The Park Rapids City Council on Tuesday, July 11 denied a landscape contractor’s request to waive the $500 fee for a fire department response.
At the council’s June 27 meeting, Shannon Henrickson with Touch of Eden Landscaping described a situation arising after a controlled burn on a client’s property, where the earth had been turned over, the cinders were doused with gallons of water and buried, and within minutes of his crew leaving, a neighbor phoned in a suspected brush fire.
As council member Joe Christensen explained for the benefit of council members who were absent on June 27, responding firefighters did see smoke rising from the ground and made sure the fire was put out.
Christensen and City Administrator Angel Weasner both noted there is no precedent for the city dismissing a fire charge, and council member Tim Little stressed that the firefighters have to be paid.
Christensen recalled asking Fire Chief Joe Carlson, based on what he saw at the scene, whether he would have called it in, and Carlson saying he wasn’t sure but he definitely would have checked it out.
Weasner said she and Christensen had already denied Henrickson’s administrative appeal, which was why the matter now came before the council.
Council members discussed the facts at length and floated options such as forgiving half or three-quarters of the fee. However, the fact that the city had never let anybody out of the fee before, even for false alarms, eventually prevailed.
Council member Liz Stone’s motion to deny the request passed unanimously.
Parking at Park Ave. Apartments
GeAnna Moody, a physically disabled resident in the Park Avenue Apartments, asked the city council for relief of a parking issue during their meeting’s public comment segment.
Speaking through a sign interpreter, Moody said 3rd Street has parking on both sides of the street, but signage on the apartments’ side of the street says it is illegal to park there from 1 to 5 a.m., while it is legal to park across the street all night.
“I would like the sides of the street to be changed,” Moody said. “That extra 20-30 feet for me to walk is very difficult.”
Moody said when she was ticketed for parking overnight at the nearer curb, she called city hall and asked staff how it can be resolved.
“I have a disability,” she said. “I need to be parked close to the entrance of my apartment building. The front of my apartment is right by that parking spot.”
She said that in order to use a wheelchair, she needs to leave the building via the door that has a ramp, opening onto the back parking lot. However, that parking lot is currently under construction. Also, Moody said, she tries not to use a wheelchair in order to maintain her mobility.
She said she often has help getting up and down the six steps between her apartment and the building’s 3rd Street entrance, but if she has to cross the street as well, the increased distance will make it difficult to access her home.
Moody asked the city to consider a solution.
Mayor Ryan Leckner asked city staff to look into a solution to bring back to the council. However, Moody asked if the process could be expedited.
Public Works Superintendent Scott Burlingame said he would look into it on Wednesday, and Leckner said if staff finds a solution, they can work with Moody on it.
In consent items and general business, the council:
- Called for a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 25 to discuss the city’s proposed cannabis moratorium.
- Paid Kuechle Underground, Inc., $1,530,561 for work on the Fair Avenue reconstruction project.
- Paid Apex Engineering $53,146 for work on the U.S. Hwy. 71 frontage road and Fair Avenue projects.
- Paid Park Rapids Aviation, Inc., $1,640 for fuel and travel expenses involved in traveling to a fire truck manufacturing facility in Appleton, Wis., to research a new fire truck.
- Paid Tyler Technologies $1,300 to restore functionality to a feature in the city’s finance system.
- Approved longevity pay for full-time Police Officer Andrew McFarlane (step 8) at $34.59 per hour.
- Gave full-time Police Officer Kelli Seitz a pay increase to step 5 at $33.75 per hour.
- Authorized staff to post a position for a part-time Rapids Spirits liquor store clerk.
- Approved a public facilities use permit for Brittney Trujillo to use Deane Park on July 23 for a birthday party.
- Approved a public facilities use permit for R.D. Offutt Farms Co. to use Deane Park on Aug. 11 for a company picnic.
- Approved the first reading of a zoning ordinance amendment establishing planned use developments.
- Acknowledged donations to the city from June 23 to July 5, totaling $2,455 and including a $1,000 gift to the library from Arago Township and a $1,2000 donation from the Park Rapids Rotary Club to the Depot Park tennis court replacement project.
- Approved payables totaling $72,942 and prepaids totaling $278,481.
The city council’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, at city hall.
