10 Hillsboro BannerFriday, July 3, 2020 News

HILLSBORO CITY COMMISSION ReguLaR MeeTINg

JuNe 1, 2020, 6:30 PMTHE HILLSBORO BOARD OF

CITY COMMISSIONERS HELD A REGULAR MEETING ON MICRO-SOFT TEAMS AT THE ABOVE DATE AND TIME.

Commissioners present: Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert.

Commissioners absent: None.Commissioner Sando opened the

meeting at 6:31 PM.Reading of the Minutes:Commissioner Sather moved to

approve the May 18, 2020 Regular City Commission Meeting Minutes. Commissioner Tibert seconds. Mo-tion carried.

Consent agenda: City Auditor’s Bond

Whereas the City of Hillsboro shall continue to operate and provide services to the community;

Whereas authority to contract with funding sources shall be need-ed in other for the City of Hillsboro to continue its operation;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RE-SOLVED that the Board of Com-missioners of the City of Hillsboro hereby sets the City Auditor’s Bond at $2,000.000.

Commissioner Reese moved to approve the resolution. Commis-sioner Kress seconded. On a roll call vote, the following Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Resolution car-ried.

Presentation of Bills: Amer-ipride, Mats & Rugs, $209.79; Ban-yon Data Systems, PM Cemetery Support, $295.00; Brite-Way Win-dow Cleaning, City Hall windows, $45.00; Cardmember Service, plants, flags, grasshopper, $551.30; Dawn Paulsrud, MSCC rental re-fund- COVID 19, $50.00; Ferguson Waterworks, s80 unions, $79.80; Grainger, Gloves, Broom, Flags, Bat-tery, $484.18; Hawkins, chemicals, $4,590.62; Hillsboro Lumber, 2x4’s, $12.71; Jamison Marchand, refund of meter, $82.55; Jet-Way Multiple Services, Camera- wastwater line at WTP, $460.00; Lawson Products, Aerosol Rack x2, $89.66; Lovro Electric LLC, Owens- off peak con-troller, $125.00; Matt Mutzenberger, May Phone, $50.00; Microsoft On-line, May online services, $272.00; Mike Kress, Mowing Contract- June, $941.67; Miller’s Fresh Food, Sup-plies, $33.72; O’Day Equipment, Uehling Tank Guage, $286.50; Ohn-stad Twichell- Hillsboro, Professional

Services, $15,100.52; SENDCAA, Lisa Sewill- refund of meter, $81.25; Sky Tractor, Pro Seal, $68.09; Team Lab, Fine Road Patch, $700.00; Traill County Treasurer, Traill County Sheriff- June, $13,763.24; Valley Plains Equipment, V-BELT, FLAG, PVC, $185.78; Van Diest Supply Company, Altosid Briquets, $6,019.20. Total Accounts Payable: $44,577.58.

Commissioner Tibert moved to pay bills as presented. Commission-er Reese seconded. Motion carried.

City Commissioners Reports:Commissioner Tibert – inquired

about the timeframe for gravel at the cemetery, Public Works would like to spray for weeds before laying gravel. Pool is filled, and planning to reopen with a phased approach and special Covid protocol. Would like to hire a couple of younger part-time summer helpers to clean and disinfect at the pool this summer.

Commissioner Tibert moved to hire two girls at $10.00 per hour for cleaning at the pool. Seconded by Commissioner Kress. On a roll call vote, the following Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried.

Commissioner Sather – nothing to report.

Commissioner Reese – nothing to report from HEDC’s last meeting; Rec Dist. Summer activities have begun; the owners of the wooded lot by the baseball diamond discussed building an apartment on the lot, and possibly applying for a Payment in Leu of Taxes (PILOT).

Commissioner Kress – flowers are in; P and Z has so far only re-ceived one bid for the shop expan-sion project.

Commissioner Sando – busy with construction at the airport.

