Slater Regular City Council Meeting

 September 17, 2007

The regular meeting of the Slater City Council was called to order by Mayor Rick Rewerts at 7:30 P.M. on September 17, 2007, at the City Maintenance Building 205 Greene St., Slater, Iowa. The roll being called the following Council members were present as follows: Gene Staples, Louise O’Donnell, Dave Cook and Don Schick. Electronic connection - Mark Pritchard. Absent-none. Others in attendance were Public Works Director LaDonna Chriswell, Mary Beth Chinery and approximately 100 citizens. (List on file)

Mayor Rewerts set the ground rules for the citizen input forum and indicated that this would not be a question and answer session or debate he asked the citizens to speak one at a time and state their name for the record. He requested that everyone be respectful of everyone noting that the comment time was going to be limited to approximately 3 minutes to allow as many people to speak as possible. He opened the floor for approximately 30 minutes.

James Mallon asked a question of the City Attorney and if the city administrator had a contract with a non-compete clause within 25 miles. The attorney clarified that this opportunity is restricted to public input about weather Ms. North stays on here. The public should not expect that the Attorney and/or the Council are going to get into a debate.

Tina Estrem presented a letter to the council (on file includes a Grimes attachment pursuant to her phone call to the City) and requested that the council accept the city administrator’s resignation.

Fred Mason asked a question of North Mayor indicated that no questions are allowed. He indicated that the citizens present have a problem with her job performance, qualifications and duties at City Hall. He asked a question and attempted to poll each Council Member as to weather the Clerk/Administrator had resigned: Cook, no comment. O’Donnell, no comment. Staples, in my opinion yes. Schick, no comment. The Mayor called the meeting back to order and restated the ground rules. Fred added additional verbal comments.

Tami Staples pointed out that the audience was comprised of more than just fire department and community club members. She stated that the council made a mistake by not moving to accept North’s resignation and asked them to correct that.

Colin Chriswell presented a letter to the council (on file) stating that he thought the city administrator did not understand how our town works. He stated that Slater is more like a family than a city. Examples of that culture are outline in the letter.

Steve Ransom spoke briefly and asked the council to accept North’s resignation, retain Mary Beth Chinery in the interim and allow the council that will be elected in November to fill the position.

John Walker submitted a letter to the council (on file) and suggested that Sue North is in a sensitive situation. He suggested that the council put the city administrator on paid leave without discrimination according to standard business practice. He encouraged everyone to put this behind them. He also urged the council members to resign after the election and allow the newly elected council to take office on November 12, 2007.

Howard Hammond reminded everyone of Slater’s motto "A Community United for Progress". He listed various issues of polarization during his service as mayor and council member. He urged the community to be deliberate in identifying community persons that can deal with issues in an object unbiased manner and elect them to represent us and move our way as community reunited for progress.

Ken May addressed the council on behalf of the Slater Business Association and informed them that they were going to cancel the city assessment that had been scheduled for late October. He indicated that they may look at have it at a later date.

Keith Hedlund wanted to take this opportunity to thank the people who have worked in the city in the past. He also urged the council to accept North’s resignation.

Staples requested that the minutes from September 10, 2007 be removed from the consent agenda. The Mayor asked the attorney regarding legal issues related to content of minutes. The attorney reported that the legal requirement is to apprise the public of what went on at the meeting. It is a condensed abstract of the meeting. The council was further informed about the 15 day legal publication requirement and the newspaper deadlines arrive prior to the Council dates at which they are approved.

It was moved by Schick and seconded by O’Donnell to approve the expenditures totaling $ 9841.72 as follows:

The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Schick, O’Donnell, Pritchard, Staples and Cook. No: none.

Staples moved to amend the September 10, 2007, minutes to include the following excerpt from Betty Robb’s letter and place it on file. "In summary please delay hiring a City Administrator until after the new elected officials are in place, hire Mary Beth Chinery as full time staff, and release Sue North from her employment with Slater."

