Minutes - Council Work Session - 05/18/2010 - Joint with Nowthen CC

Home

Mayor Schulz summarized the events happening at the City of Nowthen. 2) Joint Fire Service. Fire Chief Kapler reviewed the department activity in Nowthen and Ramsey. He summarized the service fees and cost breakdown for the cities. Councilmember Elvig noted with the multi-story buildings in Town Center, he believed there should be a cap for the equipment expense. Councilmember McGlone stated he was not in favor of capping expenses. He indicated this did not make sense when there was an emergency situation. Councilmember Olmon stated what the City of Nowthen needed to look at was recouping their costs, and capping expenses would not do that. She stated she was not in favor of changing anything right now, but to look at options in the future. Councilmember Dehen stated he was an advocate of recouping costs and to obtain reimbursement from the insurance companies where possible. Councilmember Elvig asked if the City of Nowthen could have a pool of funds or obtain a loan to assist their residents. City Clerk LaDoucer responded the City did assess the property, as well as offering a payment plan arrangement to the residents. Councilmember Meyer stated he had received several phone calls from residents regarding reimbursing the City for a fire. Councilmember Pilon stated he would like to see a capped rate. Councilmember Dehen stated he wanted to know if there were insurance a resident could buy that would cover the actual cost of a fire. It was the consensus to keep the Joint Powers Agreement as is and look at the rates again in the future. 3) Sewer and Water The Council discussed the sewer and water system, water treatment, and the Met Council's requirements. 4) Trails Mayor Ramsey stated he wanted to ensure the cities looked at planning their trails systems so they could hookup to each other. The Councilmembers discussed past issues with the snowmobiles. City Council Work Session /May 18, 2010 Page 2 of 3