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The Babbitt city council met on Tuesday and gave final approval to a new policy government the Senior Center and kitchen.
Bernice Norregaard spoke to the council on some of the concerns of the seniors, including more than two people having access to the Senior Center.
Mayor Duane Lossing said door codes will be given to users as needed as long as the use is coordinated with city staff.
“So the biggest thing is that you know ahead of time what your desires are, that you ask ahead of time. Because once these guys go home, then it’s too late,” said Lossing.
In the option approved by the council, the city will allot up to $200 for disposable cups, plates and Clorox wipes for day to day use.
Street supervisor Tony Chamberlin informed the council an auction on city equipment came in several thousand dollars above what was expected.
“The auction absolutely knocked it out of the park,” said Chamberlin.
He asked to proceed with a new Volvo excavator for $79,392 and a trailer for $8,295.
“Of that, $37,500 will come from the cemetery fund, which is money that we bring in for digging the graves and things of that nature,” said Chamberlin.
The council approved the purchases.
The clerk-treasurer’s wages were discussed by the council. Robecca Jaeger had been taken off probation but her wages did not increase from 90 to 100%.
“When I made the motion to suspend her probation period, I should have, at that time, put it down that when we stopped that, that she went to 100%. I did not make that motion. That is my fault that I did not,” said council member Glen Anderson.
Babbitt mayor Duane Lossing. Photo by Parker Loew.
Mayor Duane Lossing said other positions in the office have waited until they have one year in with the city.
“So the reason that this is here is I walked into Robecca's office on Monday. I asked her straight up, did you give yourself 100% pay raise without the council’s approval? She said, yes. I said, you can’t do that. We have to talk about it. And that’s why we’re here talking about it,” said council member Paul Hoheisel.
Anderson said Jaeger was overpaid for two pay periods.
Lossing said Jaeger should have talked to the council before increasing her pay.
The amount she was overpaid was reported at $967.03.
Lossing also questioned Jaeger not getting approval to attend a housing summit.
“You got to remember when they leave, they’re leaving their job for the day,” said Lossing. “So Becky knows that you just, all you have to do is ask. You probably will never get denied. It’s just a procedure.”
Kirsten Traut said she was hired at 90 percent and stayed at that wage for one year.
“To me, it looks like we’ve been too all over the map with no consistency,” said Lossing. “We have to decide here whether we have policies that we’re going to follow, or we’re only going to follow these policies when it’s convenient to certain situations, which is wrong.
“If it’s a policy, we should be following it all the time, which unfortunately isn’t fair to people like you and Sarah, and there’s been others along the way that didn’t get the same treatment.”
Hoheisel then made a motion to have Jaeger repay the amount she was overpaid and stay at the 90% wage until Nov. 27.
City attorney Mitch Brunfelt said Jaeger would have to sign a consent form that the debt owed can be deducted from her wages.
“The employee can just write a check back to the city to pay it, but what you can’t do, what I’m saying is it’s a payroll issue,” said Brunfelt. “State law prohibits you from just deciding to just withhold it from her paycheck. You can’t do that. Unless she consents to it.”
Jaeger said she would write a check to repay the city for the overpaid wages.
The motion to have her repay the debt passed unanimously.
Council member Joe White addressed Traut’s concerns and said while she is “one heck of a good worker…but I have to agree with the mayor’s comment. We are trying to set standards here. And we need to be fair across the board going forward.”
Brunfelt advised the council to take a closer look at the personnel policy in relation to contract language.
Rec director Caitlin Stern asked for approval to move ahead with the arena compressor project.
“We’re asking for permission to move forward with the ammonia system and get the funds that were awarded to us from IRRRB so that we can get the engineer on board and start coming up with drawings,” said Stern.
The system has an estimated cost of $1.9 million which is $366,961 over the $1.5 million in grant funding. Stern wrote there are other possible funding options to make up the difference.
White said the estimated costs are high and the engineering company believes that’ll be close to $300,000 less than what’s listed.
The council passed a motion to move forward with the engineering group on the arena compressor system.
Stern said the current refrigerant is $98 a pound compared to ammonia at $2 a pound.
“We were granted $1.5 million from Sen. (Grant) Hauschild in the bill so it’s sitting in IRRRB waiting for our plans to get the money,” said Stern.