Staples also wished the amendment to include comments made by Fred Mason. At the meeting on September 10, 2007, Fred Mason read excerpts from the Tri-County Times regarding the resignation status of North. He also cited the other city activities that he believed substantiated his belief that a resignation had occurred. He felt that the public was being misinformed. Motion was seconded by Schick. The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Staples, Schick, Pritchard, O’Donnell and Cook. No: none.

Mayor Rewerts introduced item 4 on the agenda is the legal opinion regarding action allowing or denying the withdrawal of Sue North’s resignation.

The city attorney stated that the item on the agenda was whether to accept the resignation from North or to allow her to withdraw the resignation. Prior to the meeting, the city attorney, Frank Feilmeyer had circulated to the Council a detailed written legal analysis of the situation and the statutes involved. He stated that there are a number of statutes involved and several opinions from the Iowa Attorney General on the subject of withdrawal of a resignation from an officer. Sue North is an officer of the City of Slater and serves at the pleasure of the council. It is the opinion of the Iowa Attorney General that the body that appoints an officer may accept, if they so desire, the withdrawal of the resignation and allow that officer to continue to serve. Ms. North has communicated to the council her desire to withdraw her resignation. Based on the facts that he has gathered, the resignation itself, and the minutes; in his opinion the council has accepted an open-ended resignation. North wanted to continue to assist the city with a number of high priority items that she was coordinating with the Mayor with council consent. He acknowledged that there are recordings of prior meetings and that the terms "soon" and "imminent" were used but he doesn’t think that changes any of the legal analysis. The analysis remains that the resignation was to occur at a later date and what that later date was is not defined. His conclusion, based on the facts, the Attorney General opinions and the laws of the State of the Iowa, is that there is not a vacancy yet and it is before the city council whether they wish to accept the resignation and fix a final date or allow the resignation to be withdrawn. He stated that there are other procedures available but they are way more complicated than the city wants or needs to do. For example, holding a separate meeting to determine whether there is a vacancy at all if the council disagrees with his legal opinion about there not being a vacancy yet. His legal recommendation to the council is that there is not a vacancy yet and that they must decide whether and when there will be a vacancy by deciding whether to allow the withdrawal or not allow the withdrawal and fix a date.

Staples moved to accept Sue North’s resignation effective immediately. Motion died for lack of a second.

Cook moved to accept Sue North’s resignation today and to be effective 1 month from today. Motion was seconded by Staples. The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Cook, Staples, Schick and Pritchard. No: O’Donnell.

Mayor Rewerts read the citizens a statement that he had prepared. He expressed concern over some the recent activities and summarized his experiences as Mayor.

Chriswell indicated that she had received replies from 3 or 4 owners that had been sent dangerous building notices. The city attorney indicated that the city can continue to try and contact the remaining owner while waiting out the 90 days before the council can take action.

The animal rescue services contact with Story County for 2007-08 was presented for renewal. The city catches the animal and then contacts Story County Animal Control for pick up. The city is charged by the call. Cook moved to approve the contract renewal. Motion was seconded by O’Donnell. The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Cook, O’Donnell, Staples, Schick and Pritchard. No: none.

Staples moved to set Beggar’s Night on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, from 6 to 8 pm. Cook seconded the motion. The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Staples, Cook, O’Donnell, Schick and Pritchard. No: none.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church submitted a written request to have a temporary sign in the frontage of their property for their fundraising campaign for a capital construction project. Cook made the motion to allow the placement of the temporary sign placement. Schick seconded the motion. The motion passed with record vote as follows: Yes: Cook, Schick, O’Donnell, Staples and Pritchard. No: none.

In other business the council discussed the census. The council needs to identify a contact by October 15^th. O’Donnell recommended that the city use option 1 to get addresses and P.O. boxes to best ensure that all citizens are counted.

The council also discussed inviting the Mayor and Engineer for Sheldahl to a council meeting to help facilitate the hook-up of Sheldahl in to the Slater Lagoon.

It was moved by Staples and seconded by Cook to adjourn at 8:40 P.M., the motion carried and the meeting adjourned.