The Nevis City Council on Monday approved a proposal from People’s Security Co. of Brainerd to fit the municipal on/off-sale with a new fire system for $5,760, plus a monthly monitoring fee of $46 or $552 per year.
Muni manager Cindy Paulsen said she spoke with a contact at White Pine Security to confirm that People’s price quote was in a responsible range.
“This is going to include horns and strobes and smoke detectors,” she said. “The muni has no smoke detectors at this time.”
City Administrator Dawn Veit said Fire Chief Josh Winter had strongly suggested putting in smoke detectors.
Acting Mayor Sue Gray’s motion to approve the purchase specified that the funds will be taken out of savings, and passed 3-0, absent Mayor Jeanne Thompson and council member Blair Reuther.
Paulsen also asked about extending the muni’s Sunday hours to the same closing time as other days of the week.
According to Veit, Mayor Jeanne Thompson, who was absent from the meeting, had told her this would be all right “once in a while,” but to change the hours on a regular basis would require council action.
Paulsen said she would come back at a future meeting to request extended Sunday hours during the summer.
In consent items and general business, the city council:
- Received concepts for muni signage from patron John Hallgren of White Oak Township. Hallgren offered to donate the signage and his time on the project, including a 4-by-8-foot lighted wooden sign along State Hwy. 34 within city limits and an 8-foot-high beer bottle mounted on a power pole in front of the muni.
- Received a law enforcement report from Deputy Josh Oswald. According to his written report, between Jan. 5 and Feb. 8 city law enforcement handled one accident, two animal calls, three arrests, 15 attempts to locate, one theft, four citations, six civil processes, eight disturbance/disorderly calls, one fire, nine medical calls, eight “other,” six public assists, 13 traffic stops and 26 business/facility checks, including school patrol.
- Heard from council member Teresa Leshovsky that the skate park committee met on Jan. 25 and was meeting again on Feb. 15 to establish a timeline for the project and prepare a proposal to present to the council.
- Approved a $1,250 bid from Hansen’s Electric Inc. of Park Rapids to replace basement lighting at the muni with LED fixtures. Hansen’s submitted the lowest bid, while Avenson Electric Inc. and Northern Pines Plumbing, Heating and Electric also submitted bids.
- Discussed replacing beer the muni’s cooler lights with LED fixtures. Paulsen said the lights were not well maintained and noted that vendors had started upgrading the fixtures in some of their coolers. Urged to get prices from local electricians, Paulsen agreed to come back next month with more bids.
- Approved an annual motion not to waive tort monetary limits for claims on the city’s liability insurance.
- Ratified last month’s vote to increase firefighters’ retirement benefit from $1,700 to $2,600. Winter said when he previously requested this change at the council’s Jan. 9 meeting, it was too soon according to Fire Relief Association bylaws after the members voted to make the request. “I have to have a 30-day waiting period before I can act on it,” he explained. Gray’s motion to approve the benefit increase passed 3-0.
The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, March 13 at city hall.
