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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The January meeting of the Waubun City Council was called to order at 6 PM by Clerk Germaine Riegert. The first items on the agenda were the reorganization of the Council. Due to the resignation of the Mayor and a council person it was necessary to appoint an acting mayor. Wells made a motion to appoint Larry Swiers to act as mayor until the special election is completed. Winter seconded it and the motion carried unanimously. Acting Mayor Swiers accepted the gavel and announced that nominations would be in order to fill his position until after the election. Wells nominated Tim Antell. The nomination died for lack of a second. Winter nominated Tom Bement. Wells seconded the nomination. Bement accepted the position. The motion carried unanimously. Clerk Riegert issued the Oath of Office to Mr. Bement and he took his seat at the table. Acting Mayor announced that nominations were open for the seat vacated by Ken Kylmanen until the special election is held. Wells nominated Tim Antell. The nomination failed for lack of a second. Bement nominated William Eck. This nomination failed for lack of a second. Winter nominated Palmer Amundson. Mr. Amundson declined to serve. Wells nominated Shawn Greenleaf. The nomination failed for lack of a second. Winter nominated Jean Horack. Bement seconded it. Mrs. Horack accepted and the motion carried unanimously. Clerk Riegert administered the Oath of Office to Mrs. Horack and she was seated. Mayor Swiers officially called the Council meeting to order. He called the roll of Winter, Wells, Bement, Horack and Swiers. All members were present. Many members of the public were in attendance at the meeting. A copy of the sign in sheet is attached to the official copy of the minutes. Staff present: Riegert, Brehm and Murray City Attorney Elroy Hanson was also present. He then asked for additions or deletions to the agenda. Items added were the need to establish an official City Policy Handbook, the need to address personnel issues and performance reviews and to hire the Fire Chief. Winter made a motion to accept the agenda as modified. Wells seconded it and the motion carried. Winter made a motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting after time was given for Bement and Horack to review them. It was explained that it is not necessary to publish the minutes in the newspaper but that they are posted, after approval, on the KRJM website and a hard copy is available at the Post Office and in the Community Center. Wells seconded the motion of acceptance and the motion carried unanimously. The following monthly bills were presented: General Fund Auto Value 265.72 Bement Oil Co 456.47 True Value Hardware 47.43 KRJM 240.00 ACS 176.13 Electro Watchman 70.29 Busse Welding 53.35 Swanson’s Repair 1504.24 Waubun Implement 100.64 DVS Renewal 29.00 Waubun Steel 531.84 Chad Smith 200.00 Wells made a motion to approve the payment of the bills with the exception of Auto Value which should be held until individual invoices were received. Bement seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. The Clerk reported that the only bills sent for January were the water and sewer billings. The following monies were received since the last meeting: Midwest Bank (interest 19724-19725) $235.05 W/S reimbursement $347.98 (interest 20374-22239) $294.82 Redemption CD 19724 $17,430.93 State of MN (LGA etc) $35,703.21 The next agenda items were the acceptance of the reorganization resolutions for 2006. Resolution 06-01-01 Reorganization of Council responsibilities, notice of publication, bank deposit designation, etc. Motion by Winter and seconded by Bement to approve the changes and terms of Resolution 06-01-01. Motion carried unanimously. (Copy of full resolution attached to official minutes. Resolution 06-01-02 Mileage and travel policy when Council members and/or employees travel on city business. Motion by Horack and seconded by Wells to approve this resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Resolution 06-01-03 Review and changes to the employee’s salary schedule were tabled until after performance reviews are completed. Motion by Winter and seconded by Bement to approve this resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Swiers asked Councilor Hanson to speak to the issue of the Special Election. Mr. Hanson explained that the Council must pass an Election Ordinance which must be published for two weeks in the local paper. At the same time, the Clerk must notify the County Auditor of the fact at least 53 days before the election can be held. The time frames involved amount to approximately 72 days before the actual election can be held. This puts it into April. He had a proposed ordinance prepared. After reading it, Winter made a motion to adopt Ordinance 06-01 setting the election process into motion. It was seconded by Bement and carried unanimously. Mr. Hanson told the Council that he will research more to see how long the polling hours will need to be, etc. The election will be held on Monday, April 17, 2006. Mayor Swiers then rearranged the Agenda schedule and asked Council Hanson to address the issue of letters disseminated around the village by “concerned tax payers” regarding policy issues with maintenance and maintenance personnel. He told the Council that any restraining orders on behalf of the maintenance person must be initiated by the City Council. He also informed them that this matter could be reviewed as a personnel review which may be done at a closed meeting of the Council providing the staff member requests it. If it is done this way, the meeting must be tape recorded and summarized at the next meeting. He was asked to continue to research these issues so the Council can do it appropriately and in a professional manner. OLD BUSINESS: AUDIT: The representatives from EideBailley were unable to be here this evening. The matter was tabled to a future meeting. Waubun Area Community Council: Councilor Wells reported that the Waubun Area Community Council is now a reality. About 20 people turned out for the last meeting. A slate of officers was chosen and is working on the By-Laws. Sam Rock was chosen as the Chairperson, Brenda Antell, secretary, Mary Riegert, treasurer and Paul Schultz as community liaison person. The group will be approaching town folks to help on committees to facilitate projects for elders and youth especially. They will also work with area programs as needed. One Way Street: After some discussion it was determined by consensus, that this matter be tabled for a future meeting as the need may change when the Highway 113 project is completed. Fire Chief hiring process: Councilor Wells discussed the statutes of the State of Minnesota and information from the League of MN Cities that suggests strongly that the City Police Chief be hired by the municipality to reduce the liability which could accrue to the City if some wrongful action were to happen. He presented the information. After some discussion, the Clerk was directed to set up a meeting, if possible, with someone from the League to assist the Council in handling the matter. She was also directed to send copies of the print outs from the City Handbook to the new members so they could become familiar with the issue. After meeting with LMC officials, the council will make up their minds and establish policy as required. Other: Someone asked the question why one staff member gets scolded for going out to the gas station for coffee while on duty but another does not. After much discussion, it was determined that a City Policy Manual needs to be put together to address such issues as this so all employees get fair and equitable treatment. The matter was tabled for future attention. NEW BUSINESS Election process: was reviewed earlier in the meeting. Refer to discussion above. STAFF REPORTS Dan Murray: He will remain on sick leave until January 20. Councilor Wells will do the meter readings, etc. until his return. Dan reported that several issues had surfaced during his time away. One was the excess draw down of water from the tower during a fire practice drill. All of the excess water could have collapsed the mains and then it would have been disastrous. In this case, the City was lucky. He also noted that he had been told that hydrants should not be blown in the winter. The water testing is going correctly. He raised the issue that the employer, in this case, the City of Waubun is responsible for protecting its employees. He is asking for a restraining order against Ron and Carol Moore for stalking. It was denied to him personally because it must be made by the City. It cost him $250 to have it rejected and he thinks that the City should reimburse him for it. Counselor Hanson said he would do more research and get back to Mayor Swiers about the next steps to take. He agreed to give the City and Counsel time to come up with a reasonable solution before he brings suit against the City of Waubun. Paul Brehm presented his written reports. Germaine Riegert did not have any other issues to report. Mayor Swiers commented that he felt the City employees were doing an excellent job and it would not be in the interest of the City to loose good employees because of such tactics as are being portrayed. He said that that this was “enough cotton picking knit-picking and we need to get along or move out.” No further business was brought before the Council. Winter made a motion to adjourn at 7:55 PM. Horack seconded it and the motion carried unanimously. __________________________________ _________________________________ Acting Mayor Clerk |
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