Police Department personnel changes are point of focus
The Mountain Lake City Council welcomed the Mountain Lake Police Department’s newest officer, Will Pohlmann, 26, at their Tuesday, September 8 meeting. Mayor Mike Nelson administered the Oath of Office. Officer Pohlmann has already been “on the beat” in the city for several weeks. He comes to Mountain Lake after serving in Mahnomen County. Officer Pohlmann fills the vacancy on the department left after Officer Ken Bradford retired.
Officer Pohlmann grew up living in all corners of the country, as his father served in the United States Navy. However, his initial introduction to Minnesota was when he came to the state from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to train as a firefighter at the Emergency Response Training Center in Duluth. It is the #1 center for such training in the nation. Officer Pohlmann also has a degree in law enforcement.
He met his wife, Jamie, when both attended Luther Point Bible Camp. Jamie, a University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduate, is kindergarten-grade 12 band teacher at Wabasso Public School. The couple celebrate their three-year wedding anniversary in early August and their first child, a son, Brayden, was born in early July.
He is a supporter of the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins, and likes to fish, hunt, bike and camp.
Other changes to police department personnel
Council members also took up additional changes to Mountain Lake Police Department personnel.
They accepted the resignation of Officer Nick Naxay, effective September 11, thanking him for his service to the City of Mountain Lake. The council then moved to fill this open full-time position on the department.
Mountain Lake Chief of Police Doug Bristol recommended to members that, rather than post for the position, they should consider hiring another candidate in the group from which Office Pohlmann was hired. This candidate is interested in the position and, as a first step, is completing the paperwork for a background check.
Additionally, two of the department’s three part-time officers have verbally stated that they will be resigning. (One of those part-time officers, Officer Kim Hall, who was also the Cottonwood County Emergency Management Director, will become a Cottonwood County Deputy.)
The council authorized the posting for part-time officer positions.
In other business
+ Denied a request from the Economic Development Authority (EDA) to waive the special assessments for the former Elizabeth House, located at 1616 Prince Street. The EDA recently purchased the property and will be selling it to a party who intends to open a daycare. To help reduce the new owner’s expenses, the EDA Board had come forward with a request to the council to waive the 2012-2014 Utility and Street Project special assessments in the amount of $8,759.92.
+ Heard from Randy Markl, Windom Wildlife Manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) concerning restrictions on the property given to the city by the DNR in 2002 as part of a land exchange. In his review, Markl noted that due to the restrictions, the public as the right to hunt on the property, and that any trail placed on the property must be approved by the DNR. It was agreed between both parties that grass cut previously to create “rustic trail” connections to the Mountain Lake Trail will not be cut in the future.
+ Agreed to install a MVTV “hot spot” in Island View Campground that will enable campers to order Wi-Fi directly from the company, provided the signal can be received from the MVTV equipment located on the City of Mountain Lake’s water tower. This decision was made following a discussion on options and costs from MVTV, Mediacom and Frontier.
+ The City of Mountain Lake’s sewer treatment upgrade project received an 83 out of 100 possible points on the Clean Water Revolving Fund Project Priority List and Intended Use Plan. This places the project 12th on the list. A total of 297 projects were submitted.
+ Adopted a resolution setting the 2016 EDA levy at $8,482.36.
+ Reviewed Draft #3 of the 2016 Budget. Mountain Lake Ambulance Squad Captain Dave Watkins discussed the department’s 2016 needs with the council.
+ Adopted a resolution establishing a Complete Streets Policy.
+ Heard and reviewed a rough draft of an amendment to Mountain Lake City Code regulating potentially dangerous – and dangerous – dogs. Recently the Mountain Lake Police Department and Mountain Lake City Attorney Maryellen Suhrhoff dealt with a dangerous dog. The city’s current ordinance – and Cottonwood County’s Ordinance #37 (“An Ordinance Regulating Dangerous Dogs in Cottonwood County”) reviewed. City Attorney Suhrhoff is recommending that the section of Mountain Lake City Code dealing with this topic (Section 8.13) be amended to include action to be taken if an owner fails to comply with the section’s requirements.
+ Reviewed the St. James resolution setting an administrative penalty of double the permit fee for starting a construction project without a license. Mountain Lake Clerk/Administrator Wendy Meyer will prepare a resolution for the council’s consideration at the Monday, September 21 meeting.
+ Approved the winter snow plowing agreement for the 2015-2016 snow season.
+ Viewed photographs of property at 1701 3rd Avenue taken earlier in the day in relation to a public nuisance violation. The status of the clean-up work shown in the photos was discussed with the property owner. Following the discussion, council members voted to waive the fine.
+ Decided to not re-attach the utility bill for property at 505 10th Street North. The property was tax-forfeited, and a neighbor is interested in purchasing the parcel. There was a $723 unpaid utility bill attached to the property tax prior to the forfeiture. The neighbor was questioning if the city intended to re-attach the utility bill. The Utility Commission had considered this request at their Thursday, August 20 meeting and recommended to the council that the bill not be re-attached.
+ Learned that due to a conflict, Drew Hage of the Southwest Minnesota Regional Development Commission (SRDC) would not be attending the evening’s meeting to discuss the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program (GESP). Hage will attend the council’s Monday, September 21 meeting.
+ Heard from Gloria McKissick during the Public Forum portion of the meeting agenda. McKissick distributed copies of the Mountain Lake Municipal Utilities Shut-Off Policies. These policies and other utility-related topics were briefly discussed.
