Council wants to see movement on Nevis skate park - Park Rapids Enterprise

The Nevis City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 15 received a written update from Heidi Gustafson about planning and fundraising for a proposed skate park.

Gustafson reported that her committee has been “quietly soliciting donations and applying for grants,” but was not awarded the skate park project grant from Tony Hawk’s foundation; they are waiting for a state grant to open up; and they cannot put out bids for specific plans or specifications until enough funds are locked down to pay for them.

Gustafson said they currently have $35,4000 set aside for the skate park in a Forward Foundation account, plus $30,000 in pledges. She said if the project does not come to fruition, all dollars raised will be returned to the donors, and they have a spreadsheet with donor details.

Council members regretted Gustafson could not be there to answer questions and voiced interest in seeing her spreadsheet. They also discussed a timeframe for seeing movement on the project.

Thompson made a motion to table action until next month, and to ask for a look at Gustafson’s spreadsheet. The motion passed 5-0.

In consent items and other business, the council:

Authorized Municipal Liquor Store Manager Kay Moen to use a city credit card with a $1,000 credit limit.
Heard Moen report she is still working on getting competitive quotes to repair the Muni’s lift and a second opinion to repair the duct work. She said a recent comedy show was a success with all but one ticket sold, and discussed plans for a “zombie pub crawl” on Oct. 26 in cooperation with the other bars in town.
Discussed what to do with the Muni’s non-functioning electronic sign on State Hwy. 34, which the city opted not to repair and the Minnesota Department of Transportation will no longer permit in its right-of-way. Property owner Karrin Lindow asked that if the city wants to keep the sign, it be removed by Nov. 15. The council voted 5-0 to abandon it.
Voted 5-0 to renew the Muni’s advertising agreement with the Park Rapids Enterprise. Council members and city staff also discussed how to provide Muni financial reports for historical review. The council voted 5-0 to instruct staff to send data going back to 2000.
Looked at two quotes to replace the Muni’s previous credit card processor. Moen recommended Ameta, which is estimated to save the city $3,341 per year vs. its current processor. Compared to the representative of competing bidder Cluster, Moen said the Ameta representative was helpful. The council voted 5-0 to go with Ameta.
Looked at five bids to replace UBMax as the city’s utility billing management software, as the company was taken over by gWorks. The council voted 4-1, with Reuther opposed, to subscribe to gWorks based on Moen’s recommendation, noting that it’s the low bid at $1,920 per year with free setup, the company already has the city’s data, and some of the other companies are tailored toward larger cities. Other bids included Muni Billing at $3,008, Black Mountain at $8,605, Central Square at $1,950 with $500 setup and additional costs for e-billing, and Civic Systems at $14,900.
Approved a procedure for approving department purchases greater than their account’s bank balance, given these investments.
Voted 5-0 to approve amounts to invest out of various city accounts in the Minnesota Municipal Money Market (4M) Fund, as well as the balances to leave in each account at Northwoods Bank. Investment amounts across all accounts totaled $658,000.
Approved a resolution opting into the Hubbard County Economic Development Authority, on the recommendation of the city’s planning and zoning board.
Discussed referring financially constrained owners of nuisance properties to the Headwaters Regional Development Commission for owner-occupied rehab assistance.
Discussed working with an organization such as the Compliance Shop to review the city’s internal controls.
Approved financial statements for September, showing general fund receipts totaling about $1,128 and disbursements totaling $30,646, as well as liquor fund receipts totaling $81,695 and disbursements totaling $89,489.

The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12 at city hall, a special meeting date due to the Veterans Day holiday on Nov. 11.