diction. It's 10:00 a.m. I'll call this meeting of the International Falls City Council to order. Please rise. We'll say the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Councilor Wegner is absent for the record, please. Thank you.
We'll move on for the special City Council meeting to new business for consideration on this agenda to consider internal posting of the following vacant positions
and external advertising if there are no internal candidates. The positions would be A for an equipment operator in the water department and B a maintenance worker one position
in the street garage. We do um have our acting director of public works here and Sherry from human resources. Uh we have met to discuss some of the needs of both the street and water department.
One position has been vacant in the water department for several months, I believe. Um and we are very short-staffed between both of them.
Any um discussion from the council or department heads? I think we should move ahead and fill these spots. They need to be filled. We've been on a skeleton crew for a while now and
these positions need to be filled, Mayor. Um in order to keep the city of International Falls up to snuff. Um yeah, we need to fill them. Would you like to make a motion? >> Yes, I'll make the motion. Thank you, Councilor Holden.
>> I'll second. Thank you, Councilor Buller. Is there any further discussion? Uh if we don't get anybody to sign up for the uh excavator sweeper position, do we have to Does that position necessarily need
to be that or could it be a maintenance one position we advertise for the water shop as well? There has There was significant discussion on that topic. Um
There's open positions in town, in our county, across the state. So, the discussion has been had. If we aren't able to fill, what do we do?
And also with the way that our our contract is with our labor union, um if we were short, it would be, I think is what you're getting at, that
it's duties to make the town run per the contract. Is that correct, Sherry or Mike? So, I think that we're hoping to fill the positions, but Yeah, from within. I understand that, but if
we And I know we're which is fine. I'm Everybody knows I thought talked to enough of people what I thought, but this doesn't all happen in a vacuum, either, cuz within a couple months we're going to be talking about how much tax levy are we going to put on people.
>> [snorts] >> And right I don't say we don't need to fill these positions, but there's a few couple other empty positions, I believe, that haven't been filled. And one way to watch the tax levy
is and it not be painless is not fill these positions. And I know we're short-staffed and and if I have no illusions that if we don't have the same number people that we're going to have the same amount of purposes. But for the people that come and talk
about the tax levy and the taxes and we don't know what we're doing. We had Eric Strand here about 2 months ago telling us we need a private board cuz we don't know how to run our budget. And if you need 10% just
get rid of 10 Well, you know how you get rid of 10% in one fell swoop. Um that's how I just want to bring out so we real Where are we going to be at in 2 months and with the levy and then we got
out there, you know, cuz I would guess 3% that'll probably cover the raise and benefits that they got coming, the people. I just want to point that out. And if we're ready to face that, I'm fine with that, but I It's hard to
come here and then hear other members of the council or the public uh want to cut taxes and then if we have depend on where it is what we got to do. I'm ready to face it, Pete. I uh
I I can't worry about a few people, the very few that come in here and throw darts at us, okay? >> Yeah, but it's not just people that come here [clears throat] and throw I'm just telling you and that and it doesn't matter to me. I mean, I'll vote I'm going to vote for this, you know, but um
I'm glad for you. I'm glad you're going to vote for it. I mean, I I I have no doubt. I understand what you're saying, but I just can't worry about the small group that comes in anymore. I'm tired of it. And so
I know after working here as many years I have, we're down on manpower. I I'm well aware. And so for me, it's a no-brainer. I mean, it's a few people in the pews throwing darts at me or taking care of our great
city of International Falls. >> Yeah, I'm just I'm just quite I don't know. >> I just don't have any time for it, hey. Councilor Keller, um one thing I would point out and I think that you you raise very valid points.
What you're saying with hiring and levy and obviously we're going into that season. Um There's actually just for knowledge of everyone on the same page, there's actually three positions.
