Buffalo City Council Meeting, Mar 1st, 2021

00:00:10 - Buffalo Strong
00:00:50 - Olivia Thomes - Student Liason - All students are back for full time learning
00:01:35 - Open Forum - Fred Nackermeier, Former Mayor representing Buffalo Food Shelf
00:02:30 - If you or someone you know is short of food, let the food shelf know
00:03:40 - Minnesota Foodshare month
00:07:37 - Is there a difference between donating to the food shelf or to the staff? No.
00:09:05 - Additions/Deletions - $4500 to United Way
00:09:20 - MNDOT Agreement - moved to approval
00:09:43 - Councilman Eric Anderson - Parks Advisory Board
00:09:55 - Arbor Meadows Development Dedication
00:11:00 - Rededication Fee Amounts
00:11:23 - Liquor Sales in the Parks
00:12:00 - Parks Department is looking into a yearly Arbor Day event
00:12:35 - Councilman Scott Enter - Blood Drives
00:13:15 - Recognition for Danny Palmer - Buffalo Strong Website
00:14:00 - Consent Agenda, moving one item to afterwards - 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:15:05 - Allison - Past Due Accounts
00:18:30 - There are $1200 TRACES grants for people who have fallen behind in utilities bills
00:19:10 - We are not charging Late/Disconnect fees until the public health emergency comes around
00:20:30 - Call for a hearing for accounts due - 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:21:20 - Amendment Uniform Fire Code
00:23:00 - Radio Coverage for bands
00:23:30 - $10-30k cost to businesses who are lacking
00:24:45 - Q: What band is this? A: 800MHz band for person to person communications
00:25:15 - Q: What kinds of buildings need to have repeaters? A: Steel buildings/concrete buildings with rebar
00:26:30 - Approve 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:27:15 - Justin - 2021 Airport Maintenance Bids, asphalt resurfacing of all surfaces
00:29:10 - Motion to Approve 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:29:45 - Dague Ave Project
00:30:10 - Fund swap between cities to support the project
00:31:25 - Q: Will this hamper us in years to come? A: No.
00:31:40 - Q: What about the roundabout for that intersection? A: We have just recieved $400k for that project from the federal government.
00:32:50 - Councilman Steve Downer - Thanks to the engineer and the staff for their work on this, Motion to Approve 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:33:45 - Nicholas Anhut - Series 2021A Refunding Bonds, Potential Refinancing Debut
00:35:40 - "Refunding Bonds" - Refinancing, lower annual payments
00:37:00 - Proposed Bond issue, $2.33M, Estimate Interest < 1.25%, 12.3% Net Present Value Savings
00:43:20 - Q: Are we extending payments on these bonds? A: No
00:44:05 - Q: These could be paid off in 2029? A: Yes, but the payments are scheduled out to 2032.
00:44:25 - Q: If the interest rates go higher, can we back away? A: We can back away, our bids will be presented on April 5th to the City Council. You will Accept/Reject these rates.
00:45:45 - Motion to Accept 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:46:40 - Award of Bid for 3 year generator contract
00:48:55 - Motion to Approve 8Gen for the generator contract 5 Aye, 0 Nay
00:49:35 - Annual Fire Report
01:00:40 - Mitigation strategies on construction side
01:12:00 - Allison - Community Engagement
01:12:30 - Buffalo will be partnering with Flash Vote
01:13:10 - 5 Question Surveys, you will have to sign up
01:17:25 - Demonstration of FlashVote - flashvote.com/buffalomn
01:22:00 - Q: Is there an age restriction? A: I don't know
01:23:45 - We have a target of 1500
01:24:00 - Councilman Downer - I'll take FlashVote with a grain of salt. Don't stop calling in and showing up.
01:26:05 - Laureen - Hiring of Utility Billing Specialist
01:27:25 - Motion to Approve Hiring of Amy Gregor 5 Aye, 0 Nay
01:28:25 - Retirement of Utilities Director Joe Steffel, End of May
01:35:50 - Motion to Accept Joe's Retirement 5 Aye, 0 Nay
01:37:00 - Justin - Surveying on West Side of Lake Pulaski, Sewer Relocation project, Bore Permit updated
01:38:05 - Planning Commission will be looking at 3 plats at the next commission meeting on March 8th
01:39:00 - Joe - Overhead construction along Hwy 25 will be starting
01:39:30 - Joe - We're starting to take down the BWig system (planned completely down by June 1st)
01:40:00 - Joe - Communication Hut equipment ordered
Adjourned at 8:42 PM