Councilman Reiter said there are a lot of organizations this will effect; we need to notify them so they can make the changes in their schedules. After some discussion, the council, along with Paulson, felt the last weekend in July will be the target date for the annual celebration.
Next, Paulson requested to attend a boot camp for managers put on by the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association. Paulson told the council there was a cost of around $300 to go. The council approved Paulson’s attendance for February 18-20. Paulson then said he would like to hold an employee meeting in the very near future; he will inform the council of the date and time.
Paulson asked if he could get some prices on shirts for employees; he felt this would give the bar a more professional look. The council asked that he bring prices to the next meeting. Paulson told the council he has been exploring point of sales systems.
After approving the agenda for the evening, the council reviewed the pay equity for the City. Kohl was present to go over the documents with the council.
Kohl noted the pay equity system was put in place to insure that women were paid fairly. The report showed some imbalance that may need to be corrected.
Kohl said this could be done when hiring new employees and by raising certain wages. Kohl felt the report would be satisfactory with the State, mainly because the City has a low number of employees. Kohl also informed the council the points have changed for the Veterans Preference when hiring new employees. The council will apply these new points. Kohl went over some of the parameters the City should be aware of when conducting new hiring interviews.
Next on the agenda was a concern on a utility charge. Jim Nelson told the council he owns a duplex in town. He is considering using the whole house as a single-family dwelling.
Nelson would like to take out one water meter, as there are currently two meters in the dwelling. He felt he was being overcharged for the duplex and cannot afford to continue paying for two services. The council felt if he wanted to go to a single dwelling, Nelson could take one meter out of service.
Swearingen next told the council he has had several calls about utility bill checks not being cashed in a timely fashion. Swearingen said he has been in contact with the managers at First National Bank Waseca-Ellendale about allowing utility bills to be paid at the bank.
Swearingen also noted some customers would like to pay with cash and this could also be done at the bank. The Mayor said the bank would not charge the City for this service.
The council approved the claims; cash control, financial and disbursement register for the evening. The minutes from the January 10 and 15 were approved as presented.
Clerk Louks started his report by going over the Alliant Energy franchise agreement. The agreement previously was for 25 years.
The council felt this was too long and wanted some options. Legal counsel informed the council they could do an agreement that would allow the council to review the contract in years 10- 20.
The council approved the agreement with the changes. Clerk Louks next told the council the water pumps the fire department had gotten from the DNR have been returned and sent to another department. These pumps were the ones the City could not get to work.
Mayor Swearingen was next on the agenda. Swearingen asked the council about the generator that currently does not work.
He wanted the council’s opinion on whether or not to get it running. The council felt the generator should be looked at.
Swearingen next brought to the council’s attention the computer in the maintenance building. The computer does not work at this time and he felt it necessary to have one there for the new maintenance person. Also, he receives a lot of emergency management e-mails, which he currently cannot retrieve.
After some discussion, the council decided to make some contacts and get prices for a system at the maintenance building.
During open discussion, the council went over with Swearingen his part-time status as maintenance person. The council also reviewed how they will be handling the upcoming interviews for the maintenance position.
The next meeting of the Ellendale City Council will be on February 14 at 7:30 p.m.
