2025 council meeting minutes was made by Ferguson, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.

Treasurer's Report and Payment of Bills:

Motion to approve the payment of bills was made by Jacob with the exception of the one to Dakota County for salt fees pending a review of it and seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.

Old Business

None

New Business

ECO Materials Project

ECO materials and their contractor were present to discuss their plans for a 10 acre site that they will be leasing from Northern Salt. They described what Eco Materials is indicated they have over 20 sites across the United States. They would like to build a 130 v 460 shed to store the materials. Their plan is to break ground in May so the cold be open by November of this year. Matt from Bolton & Menk indicated there are still comments that need to be addressed on the south piece of the property before any approval can be made. The land use and site plan needs to be approved also.

If they want to have a special meeting before our next council meeting they need to contact the Clerk to set it up.

Dakota County Deputy

Deputy Dillon Houser was present and discussed they have been seeing a lot of fraud such as asking to purchase gift card or bit coins to take care of warrants. The sheriff’s department will never call to tell ask you to purchase these things.

There also has been bus stop violations which is a misdemeanor offense. You need to stop when the arm is out.

It was asked if side-by-sides are legal on the roads. They are not allowed on highways.

Mowing Contract

We should put it out for bids and include the mowing of inside the holding pond fence area. We should also have a map of the areas that need to be mowed. We will discuss this at next month’s meeting.

Sewer Operator Agreement

Greta drafted the agreement which is for $1200 a month and $75/hour for special costs such as a response to an alarm. It is a 3 year agreement. This contract is indicating that we are hiring them but we will not be incurring charges until the system is online.

A motion to approve the Service and Operating Agreement for the City of Randolph Wastewater Treatment System with MMS Environmental LLC was made by Haro, seconded by Price. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.

Sewer Project

We received a delay claim from Northland Grading. They broke it down and they have to prove what each one is. Part 1 Escalation and Part 2 Extra Work are in the contract and are entitled to the adjustment as well as Part 6 the increase in the bond. Part 3, Idle Equipment, Part 4, Overhead, and Par 5, Inefficiencies they find are not entitled to adjustment. Bolton & Menk replied and NGE has 30 days to respond. We the city as the owner also have 30 days to replay. If NGE agrees to the response then a formal change order would need to come to us for approval. If they do not agree then there is an appeal process. they still have to finish the project on schedule.

Matt also presented a budget recap with costs to date. There is about $270,000 left in contingencies.

It was asked if the delay claim is because of the permit delay and it was indicated it was. Is Bolton & Men on the hook for any of these amounts because they started before the permit was issued the main focus is to get the project done under the $13,000,000 so it doesn’t cost the city any more money.

Greta will look into the contract to see if Bolton & Menk should pay the delay claim. NGE plans to start back up around the middle of April.

It was also asked if we need dirt can we get some from the Northern Salt property. Matt will look into that.

It was noted that some of the asphalt by the school is already crumbling. Matt indicated he will look into this as it is still under warranty

Council Member Reports

It was discussed about the last snow fall because it was not done. Because it was so heavy and it was going to be 50 degrees they said it was just melt so they did not plow. We need to discuss this for next winter and also about the accumulation of snow and what to do with it. We should contact Dakota County to ask them about getting rid of the snow along the county roads.

Clerk Haro mentioned the Dakota County Open House being held regarding the County Road 47 project at the Scota Township Hall on Monday March 17.

Clerk Haro mentioned the upcoming Dakota County Township Officers Meeting to be held on March 22 - she will send around the flyer.

We discussed if we should be getting paid for planning commission meetings. The members did in the past. Greta will look into this and let us know.

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn the meeting made by Price, seconded by Ferguson, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. All voting in favor, none opposed, motion passed 4:0.