The Crookston City Council met Monday, May 5, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall in the Council Chambers. During Presentations and Public Information Announcements, Mayor Stainbrook made a proclamation declaring May 2025 Mental Health Awareness Month. Cindy Strom, RN, and Program Director at Riverview Health, Senior Life Solutions, was in attendance tonight to hear the proclamation and receive a signed copy. “I came down for the Mayor to sign our proclamation to make May Crookston Mental Health Awareness Month,” says Strom. “Mental health covers a wide gamut of people. It can be adolescents, middle-aged, or older people. I am currently working with the geriatric population, 65 and older, but I really just want to raise awareness of mental health and stamp out the stigma.”
Approved within the Consent Agenda for Monday were the City Council Minutes from April 21, 2025, and the City of Crookston Bills and Disbursements of $218,987.44. The consent agenda also approved the license renewals for 2025 Cement Masons Craig Plante Construction and JD Concrete LLC, accepted a donation for the Crookston Sports Center in the amount of $15,354.46 for the Crookston Parks and Recreation Sports Center for the flooring for the walking path from Crookston Area Community Fund, a donation from Bruce Erdmann in the amount of $20 for Kids First Program in Memory of Issac Perala, and a donation from Fin and Fit in the amount of $10,000 for the Crookston Community Pool. The last two items on the consent agenda were a resolution calling for a public hearing on “Regulations of Cannabis Businesses” in the City of Crookston and a resolution declaring the Crookston Watch as the official paper for the City of Crookston.
With the late addition of one item to the agenda for Monday night, there were three items the council needed to attend to. The first was a resolution regarding the approval of the non-commercial hangar lot lease template for Crookston Municipal Airport. City Administrator Jeff Shoobridge explained to the council that the updated template will allow a private entity to build a hangar at the Crookston Airport. “We have a private entity that is looking at building a hangar there, they will own the hangar and we are going to give them a 20-year lease,” says Shoobridge. “What the council approved is just a template for the future, so if we have other entities that also want to build a private hangar, we already have a process and a template in place.” Shoobridge explained that the private owner will build the building, they will have a 20 year lease and at the end of the 20 years they will have the option to renew, transition the hanger to the city or demolish the building if it is not in good repair, which will be at the city’s discretion. The council unanimously approved of the lease template.
The second item was a resolution declaring a vacancy for the City Council Member Tim Menard, who had held one of the two at-large positions but recently resigned for health reasons. “We do have a vacancy on the city council for those who are not aware. It is an at-large seat, so that means anyone who is a registered voter in the city is eligible to put in for that,” says Shoobridge. “It is open from now until noon on the 15th of May, that’s a Thursday, about a week and a half away.” City staff will assemble and provide to the council all the applicants, and the council is anticipated to hold interviews for the position from all of the applicants at the meeting on the 19th of May, Shoobridge says. “Mark your calendars, and we will fill that spot that evening, and then at the following meeting, we’ll be able to swear them in and move forward with the full council again.” The council unanimously approved declaring the vacancy on the City Council.
The third item, which was added to Monday night’s agenda, was a resolution regarding approving the payment of property taxes and assessments to Polk County on City-owned properties. It was explained to the council that in preparing last year’s budget, there were many line items in previous budgets that really were not filled in. When the city received this year’s tax statement, the city identified several properties that were not properly budgeted for. “We just wanted to clear it up. While we do have enough in the budget to cover this payment, for the first installment, the second half, we don’t have quite enough budgeted to cover that amount,” says Shoobridge. “We wanted to get the council’s permission to spend that money outside of the budget. It’s a housekeeping item as we move forward with the new budget.” Shoobridge says that because of when he came on board last year, and with the rush to get the budget together, the council knew there would be some holes or areas where the council would have to make some amendments. The total amount owed to Polk County for 2025 is $90,845.40. The city budgeted $52,410 for payments for 2025. The council unanimously approved payment outside of the 2025 budget in the amount of $38,435.40 to cover the difference.
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