City Officers Reports:Public Works Director Ander-

son – street repairs are in progress; Steve Swanson, AE2S reported that final estimates and drawings for the 2nd Street Storm Water Project, the I-29 Water Main Project, the River Walk Plat Review, and the Sanitary Sewer Line Replacement are close to complete. City Auditor Mutzen-berger noted that a Rural Develop-ment loan could be sought, with 45% loan forgiveness if approved.

City Attorney Juelson – nothing to report. Attorney Strom informed the Commission that he and others at Ohnstad Twitchell have completed a final draft of digitized City Ordinanc-es, and that tomorrow morning he

would be emailing a pdf for review.City Auditor Mutzenberger – writ-

ten report submitted. Additionally, Mutzenberger mentioned that the next meeting of the Commission will also be the reorganizational meeting, and suggested that the Commission meet on the fourth Tuesday, which is the day the Commissioners-Elect take office, instead of the regular meeting on the third Monday. Mut-zenberger also raised the question of how the Commissioners felt about meeting at the Main Street Commu-nity Center where it would be pos-sible to meet in person and practice social distancing.

Commissioner Tibert moved to hold the second meeting in June on Tuesday, June 23 for the purpose of reorganization. Seconded by Com-missioner Reese. On a roll call vote, the following Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried

Commissioner Reese moved to hold the Reorganizational Meeting on Tuesday, June 23 at the Main Street Community Center. Seconded by Commissioner Tibert. On a roll call vote, the following Commission-ers voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, San-do, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried

Traill County Sheriff’s Depart-ment – unclear if the Sheriff was present; May Calls for Service sub-mitted.

Old Business: Century Link Franchise Agree-

ment (Ordinance 519) – update US West Ordinance 417.

Commissioner Reese moved to have the Second Reading of Ordi-nance 529. Seconded by Commis-sioner Kress. On a roll call vote, the following Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried.

Code Red alert system – Com-missioner Sather moved to purchase and utilize the Code Red Alert Sys-tem. The motion died for lack of a second. Will revisit when financial conditions improve.

Foreclosed Lot- 329 2nd Street NW

Commissioner Reese moved to purchase the N ½ of Lot 1 Block 1 Sorlies Addition Parcel #26-0030-0001-000 form Traill County for $21.00. Seconded by Commissioner Tibert. On a roll call vote, the fol-lowing Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried.

New Business:City Hall Reopening Protocol

Beginning on June 2, the regular full-time City Hall staff will resume working together in the City Auditor’s Office by practicing social distancing – masks are available for situation where it may be necessary to work closer together. For the week of June 1- 5, City Hall will remain closed to the public. We will open to the public, one person in the office at a time, the following week, June 8 – 12, depend-ing on the installation of the sneeze guard and that the walk-around counter question being answered (the Public Works Department will be working on these issues with the Auditor’s Office).

Letters to Residents – Long Grass

Letters to residents with long grass will be mailed on June 2.

Street Crew PPECommissioner Tibert moved to

give the Pool Manager a $1.00 per hour raise. Seconded by Commis-sioner Reese. The raise would make the manager’s new wage above the current range of $15.00 - $20.00 per hour. The motion on the floor would also require changing the wage range of the Pool Manager. The Commission would like to review the current policy and revisit the raise at the next Commission Meeting. Com-missioner Tibert withdrew her mo-tion. No action taken.

Commissioner Reese moved to purchase five hi-vis t-shirts for all full-time, and three for part-time PW employees, one light hi-vis jacket for all PW employees, and reimburse lifeguards up to $80.00 if they work at the pool for the entire season. Seconded by Commissioner Sath-er. On a roll call vote, the following Commissioners voted ‘Yes’ – Kress, Reese, Sando, Sather, and Tibert. Motion carried.

Commissioner Sather moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:17 PM. Mo-tion carried.

The next regular meeting of the Hillsboro Board of City Commission-ers will be at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at the Main Street Community Center. The meeting will be open to the public, however, social distancing measure must be observed. If you have a cough, fever, or have traveled to a highly infected area, please do not attend to protect the safety of others.