Um We met as a group, uh myself and and some of the department heads to discuss it. And that's how we came up with two. And
can we get them filled? Hopefully. And for that third position, do we have some other options of collaboration and whatnot. So, I guess the the point I would I would make right now
is that the water position that we've had opened is filled in the water department and is paid for by the water fund. Um The street position would be paid out of the general property tax levy,
which we currently have two open. We're posting one. So, um but it's coming, the levy, as we all know in the meeting start and um we have to have the appropriate
level of staffing to carry out the basic functions of the community. Yeah, I agree, but like I said, there's three and I'm fine with that, you know, but I and I said I'm going to vote for it. I plan to vote for it. I just want to
something to be thinking about down the road with if there's three positions and you guys discussed it and I'm fine with that and we have other options and I realize that. You know. Yeah, well, that Councilor I'm just glad that you're going to vote for it, so. I
think it was a good point that you made was that the water department is not a levied wage. So, that's that's important thing to real to understand, too, that the people understand it's not a levied wage at the water department job. >> Yeah. Cuz
it's not a levied wage, but it's uh water rate wage. >> Correct. And that doesn't just Right. That's all I'm pointing out. Yeah, we can go ahead if we're ready to vote.
I'd ask the question. I. I. >> I. I'll vote yes and the motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Next, item two on this morning's agenda for new business is to
acknowledge and accept a letter of resignation from Kelly Myers, building code official, zoning administrator, and wetland LGU, effective April 10th of this year.
Would like to um thank Mr. Myers for his service to the community. And um um his dedication as an employee and uh
also at one time as a city councilor. Mhm. Um Yep. >> [clears throat and cough] >> There's been several large projects uh over your tenure that have been completed and succeeded
because of your help along with others. Is there any discussion from the council? Yeah, I'd like to thank him. I've been around him for quite a long time and I know he went through the process of getting all the credentials that he needed to
uh anybody that's had to do that uh whether my job that I had where I had to get licensed and everything, go continuing education, take testing and everything. I know what Kelly went through. Uh you're doing that at home at night in
your spare time trying to get your credentials up to what you'd like to have them to be. Um and you got there, uh Kelly, and I appreciate that. And I know it wasn't you know, easy either.
All them testings are hard. Especially the ones that are state of Minnesota. They're really hard. And so, I want to thank you. Plus, I know the fact that you were on the city council before. Uh also, you got a taste of that a little bit, huh? How many years did you
have? Two years. Two years. Okay, well, that's long enough to know. Yep. And I appreciate that, too. So, uh I want to thank you uh for all that you've done. I just know there's some Sunday school teachers out there feeling awful, old
buddy. >> [laughter] >> At so, me and Kelly have become or been lifelong friends since believe it or not, and it's true. It's church and uh we've been friends for a long time. And speaking when he first started, I
remember going to River Falls and him I still remember answering the He's just starting and uh to play golf for the hockey team there at his boy and he said had to answer call about a water heater. And I looked at him, you got to get a
permit for a water heater? >> [laughter] >> So, but congratulations and good luck on your next move. Thank you, councilors. >> Congratulations, Kelly. Thank you, Kelly.
I would make a motion to accept the letter of resignation if there is a second. I'll second. Thank you, councilor Kayler. Is there more discussion? Call the question. I. I. I. I'll vote yes and
we have acknowledged this letter unanimously. Next, we'll move to item number three of our agenda and the last item of the agenda to discuss future options
for the building official, zoning administrator, and wetland LGU position. I There is um It might be a little odd to start talking about
this after we just acknowledged Mr. Myers' letter, but there's a All cities and uh Kelly, if I misspeak, please correct me. Um with Kelly's resignation,
the city of International Falls by law had to adopt the state building code and we must enforce it. And the way that that language in the law is written, we have 15 days to
um have someone present uh to do that uh job in enforcement. And if we don't, the state appoints somebody in which, ironically, the state may or may not have somebody available. So, we're in a little bit
of uncharted waters. Um I would also like to point out how the position in our community came about. Prior to around 2007, 2008, somewhere in there,
the city contracted with a service the gentleman, I believe, from Bemidji, um who charged us a flat contract fee plus collected the the building permit fees that now we
charge. Uh the position that was created at that time was [snorts] a net savings to the city uh because in creating that position, the fees offset
the payroll costs and we had to have the position anyway. So, as we move forward, we have two or three options. Um One would be to try and contract the
service. Uh with that would come is there anybody that's willing to do it? I've spoke to several mayors via email around the state and a lot of the cities around the Twin Cities, there's multiple companies that
do that work, which obviously we don't have. Um we could attempt to have a stopgap and contract temporarily with another community, but there aren't that many communities around us that have to have the state
building code because of our geographic location. Um and there may also be the possibility um of for a temporary period
uh to work out a contract uh with our retired or resigned um building official for the city to
attempt to create a new building official. We would have to find somebody with enough points or close to enough points to work under someone or that had the points to take the state
test and get their limited building license for lack of better terms. Once someone has a limited license, they can enforce the state building code in the community, but they can't supervise
public municipal projects, which we would still have to contract out to and maybe that's something that in that situation, we could get help with or reach out to our engineer. That would be your one-off projects like
water plants and uh if we built a new building in public works, things of that nature. Um Lastly, with all of this, that covers building codes. Uh then we have zoning,
which Kelly took over probably around 2018 because Gary Skogman did it as the as the city as the public works director. Uh and then eventually
Kelly took that over. The wetlands, um Kelly, you'll have to answer that. The wetlands is basically a point of contract contact. We have you have one with Wenck Associates. They do the process of delineation, which I have to oversee with them.
