The Crookston City Council met Monday, October 6, at the City Hall Council Chambers.
NORTH STAR LIME LLC LOAN
In August of 2024, North Star Lime LLC received a $430,000 loan at two percent interest over five years through the Minnesota Department of Economic and Employment Development (DEED). As part of the agreement, collateral was offered, including a drying system, a 5-train pyrolysis reactor and supporting equipment, biochar post-processing equipment, and a filling station (collectively known as a pyrolyzer). North Star Lime was asking the City Council to approve the release of the pyrolizer from the security agreement, and in its place is requesting that a compactor and fake breaker be used as security for the loan. DEED has consented to releasing the pyrolizer, and the council approved the change. “It was a release of their original equipment for security for a loan,” said Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler. “The city was the first priority on that. They’re having some difficulty with that equipment and requested to replace the original equipment with other equipment as security for that loan.”
The council unanimously approved the resolution.
ZIEGLER CAT LOADER LEASE
The council approved a lease contract on a 2025 Caterpillar 830-14 Wheel Loader from Ziegler Cat. The lease agreement for 2025 is $24,454.96, and the price per year in 2026-2031 will be $38,945.96. “They had approved our capital improvement budget a while ago and we submitted that to CAT, but they needed something more specific,” said Crookston Public Works Director Chuck Getsman. “So all I had to do was type up a resolution stating that the city council approved us to lease the new CAT from Ziegler CAT.”
GENERATOR MAINTENANCE LEASE
The council approved a maintenance contract with Ziegler Cat to maintain 13 City-owned generators, including inspection. The contract begins on October 1, 2025, and will run for three years, costing $27,855 per year. “We went out for proposals to see companies in the area that can service the city-owned generators. They came back, and they met the requirements. They also seemed to be the most cost-effective,” said Getsman. “So we’re going into a three-year agreement with them, and they will be doing spring, fall, routine maintenance, and full service checks on all the city-owned generators in town.”
PUMP INSPECTION/MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
The council approved a five-year pump inspection/maintenance agreement with Electric Pump of New Prague for $33,000 annually. Short Elliot Hendrickson, Inc. (SEH) and the Army Corps of Engineers for compliance with the City of Crookston’s 2025 five-year levee inspection requirements. “SEH is doing their big five-year report and inspection on them. They used to use another company in the area, and that company no longer services this area. So we had to reach out to the US Army Corps of Engineers, and they had recommended Electric Pump,” said Getsman. “So with the Army Corps’ recommendation of Electric Pump and SEH’s recommendation of going with Electric Pump, we had them come in and give a proposal or an estimate of what it would cost to look at these pumps while having a specific engineer from SEH on site as well to make sure all the pumps and equipment that are in the levee are running and up to par with what we need to continue protecting the city of Crookston.”
The council approved the rehabilitation load satisfaction by Marcie Waller.
The next City Council meeting will be a special meeting on Wednesday, October 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall Council Chambers.