COURTLAND –The Courtland City Council at their regular meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7, continued their discussion from last month regarding who is responsible for removing diseased trees.

Council members Pam Rodewald and Justin Kraus had volunteered to contact other cities on how they handle trees. Most cities contacted told them that trees in the city’s right-of-way are the city’s responsibility for removal. Homeowners would be responsible for the trees on their property and any trees that hang over the right-of-way. Lake City also has a $500 fine for anyone planting a tree in a right-of-way.

There is a grant through the DNR to provide the city with funds to remove trees. City Clerk Julie Holm said they should check to see if a sub-fund could be set up to help homeowners with tree removal expenses.

Council member Ralph Bents asked another ordinance regarding tree removal was needed or if an amendment could be made to their current right-of-way ordinance.

Council member Paul Bode said the right-of-way ordinance couldn’t be applied to homeowners.

No final decision was made at this meeting.

Public Utilities

Courtland Public Works employee Ubel has been working with workers who are running a camera through the sewer lines to check on the sewer’s condition.

They are finding many issues with the manholes and various items in the sewer lines that can cause problems: such as, grease, pipes, boards, etc. He also said they are finding that many lateral sewer lines are crushed. It is looking like the main sewer line in the city will need to be jetted to clean it. And, if they find a homeowner is not in compliance, the homeowner will be responsible for jet cleaning their sewer line. The workers are using GPS to mark where everything in the sewer: such as, where the curb stop is, where a sewer line dumps into the main sewer, where the cleanout is, and marking dead ends.

•A new furnace and air conditioner were installed in the city hall at a cost of under $11,000. The prior system had been in the hall since 1993.

•Ubel reported that Nuvera will be starting to put in fiber in part of the city next week.

Mayor Al Poehler said to be sure they stay in the utility easement.

•Ubel also reported that there was a request to have the park shelters cleaned and that has been done.

Mayor/Council

Justin Kraus suggested the council continue to think about having a place for residents to take brush to burn.

He said, “If we want people to keep their yards clean, we need a place for brush piles.”

It was suggested that they find a site or area where there could be a locked gate and the resident would sign out the key from the City Clerk, and maybe have a camera on site. Councilor Bents suggested that they should publish when the area would be open.

City Clerk

City Cerk Julie Holm attended a meeting with the Nicollet County Attorney regarding cannabis and an ordinance on public use. There haven’t been any complaints in Nicollet County yet, but they are concerned with people smoking near places like day cares and parks. There will be another meeting and the topic of licensing businesses in cities will also be discussed.

Holm said that four Certificates of Deposits will be due next month with a total value of about $600,000 which has earned $19,718 in interest. The 4M, Minnesota Municipal Money Market Fund, earns about 5.25 percent without being in a CD and has earned about $20,000 in interest.

Planning Committee

Julie Holm reported that the Planning Commission is working on the parking ordinance. It will probably be coming back to the council soon and then it will be ready to publish.

New Business

Ubel told the council that there are two or three sidewalks that are heaving and are not ADA compliant so they should be fixed. Councilor Rodewald said that the property owners need to fix it.

Mayor Poehler suggested that we take another look into it to see what needs to be done.

Holm presented the contract to the council from Banyon Utility Billing for an additional add-on to the current municipal software system. A motion was made and unanimously approved to sign the contract at no initial cost except for the annual $195 support fee, an additional component of the program will allow for e-billing and auto pay by ACH or e-check and residents will be charged $1.10 per transaction which is less than credit card fees.

Other Business

The mayor and council approved the August 3 regular council meeting minutes. Also approved were the bills submitted for $53,339.28.

The 2024 Budget/Levy workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 19, at 6:30 p.m. The next regular meeting will be Thursday, October 5, at 7 p.m.