Waste Management donates to CEF

The Carrington City Council welcomed representatives of Waste Management, who presented a $500 check to Bob Lipetzky and Jason Jarrett of the Carrington Endowment Fund.

Waste Management donates to a local nonprofit organization each year.

In other business:

Committee Reports

FIRE

• Carrington Fire Chief Ken Wangen reported one rural call for service since the last meeting.

• Wangen said he was elected as fire chief for another two years.

• He said he plans on replacing the primary pumper, as the current one is 21 years old. He said the ballpark figure for a new pumper could range from $325,000 to three-quarters of a million dollars.

He also said the Otto Bremer Foundation will not fund fire equipment any longer.

FINANCE & LEGAL

• Mayor Tom Erdmann reported the transfer of funds from the General Fund to the Armory Fund in the amount of $25,263. Erdmann said this is what it costs the city to run the armory each year.

• It was reported that the city received $450,000 in city sales tax for the year 2021. That figure is $29,000 more than in 2020.

• A motion was passed to offer each full-time and each part-time employee of the City of Carrington $100 in Carrington Cash for a holiday employee appreciation gift.

CED:

• It was reported in the minutes of the last meeting that the board will be looking into combining the workspace for the Chamber Director and CED Director.

• A business plan was received from Whitney Carter, who plans to open a daycare in April 2022 called Milestone Early Learning Center. The board decided to table any discussion on assistance until a formal application is completed.

• CED Karlee Griffin presented some current issues related to the current Demolition Cost Share incentive program and suggested some language changes for the program. Deedra Aasand made a motion to recommend city council approval to update the language of the current demolition cost share by adding in the eligibility requirements that the applicant must present a marketable title, title opinion, updated abstract, and all current/past due real estate taxes and specials must be paid to be considered eligible for the grant. These changes are being recommended as retroactive to the current in progress cost share grant with Justin Johnson. Motion passed.

• Justin Johnson Demolition Cost Share: Discussion was started on the demolition cost share that is currently in progress with Justin Johnson. It was stated that there is currently no abstract or clear title for the property. In order for the City of Carrington to take ownership of this property, all these issues must be fixed. Motion passed to recommend city council approval to amend the previously approved motion for the demolition cost share, which stated Economic Development would reimburse 75 percent of total demolition costs with a maximum of $10,000 by changing the motion to state that Economic Development will reimburse 75 percent of total demolition costs with a maximum of $13,000.

• A motion was passed to recommend city council approval to appoint Laurie Dietz and Karlee Griffin as administrators for the Community App being developed for the City of Carrington.

CVB:

• The west Carrington sign is installed and looks great. It appears that the east sign will need to wait until spring at this point.

• The CVB received a request from NDSRA (North Dakota Street Rod Association) to submit an application for hosting upcoming events in Carrington.

AIRPORT:

• The AWAS transmitter is up and running.

• Nikki Mertz was appointed to the Carrington Airport Authority Board and Jennifer Gast was appointed as secretary/treasurer of the board.

POLICE:

• A bid for a new Tahoe was received from Bessette Motors.

• The Carrington PD is looking at purchasing new body cams.

PUBLIC WORKS:

• The State Department of Environmental Quality wants cities in North Dakota to look at city buildings for back flow issues to protect the water supply from contamination.

• JO Volleyball requested to use the armory. The council will honor their request and charge them $50 per session on Sunday evenings for 3-4 hours.

BUILDING OFFICIAL:

• Planning and Zoning will move their meetings from Wednesday nights to Tuesday nights at 5:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.

NO MEETINGS:

• Library

• Tree Board

• Organizational Review