Terry Sando, PresidentMatt Mutzenberger, City auditor

Legal Notice

Sando shared details on the planned brewery during a lengthy sit-down interview, which included his thoughts on embattled City Auditor Matt Mutzenberger, Hillsboro’s need for a new pool and ongoing ten-sions with other members of the Hillsboro City Commission.

Here are excerpts from San-do’s interview, which opened with a series of questions about the current status of Mutzen-berger, who was placed on paid administrative leave after allega-tions of professional misconduct against him surfaced in June.

In a June 8 letter, Hillsboro City Commissioner Levi Re-ese said Mutzenberger brought a firearm into his office, barred a city commissioner from City Hall, used sexist and derogatory speech toward a city official and passed off work to Hillsboro’s Public Works Department.

What’s the current employ-ment status of Mutzenberger?

Commissioner Shawn Skager has the personnel portfolio, so he and I and (city attorney) John Juelson will be working together to outline the way ahead. Matt has gotten a lawyer so we have to figure out how to proceed and that he has a chance to come in and give his side of the allega-tions outlined in Levi’s letter. It’s complicated.

What’s the timeline for that process?

Typically 10 days. Now that his lawyer has sent an official letter to John, we will probably have to extend that. We have to let Shawn and myself do some fact-checking before we can have (Matt) come and present.

Do we expect that process to wrap up in July?

Yes. It’s not benefiting Matt or the city to drag it out.

The City Commission voted 4-1 to start the removal pro-cess. Is there any information that could be presented that would allow him to stay?

That’s the million dollar question. Without the support of any of the other commissioners, it would be difficult for Matt to come back in the role he is in right now.

You voted against his re-

moval.Nobody is perfect. Everyone

has room to improve. To see Matt thrown under the bus with all those allegations, and not be-ing able to defend himself, that was tough. Levi piled on him saying he had polled business-es that wanted him gone. How many? Did he go to all of them or just a handful? He shaped the environment to his benefit.

Would Mutzenberger like to come back?

I think he would. I liked working with Matt. But after go-ing through all this, he probably realizes it’s not an environment he would like to continue work-ing in.

Not trying to open the city’s checkbook, but is this headed toward a financial settlement?

I would say that’s the way it’s headed.

That’s to ward off a poten-tial lawsuit?

We had a motion (in June) that was approved saying Levi acted on his own as a citizen and not on behalf of the commission. Levi could be liable if Matt de-cided to go after him.

Has the city started a search for a new auditor?

We haven’t gotten to that point yet. Until a final resolution with Matt is reached, we won’t start that process.

Is it fair to say there is dis-cord or disharmony on the commission right now?

That’s fair, but it’s just be-tween Levi and me. I was em-barrassed by the fact he sent the letter to the commission and the Banner without going to the city first. He never even notified me he had put the letter together. There was no professional cour-tesy.

Will that discord make it harder to land a new auditor?

I don’t think so. As president of the city commission, I would ask another commissioner to join in that search. Shawn, being

the new commissioner with the personnel portfolio, would be the one to ask.

Is the working relationship between you and Reese going to improve?

That is up to Levi. He has to get back to being a commission-er who doesn’t, well, just be-cause you do things fast doesn’t mean you are doing things right.

The situation with Mutzen-berger hasn’t been the most flattering to Hillsboro. It’s nev-er a good thing when Valley News Live is in town.

When I talk to city officials in Grand Forks, they wonder what the hell is going on down here. To have one city commissioner take it upon himself to bring dis-cord to the full-time staff, and some of this negative publicity to Hillsboro, is just wrong.

Switching topics, what can you share about the down-town brewery?

It will take up both lots, so about 150 feet along and the frontage along Caledonia is about 75. We have run into an issue in the strip mall (in West Fargo where Flatland Brewery is housed) and need to move the equipment out. That’s why there is a sense of urgency to start the demolition process.

There was speculation in town you were moving the brewery from Riverwalk to downtown.

I still plan on buying out there (in Riverwalk). That will be the bar and restaurant.

Will there be space for cus-tomers at the downtown site?

Most of the rooms will be for brewing equipment, the vats. We might serve popcorn there or something like that.

What’s the timeline for the downtown site?

