New council organizes for ’05

The Ely City Council welcomed two new members and addressed a series of housekeeping items during their first meeting of 2005.New mayor Roger Skraba and council member Chuck Novak were sworn in just prior to Tuesday’s session at City Hall, and Skraba presided over a 70-minute session that had little in the way of pressing business, but many organizational items for the new year.One of the group’s first orders of business was to push regular meeting times back an hour.Starting Jan. 18, council meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. rather than the previous meeting time of 5:30 p.m. The council’s monthly study session, held on the last Tuesday of each month, will start at 6 p.m.Skraba gave no “state of the city address,” but promised a busy year both to the 15 people or so attendance at the meeting and those watching live on Ely’s public access cable television channel.“Change is the buzzword,” said Skraba. “We’re not afraid to do it. I hope you’re in for a fun time for city government. I’m looking forward to it.”Skraba and the council agreed on a string of appointments to committees, commissions and city boards. The following vacancies were filled by council members:• Planning Commission- Mike Hillman;• Lodging Tax - Skraba;• Acting Mayor - Dan Przybylski;• Storefront/Rehabilitation Loan - Novak, Mark Zupec;• Ambulance - Skraba;• Gardner Trust - Debeltz;• Employee Relations - Novak, Butch Pecha, Przybylski and two Ely Utilities Commission members; • Negotiations - Novak, Pecha, Przybylski and two EUC members;• Cemetery - Hillman;• Streets and Infrastructure - Pecha;• Joint Powers - Skraba;• Land - Pecha;• Projects - Skraba;• Sanitation - Hillman;• Range Association of Municipalities and Schools - Skraba;• Telecommunications - Novak;• Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities - Skraba;• Budget - Novak, Przybylski, Zupec.In other business, the council:• Voted to post a custodial position internally. Former custodian Dave Buchite has taken a job in the library.If no city employee applies, the city will look elsewhere to fill the position.“It would start the ball rolling toward a layoff to fill the position,” said Pecha.• Called for bids for the city’s legal publication. Przybylski asked for a uniform bid to make it simpler to determine the low bidder.• Authorized Skraba and police chief Archie Manning to attend out of town meetings on an as-needed basis.• Authorized council members to attend the annual meeting of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools, set for Jan. 28 at Virginia.• Scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the city clerk-treasurer position and potential changes to both the job description and title.