But anyone that has a project, it comes to myself first to go through them. They are the point of contact for the city, so I would suggest that someone be in that in that position fairly soon because, to be honest with you, that's it's the time of year when
we start getting those calls. I had to have one this afternoon. So, they'll they'll become common practice now, so we don't want to get that moving forward as quickly as we can. Thank you, Kelly.
Um thoughts from the council? You were just talking about the wetland part, right? Just the wetland part. Okay. How soon should the zoning be? Just zoning, I would suggest you get somebody looking at it right away, to be honest with
Um it's a it's a tough one cuz it's a learning one. But you're going to want to know what the directions are and where they're at. They'll know what goes on in the spring. I mean, that's when people are putting up fences, that's when they're trying to
build new houses, they're trying to do different structures. That affects the zoning right after that, number one. Okay. Yeah, I think you could get somebody up to speed. The one thing the mayor alluded to, I'm not right away, and we're all going to help if we need to,
but in my opinion, that's for a continued long time, but I mean, definitely the next couple weeks, I would assume we should be talking about a few things, I guess. Please, councilor Blais. Mr. Mayor, would you would you be willing to chair a committee to give us the options
and research this more? Yes. And we can get a committee together and that way we can get something presented with with the resource from from Myers, and we can have some options that we can actually look at that are available, and then that that we can get a contractor to
come in and do it, or if we can't, or how far we have to go to get them, or With With that But we got to have a bill someone appointed within 15 days. Is that I spent a considerable amount of
time Friday. Um one is I've I've obviously communicate with Kelly openly. Um and I spent some time on the phone with Betty on Friday uh discussing this. Um
With the nature of it, I think that we can work through it. Okay. Yeah, but I and I'm just thinking temporarily, if we need Could we contract with our engine Does our engineer firm have building inspectors? Do you know, Kelly?
Any time? Just to get us through. That's not a permanent solution, but I guess we can figure that out. And I'm on your committee. I think that there's a couple different uh internal options. Uh
and I Yes, I would like to go through that process, start that tomorrow. Um I'm also going to discuss with Kelly what it would look like as a stopgap until um if he would be willing to do
something like that if we um could find someone that within a reasonable period of time could get their their limited whether it's a limited building license. I don't know the term of it. Um and that's how
Kelly started was he was a contractor and had the points, took [clears throat] the test, and then did you work under the previous company? >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, Kelly. Um Counselor Bullert, I think that we
may be able to have a framework of a recommendation by our council meeting next Monday. Uh would you like me to meet with the appropriate parties, or do you want to make a motion and create an official committee? No, I just think it We need We need to
know the options, whether it goes through committee or whether it goes to just research. That's all we need. I mean, I Okay. I I'm some way that we can get and know the availability of what's out there. I mean, there's a lot of a lot of things you put out if we can do this or if we can do that. Well, we need to know
if we can. So, if you can do that, that'd be great. Okay. Thank you. Understand. Um I would ask uh Lisa if you could just put a placeholder for the next week city council agenda that
it will be on it with some options, and we will get going on that process. Uh any thoughts from I would agree with Kelly that our first option, if we can just try to work
something out internally, you know, for the like the reasons he said, depending on what we find out. And like so, we don't want We don't expect Kelly to uh be contracted or interim or whatever for
like the next 6 months. Just to put him at ease. Well, um as noted, uh thank you again, Kelly, and we have the job is posted or will be posted in
the appropriate departments in streets and water, and we will give an agenda update um on Monday at the regular city council meeting uh with options and discussions, and uh
quite frankly, hopefully a couple of recommendations that are can be enacted upon. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.