Yesterday (laughs). Obvi-ously, the first step is getting the Banner building down and then finding a builder.

What’s the estimated com-pletion date for the restaurant in Riverwalk?

That project will get pushed into next year.

Is the Riverwalk project be-hind schedule?

We are quite a ways behind. Being an optimist, I thought things would be done by De-cember in terms of the final platting and getting contractors

in. We are working on a water agreement for out there and af-ter that will be the developer’s agreement.

So there won’t be any build-ing out there yet this year?

I don’t think any of the infra-structure will go in this year the way it looks.

Spring 2021 is the soonest that will start?

Yes. That is a pessimistic view but that is the way it looks.

Has there been any traction on replacing the city-run out-door pool in Woodland Park?

The pool was placed on the back burner with the virus. I would love to come up with something but we have to find grants and how to make it work financially. For now we have to nurse it through this year. We need community support and there needs to be an outcry for a new pool.

Closing the pool for the summer would create an out-cry for a new pool.

That is a good analysis of the situation. It would hit parents harder if they didn’t have a place to go. There are a whole bunch of people in town who don’t want a new pool and whole bunch who do.

What’s the status of the planned electric vehicle charging station the city has been looking at placing some-where in town?

We can’t put the EV charging station at the substation (by Sub-way) like we planned. We could put it at the corner of Caledonia and First Street Northwest (by the planned brewery). As part of the building process, we could get grant money to put the sta-tion on that corner, hoping it would pull people downtown off the interstate.

Any other topics you want to address?

I hope, as we go through this process with Matt, that there is a sense of forgiveness. He has a family and this has been tough on him. However this gets re-solved, I hope the city of Hill-sboro that has a big heart will give a little forgiveness. Wheth-er you were for him or against him that people will try to sup-port him and his family.

SaNDOContinued from page 1

Sando addresses rift on city commission, provides update on Riverwalk Addition

AQ

VeteransCorner

Rebecca HodgsonTraill County Veterans Service Officer

OFFICE HOURS: Hillsboro courthouse, Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mayville City Hall, Friday 8 a.m. to noonOutreach in the county, Friday 1 to 4:30 p.m.

On July 4, 1776, the 13 colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United States. Each year on the Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate this historic event.

Conflict between the colonies and England was already a year old when the colonies convened a Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776.

In a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with the famous words: “Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Lee’s words were the impetus for the drafting of a formal Declaration of Independence, although the resolution was not followed up on immediately.

The process of revision by the Continental Congress began July 1, then continued through all of July 3 and into the late afternoon of July 4, when the Declaration was officially adopted. Of the 13 colonies, nine voted in favor of the Declaration, two – Pennsylvania and South Carolina – voted No, Delaware was undecided and New York abstained.

John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that John Hancock signed his name “with a great flourish” so England’s “King George can read that without spectacles!”

Today, the original copy of the Declaration is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the Fourth of July has been designated a national holiday to commemorate the day the United States laid down its claim to be a free and independent nation. Source: https://www.military.com/

Thank a vet for their service on this Independence Day! Visit www.traillvso.com for news and information. Services are available for

veterans benefits. Please call today. Rebecca Hodgson

Traill County Veterans Service OfficerPhone: 701-636-4414

Office Cell: 701-430-7059Fax: 701-636-4415

rebecca.hodgson@co.traill.nd.ushttps://www.facebook.com/VeteransServiceOfficeTraillCO

www.traillvso.com

VETERANS CORNERSponsored by

Vets Club ■ Hillsboro

Looking for auto insurance?Call me for a quote. I’ll help you understand auto rates and potential discounts.

Brad Richter Hillsboro • 636-5285

Even if you are only doing business by phone or email

right now, help people know you are still there for them.

Contact NDNA or your local newspaper to place an adthis size in all North Dakota newspapers for only $700! (that’s just $8.14 per paper! Regions also available.)

ND Newspaper Association: 701-223-6397

LEE’S Wood

Shed

Lee EricksonHillsboro, ND

leeerickson@rrv.netCall or text 701-430-1419

We take custom orders!