DRAFT – These minutes are not official until approved at the next regular City Council meeting.

City of Bigfork

Special Meeting January 12, 2007

Members Present: Mayor Amy Tendrup, Jean Lexvold, Richard Salmi, Gene Rajala and Linda Koppelmann

Absent: none

Also Present: Tim & Anne Collins, Gene Collins, Volunteer Police Officer Clint Sova, Jon Babcock, Curt Youngkin, Tranette Stevens, Shane Hastings, Kevin Gross, and Donny Gregerson

Mayor Tendrup called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

Anne Collins asked how much the City paid for the Deputy Coroner's license for Babcock and Storlie replied that there was no cost to the City.

Gene Collins asked why the meeting was taking place at this time and Tendrup answered that business needed to be taken care of. Collins pointed out that the issue was tabled until the next months meeting and now there is a special meeting about it. Tendrup replied that she had called a special meeting because she did not feel comfortable waiting another month for a decision to be made. Collins stated that the town is up in arms because they don't know what is going on.

Tendrup stated that she had a call from Scott Patrow, Bigfork School principal, who wanted the Council to be aware of how important the school feels it is to have Babcock as the liaison officer. He invited any Council member who had any doubts about the need for this position to visit the school at lunchtime this coming Thursday.

Gene Rajala stated that for the last three days he has talked to a lot of people in town and everyone has an opinion on the subject. He felt that the general consensus was that Bigfork needed police protection of some kind or another. Most people think that Babcock should be kept on a part-time basis, however do not want to make it an open-ended deal. Rajala suggested working under this set-up for a six-month period and review how it is going at that time. Until that point, the Itasca County Sheriff's Department should be relied on for coverage outside of Babcock's hours. That way the City won't have any agreements in place with other part-time officers that may not be needed on staff after the six-month mark. Rajala reiterated that he has talked to as many people as possible, in as many different venues as possible, to come to this idea.

Salmi has found in talking to citizens that they want one part-time police officer that the County backs up. He added that Bigfork can't afford not to have good police coverage. There has to be someone checking on things.

Tendrup reported that she has heard from a lot of people that they want more local protection that one part-time officer. She added that while everyone would probably like to see that, it does come back to the budget and we have constraints in that area. She felt that Babcock was offering a lot of service for the salary proposed. He would basically just be getting the liaison officer pay plus health insurance and he would still be reporting to Council, filing all required reports to the State, responding to all calls during liaison officer hours and life threat calls at any time of the day or night.

Rajala stated that there are five different Council people and they all talk to different people. Tendrup added that we know it is an issue for the safety, health and welfare of this community and that is why the decision could not wait until February. She did not feel that the County could respond to life threatening situations as quickly as a local officer could.

Salmi stated that it would take most of the rest of this month to get someone hired. Tendrup felt it could be done within two weeks. She noted that we have budgeted for this situation for one year and we don't know what the budget will bring next year. Salmi stated it was important for the officer to live in town and for the vehicle to be in the City. A. Collins stated that the Council decided in October to go one year without additional coverage to see how things go. Tendrup clarified that it was just discussion at that point, no decisions were made.

Salmi asked if we would require a part-time person to live in town. Babcock stated that our policy was for them to maintain a fifteen minute response time. Tendrup noted that the County certainly would take longer than that in most situations. She added that the only thing we can do is post the position and see what applicants we get. Salmi stated that they needed to live in town and the City should get them on the ambulance and fire department crews. Rajala stated the City could not require them to volunteer for either of those services.

Rajala asked if anyone else in favor of hiring Babcock back as proposed for six months. He stated this would give the opportunity to see what County service is like while still having Babcock's services. Council can then review if that set up is working or not. A. Collins noted that this is the slowest time of the year for police calls. Rajala stated the Council was here to make a decision and they couldn't keep bringing it up every two weeks. Tendrup didn't know if six months would be a good test but Rajala argued that it could always be renewed for another six months to gather more information. Tendrup felt that a year would be a better length of time so that by budget time we are looking at it again. Rajala pointed out that the budget process starts in July anyway and that would be at about the six-month mark.

Salmi stated that a business person he talked to wanted Friday night and Saturday coverage. Tendrup pointed out that is what was proposed for the part-time position. Motion by Rajala to accept Babcock's proposal for a period of six months without hiring any extra part-timers and to rely on the Itasca County Sheriff's Department for protection additional, seconded by Salmi.

Babcock stated that he did not have a problem with a six-month set-up; however he would be more comfortable with a year. His intention was to use this time to train in a new person to eventually take over as Chief and he would then serve only as the school liaison officer. He was nervous about not having a part-timer to cover the weekend hours. He agreed that January is traditionally very quiet but reiterated that he would be very uncomfortable going without coverage on weekends. The money has already been budgeted for it for 2007 and he really felt that we need someone Friday night through early Sunday morning. He agreed that the County will respond to any serious manner but anyone with a scanner knows that the deputies are required to respond as far away as the Deer River and Ball Club areas and there are so many calls in those areas that they are often far away when they are needed for a call in this area. Babcock added that there were likely some non-emergency calls that the County wouldn't even respond to because they are just too busy. Tendrup was also concerned about not hiring a part-time officer. A. Collins suggested telling the County that the City is trying this set-up for now and maybe they would be more helpful. Tendrup called for a vote on the motion and the motion failed with Salmi and Rajala in voting in favor and Lexvold, Koppelmann and Tendrup voting against.

Tendrup made a motion to accept Babcock's proposal for six months and to go ahead with the posting of the part-time position as recommended by the Personnel Committee, seconded by Rajala.

Salmi stated that he would like to require that the person live within five minutes of town. Tendrup noted that our policy was fifteen minutes and Rajala agreed that we had to follow policy. Salmi wanted to know if the squad car would be left in town and Tendrup said that would be worked out between the employees.

Tendrup called for a vote on the motion and it carried with all in favor.

Tendrup stated that the Council needed to determine where and for how long the job would be posted. Motion by Salmi seconded by Rajala to advertise in the Western Itasca Review for one week, MCU.

Babcock inquired if it would be possible to promote current Volunteer Police Officer Clint Sova to the part-time position. Storlie stated that if the Council so wished, they could do so by amending the Volunteer Officer job description to reflect that it was now a paid part-time officer position. This would allow Sova to begin working right away and provide the City with coverage. Motion by Lexvold to amend the volunteer police officer description. Rajala felt that would not be the best way to fill the position and would leave a door open to criticism of the way it was done. The motion died for lack of a second.

Motion to appoint the Personnel Committee to conduct interviews using the same interview questions as were used for the Volunteer Officer position by Rajala, seconded by Koppelmann, MCU. Babcock will also sit in on interviews.

Babcock asked if the six-month time period began as of his retirement or would begin on February 1st and Tendrup stated it would begin when he began his employment again on February 1, 2007.

Motion by Rajala to advertise the open position of Water/Wastewater/Maintenance Assistant in the Western Itasca Review for two weeks, seconded by Koppelmann, MCU.

Tendrup stated that the last item on the agenda was the Peterson water meter issue that was tabled at the December Council meeting. Peterson had requested reimbursement from the City for a portion of the cost of installing a new water meter and some plumbing. Waters stated that City employees used to install water meters as a courtesy to users. Rajala stated that the City would no longer be doing this for liability reasons. Tendrup stated that it was unfortunate, but the City was not responsible to pay for Peterson's costs. No action was taken on this item.

Mayor Tendrup adjourned at 6:51 p.m.

Angie Storlie

City Clerk/Treasurer