The Crookston City Council met Monday evening in the council chambers at City Hall and took action on several items, including a cannabis lower-potency hemp edible retailer license and emergency repairs to a sanitary sewer line.
COUNCIL GIVES OK TO EMERGENCY SANITARY SEWER LINE ON NORTH FRONT STREET
Council members voted unanimously to approve approximately $100,000 in emergency repairs on a sanitary sewer main located on North Front Street following a brief discussion on the total cost of the project. Public Works Director Chuck Getsman told the council that the public works department has identified that the main needs emergency repairs to avoid substantial disruption of sanitary sewer service in the area along with potential damage to public and private property, interruption of business and educational opportunities, environmental impacts, and increased costs for repairs.
“Something caught our eye on the camera, and as we were looking and we’re slowly getting closer, we could see that the pipe was changing shape and yeah it looks like the ground above it is or the ground to the side of it is pushing in,” said Getsman. “So the pipe is on the verge of collapsing, and that’s why we initiated this resolution so we can get going on this right away and not cause any issues for some of the businesses and residents north of that area.”
According to Getsman, the $100,000 estimate for the project includes aspects like construction, engineering, design, bidding, and inspection along with related services associated with the project. Selzler said with an approval from the council, the project will begin immediately, and Getsman projects a timeline to complete the work toward the end of summer.
Getsman said, “Since we got the approval now, our engineering crews are going to start putting together different estimates and the different drawings going forward, and we’re hoping to get started within the next couple of weeks.” He continued, “In the meantime, the city crews will be keeping an eye on the area, popping manholes downstream from there, making sure that things are still flowing properly. We’re just going to keep an eye on the area and inspect it daily to make sure it’s still holding up.”
CANNABIS LOWER-POTENCY HEMP EDIBLE RETAILER VOTE
The council voted to approve a cannabis lower-potency hemp edible retailer license for MPT Enterprises, doing business as Best Buy Liquors in Crookston. The license was brought back before the council after they voted down the license for MPT Enterprises at the May 4th meeting. A motion to reconsider the license was made, as City Attorney Tanner Holten told the council that the business met all the requirements set by the State of Minnesota, and that voting against this license could open the city to legal ramifications. Interim City Administrator Darin Selzler said the review made by Holten confirmed that the city could not legally vote the license down, as there is no limit to the number of retailers that can sell lower potency hemp edibles, but licenses to retailers selling the flower version of THC would be limited to one for communities no larger than 12,500 residents.
“We just reviewed the application process again like we have, and like we tried to explain the first time, but he [Attorney Holten] just detailed, not that there would, but could possibly be some ramifications, like you said,” said Selzler. “If the license wasn’t approved, you know, in line with state statute on possible potential lawsuits or something else. So we’re glad the council revisited that. We’re glad it got passed tonight and we’ll just move forward.”
The vote to approve the license was seven to one, as Councilmember Joseph Shostell was the sole no vote. He previously voted no when the license was initially discussed for approval at the May 4th meeting, while Councilmembers Clayton Briggs and Don Cavalier changed their votes to yes.
COUNCIL GREENLIGHTS POOL MURAL, FARM LEASE AGREEMENT
The council also voted unanimously to approve the Crookston Community Pool Mural Project with no cost to the city. Selzler said the topic was discussed during the recent Park Board meeting, where Fin and Fit Board member Trey Everett volunteered to design and paint a mural on the front wall of the pool building. All supplies, including paint, will be paid for by the Fit and Fin Board.
In another unanimous vote, the council approved a one-year cash farm lease with BTB Farms, which Selzler said is an extension of a long-standing agreement that the farm use the city-owned land while Phase 2 of the railroad spur project gets pushed back to late 2026/early 2027.
Selzler explained, “Yeah, BTB Farms has leased that land for several years. At the end of last year, we didn’t renew the lease with the anticipation that there would be some development on that property. As we progress through 2026 here, it’s looking like most of that or all that is going to get pushed to 2027. So I approached BTB Farms again and asked if they would be willing to farm that for one more year. Again, beneficial for them and the city that we don’t have to do any noxious weed control or anything along that lines.”
CONSENT AGENDA
The council approved the consent agenda, including the approval of the meeting minutes from the May 4th meeting, a special event permit for the Night to Unite event in October, and the acceptance of a donation from the Crookston Baseball Association. Councilmember Shostell asked to have the resolution regarding city bills totaling $321,715.05 be taken off the consent agenda. The topic was discussed during the regular agenda, as Shostell questioned some checks issued by the city, which Selzler clarified were reimbursements for projects in the city.
WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE
The Crookston City Council Ways and Means Committee held their meeting immediately following the city council meeting and discussed the city’s progress on their comprehensive plan update. Joel Quanbeck of KLJ Engineering presented a draft of the plan to the council, discussing land use, housing, development in the downtown area, and other recommendations made in the plan. Quanbeck says the plan will likely be ready to present to the Planning Commission at a future meeting, which could be as soon as June 16. Also discussed during the meeting were plans in the demolition of the old Tri-Valley building in the downtown area and potential development ideas for the Diocese property on the city’s west side.
The next scheduled City Council meeting will be Monday, June 1st at 5:30 p.m. in the Crookston City Hall council chambers.