The Annandale City Council signed off on its proposal to hire U.S. Filter Operating Services to handle the majority of its public works functions in a special meeting held on Monday, Aug. 28.
The council also was presented a site plan for the former Centra-Sota elevator site by the Annandale Lions Club, and it heard a proposal from Tom LaTour of Sun Patio/Warrior Boats to potentially move his entire operation from Maple Lake to Annandale.
In agreeing to a five-year contract with U.S. Filter, the city hopes to maintain or improve its present level of city services while at the same time saving some money in the long run.
While some details (mostly wording) of the contract need to be finalized this week, effective next Tuesday, the 5-7 member city crew will become employees of U.S. Filter (USF).
Kelly Browning, project manager for USF was on hand to assure the council that all affected employees had been contacted. Wages and benefits will remain at existing levels, and she indicated benefits like insurance and retirement savings should improve.
USF, Houston, Tex., presently serves about 300 cities in the U.S. In the Annandale area it has similar agreements with Delano and Monticello. It also has agreements for some services with St. Michael.
The council had very few language questions on the 25-page contract. Most were assurances about employees and that public services would be performed.
Mark Vogt stressed that none of the city’s assets were being sold. “This isn’t a privatization of assets; rather we’re contracting for professional services,” he said. Vogt and Jim LaTour served on the committee which negotiated the contract.
A few of the city’s services were exempted from the contract, including sealcoating and recycling and some others.
The first year annual fee is $404,991. That number includes not only salaries and benefits but also supplies and other expenses. That fee will basically stay the same over the life of the contract.
City Clerk/Administrator Mary Degiovanni said that is very close to the amount that the city expected to spend this year on city services, but that the savings will come over the next several years.
The city estimates it will save approximately $100,000 over the five year life of the contract.
Either party can opt out of the contract with written notice. When asked by a council member if a three year contract would be considered a possibility, Browning said that more and more municipalities are satisfied with five years.
“Future changes are negotiated. We would have to show there’s an increase in costs,” she said.
Even if the city grew by 100 homes over the next five years, the fee would not increase, Browning said.
At the end of the discussion, the council voted unanimously to approved the contract.
In a letter to the council, and also sent to the Advocate, resident Dean Enge asked that the council reconsider its decision.
“There is too much for the city to lose in having a five-year contract with a Paris-based conglomerate … I have not found anyone who thinks this is a good idea that I know of in this city,” Enge wrote.
At its regular August meeting, the city proposed the idea of the contract with U.S. Filter.
Degiovanni said after the meeting that more information would be forthcoming to city residents regarding the change. Residents should not notice any change in services during the transition period.
In other business, Tom LaTour (a brother to council member Jim LaTour) told the council of his interest in possibly relocating his boat manufacturing business to the Annandale Business Park on Hwy. 55 E.
LaTour went over a seven-point proposal that could lead to the relocation. The council did not take any action on LaTour’s proposal but wants to continue the dialogue.
His company presently employs 50 people and is hiring. He also operates a division of the company in Annandale.
“We need better communication between the two locations,” he told the council. He also said that while he owns his property in Maple Lake that that site presents its own challenges.
He proposed that he be able to acquire up to 12 acres of the business park (most of the front portion of it). He also proposed that he would build (in increments) up to an 80,000 square foot facility.
He would request tax increment financing (TIF) to assist with the land purchase. That amount was not immediately known as the scope of the project is yet to be determined.
Mayor “Sam” Marian Harmoning, Degiovanni and City Attorney Gordon Hansmeier will meet with LaTour to continue discussions.
– The council was also briefed on a site plan for the Veterans Memorial Park, the site of the former Centra-Sota elevator.
The Annandale Lions Club (see story in last week’s Advocate) will begin doing dirt work on the park this fall and also install a sprinkler system.
Lion Craig Swanson and other Lions at the meeting told the council that the club will invest $75,000 in the construction of the park plus about an equal amount in labor.
The final completion date will be 2002. While the plan has yet to go before a full vote of the club, it has been approved by the Lions executive board.
Generally, the park calls for a lot of green space, parking for 10 vehicles, a veterans memorial, a fountain, flowerbeds, a walking trail and other amenities.
– Because of the Labor Day holiday, the council’s next meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 5.
A TIF hearing for a proposed banquet facility by Robin Reichel has been set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The notice of the hearing appears on page 14 of this week’s newspaper.