Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Hallock City Council

MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE HALLOCK CITY COUNCIL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Dave Truemer called the regular meeting of the Hallock City Council to order at 5:30pm on October 24, 2019. Those Present: Mayor Dave Treumer, Naomi Larson, Jennifer Peterson, Mike Totleben, and Kevin Waller.
Members absent: None.
Also present: City Deputy Clerk Kendra Johnson, Anna Jouhola of the Kittson County Enterprise, Alex Gustafson.
APPROVE AGENDA:
Councilor Totleben moved to approve the agenda as written.  The motion was seconded by Councilor Peterson and carried unanimously.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Councilor Larson moved to approve the Minutes of the Regular Hallock City Council Meeting of Oct 7, 2019 as written.  The motion was seconded by Councilor Totleben and carried unanimously.
Resolution 2019-16
Anderson Sanitation has already been approved by the city council at the September 23 meeting but Kendra Johnson prepared the resolution in legal form, so it could be formally adopted.
Councilor Totleben moved to approve Resolution 2019-16 Anderson Sanitation Agreement the as written.  The motion was seconded by Councilor Waller and carried unanimously.
Personnel Committee – Hiring Update
Councilor Waller gave a quick recap since last meeting from having interviewed the top five candidates after the position closed on September 15. The personnel committee had narrowed that down to four very qualified candidates and paired that down to two top finalists, simply due to some experience and attributes they deemed a little more necessary than others. They have done some reference checks but we have not done any background checks at this point in time and don’t want to do that until they offer someone a position.
The two finalists are Albert “Woody” Arrowood and Aimee Sugden. In the candidates Woody has financial background and management background where Aimee has a very strong people background and community orientated. Kevin felt either candidate would do a good job.
The council agreed on leaning local, someone who wants to stay here for the long term. Kevin reminded we are on a good financial footing right now, Woody seems to have a strong in the financial part of things and management, one thing he talked about was human resources with employees. Aimee worked with marketing, a little financial background, and a little different type of work. Waller felt both candidates would work well as promotors of the city.
One thing the public has said they want is someone who is approachable, someone they would share a cup of coffee with, and isn’t standoffish, he felt both of these candidates could do this. Waller said we have 4 people who would do a very good job.
Councilor Waller felt we could have someone in the office the middle of November first part of December. The personnel committee still needs to talk about salary and make an offer to a candidate and make the offer contingent on passing a background check.
Councilor Totleben with Woody it would be nice to have somebody who has a little bit more accounting aspect.
Councilor Larson responded to councilor Totleben’s concern that accounting to her yes, but I think it is something that is learnable, so if you have dealt with numbers and stuff like that, it’s not like it is rocket science, I think Sugden is very capable of learning that.
Councilor Peterson also agreed its not hard accounting either, it’s not easy but it is learnable.
Mayor Treumer said fund accounting is a little bit different and Woody could look at profit loss and understanding them. We could maybe get a little bit better budget to actual report. Councilor Waller made a recommendation of Albert “Woody” Arrowood would rise to the top a little more keeping our books straight
Councilor Larson recommended Aimee Sugden, she seems goal oriented with community goals in mind.
Councilor Totleben moved to hire Aimee Sugden. The motion was seconded by Councilor Larson and carried unanimously.
Council Roundtable
Peterson mentioned ordering some street signs for the north end of the town as it seems there are many families with small children playing that neighborhood.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, Councilor Waller moved to adjourn the Special Meeting of the Hallock City Council of October 24, 2019. The motion was seconded by Councilor Larson and carried unanimously.  The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.
Dave Treumer, Mayor
Kendra Johnson, Acting City Clerk
(November 20, 2019)
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