Councilors call for tree dump fix

After a messy weekend, site is clean but issues remain

FAIRMONT--The Fairmont City Council once again discussed the state of the tree dump at its meeting on Monday. The discussion item was added at the request of Council Member Randy Lubenow who said it was a mess over the weekend.

"I think the tree dump is really in disrepair right now," Lubenow said.

He said after talking to Public Works Director, Matthew York, he learned that the company, Shamrock, that had previously done grinding at the site, is no longer doing chipping.

"We're kind of at a stand-still," Lubenow said. "To me it's a pretty important thing to be looking at... I hope we give some more thought to what a long-term solution could be."

Mayor Lee Baarts said that one thing is educating the public on how to properly use the tree dump and where to put debris.

Barts also acknowledged that it's been discussed a lot and that it's costly to address it.

"I actually don't think it's about signage," Council Member Britney Kawecki said. "It's so full right now that there's really no options."

She detailed being on site over the weekend and said there was no where to go.

"I think people were doing the best they could. People were dumping leaves in the tree debris because the leaf area was so full," Kawecki said.

She continued, "I think it's come to the council so many times and we do not come up with a solution. We say over and over and over again that we're going to have a work shop and we don't. We say we're going to burn it and we don't burn it," Kawecki said.

She said she's been on the council for six years and in that time the council has not come up with a solution on how to keep the site clean.

Council Member James Kotewa asked York what the rules are to burn. York said the city has a permit to burn but that it requires the city to have a pile no bigger than certain dimensions.

"We have plans to burn. I've already been in contact with the person who did our burn last time," York said.

However, he said they haven't been able to give them a good idea of how much material will be burned so that they can get a quote on the cost until the site is shut down later this month.

"I was also out there yesterday (Sunday). I saw it myself. It was a mess. I had my people work on it today (Monday) and it's not a mess today," York said.

He said part of the problem was that people were placing debris in front of the roadway and on the roadway, which caused a vehicle backup onto the road.

York further said that staff goes out there to maintain the site two to three times a week.

"But we don't have anyone out there on Saturdays and we don't have anyone out there on Sundays," York explained. "If the council would like to have people out there on the weekend to move material, that may be a solution," he said.

He said the city needs to get through the next three weeks of people dropping off material until the next step can be figured out.

Kawecki said she did not think that the citizens should be blamed for the mess at the site.

"I think people were doing the best that they can with the options that they have," she said.

After some more discussion, Baarts attempted to put a hold on it and told the council that a work session should be planned.

However Council Member Jay Maynard said he thought something needed to be done sooner as the same thing would happen this coming weekend.

York said if they wanted to pay a staff member to be on site all day Saturday and Sunday it would cost anywhere between $1,200 and $2,400.

Baarts asked if a staff member could go out at the end of the day on Friday to clean it up ahead of the weekend.

Kawecki said she thinks if someone could be out there for a few hours each day that would make the citizens happy. Lubenow asked if there's a minimum amount of time staff needs to be called into work and York said it's two hours.

"I would propose that from 2 to 5 on Saturday we have staff out there moving stuff around, try to make room. Avoid Sunday," Lubenow said.

However Kotewa said he thinks it would need to be closer to four or five hours to move some of the piles and York agreed.

"That's what we've talked about this whole time. When do we shut it down so we can do the work out there?" York asked.

In closing the conversation, Kawecki said that she felt like another issue is that the city needs to reconsider the leaf pickup dates in the future and that she thought many people were bringing their leaves out after the city came by because more leaves had been dropping from their trees.

Baarts told the council to send an email to City Clerk Betsy Steuber with available dates and times in order to schedule a work session to further discuss the matter.

In other business, the council considered two dilapidated and hazardous buildings located at 112 and 114 W. 4th Street.

The properties, owned by the Vaughn Family Estate, are two of four properties that the city accepted in 2017 upon receiving clear title. In 2019, an agreement between the city and Vincent C. Vaughn Jr. was executed and recorded with the Martin County Recorder and in the agreement, the city expressed its willingness and ability to demolish the building.

City Attorney David Assaf with Flaherty and Hood said, "We provided notices to Vince Vaughn Jr. He's aware of this action and the city has been in communication with him over the past year or so. It would have been much simpler if these properties had been deeded to the city. At this point they have not gone through the probate process and he's not able to deed them to the city."

Economic Development Coordinator Ned Koppen added that staff has been in contact with the family numerous times, almost weekly, since 2017 to resolve the issue.

He agreed with what Assaf said that for whatever reason the probate process was not done and now the City Building Official, Doug Harstad, has deemed the buildings hazardous and in such disrepair that they need to come down.

The council passed two motions declaring the both buildings as hazardous and ordering the repair or razing of them.

Finally on Monday, Kotewa had asked for item 6.C.3, consideration of an easement with Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) for a transmission line between the FES substation and the WIP substation, to be removed from the consent agenda and moved to new business. Maynard seconded it and the motion passed unanimously.

When it came time to discuss, Kotewa said he wasn't opposed to it, but pointed out that as part of it SMMPA will pay the city just over $14,000 for it. He asked Finance Director Paul Hoye where the funds would go and Hoye said they would go into the general fund.

However Kotewa asked if the funds could go to the Bull Head Park, where the easement runs through. Hoye said that could be arranged with council direction.

Kotewa then asked Public Works Director Matthew York would the park could use and York said potentially some prairie planting or a walking path. He said that staff could put together some formal ideas and bring it back to council for approval in the spring.

Kotewa's motion to approve the easement with funds going to Bull Head Park passed unanimously.