New Richland City Council
By JESSICA LUTGENS
Staff Writer
During its first meeting of the month on Monday, Nov. 14, the New Richland City Council approved the interviewing of three, possibly four, applicants for the position of Chief of Police in December, with the results to be discussed at the regular Dec. 12 council meeting. A committee consisting of Councilperson John Hullopeter and Mayor Christine Gislason will conduct the interviews.
According to City Clerk Wayne Billing, New Richland was declared a disaster area on Nov. 2. As a result, the budget has been adjusted to include no increases for flood costs. Street, police and ambulance reserves have been increased, as well as funds added to cover the cost of spring cleanup and the purchase of a new truck for the Maintenance Dept.
Billing suggested the council consider raising wages of city employees by 10%. Billing referenced several graphs comparing New Richland’s salaries to those in other cities throughout the state. For highest administrative officer, or Billing’s job, New Richland was compared to 16 towns ranging in population from 1,008 (Bird Island) to 2,271 (Wells), with an average population of 1,480. New Richland has 1,198 residents.
Other towns were compared for assistant city clerk, police chief, maintenance and part-time employees. All graphs came to the same conclusion: New Richland city employees are vastly underpaid.
Costs associated with employees comprise a major portion of the budget of the city. The city employs four full-time employees, part-time police officers, one permanent part-time maintenance worker and one casual maintenance worker, one permanent part-time clerk, approximately 10 seasonal part-time lake workers, 15 volunteer ambulance attendants and 25 volunteer unpaid firefighters. The city provides retirement, health insurance, life insurance, and paid leave to the full-time employees. In addition, all employees are covered by workers compensation insurance.
The proposed personnel cost for 2017 comprises 47.6% of the city’s budgeted expenses. The salary of city employees is determined by the council.
The following city election results were certified and approved by the council: Mayor – Christine Gislason, write-in, 74 votes; Council Member (four years) – Sarah Sundve, 366 votes; Chad Neitzel, 432 votes; Special Election Council Member (two years) – Sandra Neumann, 521 votes. A total of 604 votes were cast in New Richland on Election Day.
The council also approved the cleaning of carpets at the Public Library at a cost of $279.
Monica Schutrop presented the ambulance report, stating the ambulance had 26 runs in October and at least four in November, bringing the total runs for 2016 to 204. It was mentioned that supplies have gone missing from the ambulance garage, including IV bags and kits. The council approved the purchase of new supplies at a cost of up to $500.
There was some discussion about the possibility of upgrading the ambulance’s cell phone to a smart phone, and Schutrop noted that the EMS Manager has been working very well and has solved previous scheduling issues. Plans are in place to again hold a mock drill at the high school next spring, in April, during EMS week. The ambulance report was approved.
A local resident, and former ambulance member, then addressed the council with a concern sparked by an incident that occurred on Election Day. The individual was in a voting booth at City Hall when a pager went off in another booth. According to the individual the pager was very loud and not responded to properly, causing her to overhear information and distracting the voting process. The individual expressed her concern that city-owned equipment not be mishandled. Mayor Gislason said the matter will be looked into by her and Clerk Billing.
The meeting was then closed to discuss a real estate offer at 7:33 p.m. No action was taken, and the meeting was re-opened and adjourned.