The Council approved a resolution of support to enter into a joint effort to plan, design, and develop the future Joint Law Enforcement Facility with Clay County. The Clay County Jail Committee, together with local law enforcement, has expressed an interest in continuing the existing partnership between the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Moorhead Police Department that has been in place for decades. These units also recommend studying the feasibility of constructing a new facility following the Clay County Jail project. The proposed construction date is 2017 or 2018. The City will remain an owner with a 50% owner in the facility. City Manager Michael Redlinger said the location of the facility has not been decided at this time.
Draft Bridge Maintenance Agreement
City Manager Michael Redlinger presented the Draft Bridge Maintenance Agreement between the City of Moorhead, the City of Fargo, the Park District of the City of Fargo, and Clay County. Redlinger said that the formal approval of the agreement will be presented to the Council on April 27. He stated that the agreement is only for the local bridges that are between Minnesota and North Dakota, and not for those that are maintained by the Department of Transportation such as the I94 Bridge.
The bridges to be inspected, maintained and/or repaired include the following:
1. 12th Avenue North/15th Avenue North Bridge (Bridge No. 14523)
2. 1st Avenue North Bridge (Bridge No. 14511)
3. Center Avenue/NP Avenue (Bridge No. 5270)
4. Wall Street Avenue/CSAH No. 22 (Bridge No. 14539)
5. Broadway Street/CSAH No. 1(Bridge No. 14524)
6. 52nd Avenue South/60th Avenue South/CSAH No. 12 (Bridge No. 14510)
7. Lindenwood-GooseberryPedestrian Bridge
8. Oak Grove-Memorial Pedestrian Bridge
9. Floating Pedestrian Bridge
Single container will increase recycling
Steve Moore, Public Works Director, presented an update on the proposed Clay County-City of Moorhead Sanitation Transfer Station and Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The proposed site is no longer recommended for geotechnical and environmental reasons because the site has been found to contain 75 percent of solid waste. Moore told the Council that the site was closed under all of the rules and regulations stipulated by the state and does not present any environmental issues. He also praised MinnKota Recycling for being a partner in the process.
Ward 2 Council Member Jim Haney, who serves on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, explained that, “A MRF is a great way to deal with the biggest problem of Solid Waste-volume that is the amount of space taken up in our landfill. The tremendous volume of the solid waste created by Moorhead citizens and the rest of Clay County can be reduced by ‘single- stream’ recycling. Single stream recycling is where all recyclables are put together in one container- the contents of which are run through a MRF, which further breaks it all down into glass, aluminum and so on. Our recycling rate will increase, and our volume will go down as much as 15-20%. “
The total cost is estimated between $7.45 million to $16.5 million with $6 million included in the Governor’s 2015 Capital Budget Recommendation. Moore said that the project is still in the early stages and recommended the following next steps:
· Determine alternative of the four sites; The preferred site is just north of City of Moorhead Compost
Site (Hwy 75) and would not proposed traffic or odor issues.
· Identify an owner/manager;
· Identify operational partners and key account customers;
· Prepare an operational business plan; and
· Draft RFP and determine the method of execution.
Putting the bite on mosquitos
The Council approved a one-year $98,400 contract with the Cass County Vector Control to provide mosquito control for the City, which will provide the City with a more effective program according to Public Works Director Moore. In addition, the Council approved a 3-year contract with Airborne Custom Spraying to aerial spray for mosquito covering approximately 12,000 acres that includes the former Oakport Township. The cost per application was listed as $24,600.
The aerial applications will be conducted at the same time as Fargo and West Fargo as possible. Moore said that this approach was used last year and was highly effective. Council Member Steve Gehrtz expressed the City’s appreciation for the partnership and the collaboration between the two cities and suggested that future opportunities be explored.