At the June 9 Houston City Council meeting, Mayor Scott Wallace presented Ambulance Director Christine Cox with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition for Houston Ambulance’s 60 years of service to the community. The certificate had been delivered by a representative from U.S. Congressman Brad Finstad’s office. A flag that had been flown over the U.S. Capitol accompanied the certificate.
In expressing her appreciation for the recognition, Cox shared that the ambulance training center has been very busy. Anna Frauenkron has been traveling to Minneapolis and Alexandria to do training sessions as well as presenting training sessions in Houston. Frauenkron is working in collaboration with MNVA to present lessons online and in person.
Cox enthused that the course is getting young people introduced to healthcare as a possible career. She noted that the Houston Ambulance has “home grown” some of their own medical professionals. Two former ambulance staff personnel have gone on to train and serve in the medical field. People leave the ambulance career to move up the ladder, according to Cox.
“It’s fun to see them grow and develop in what they do on calls. It’s fun to watch them!” Cox declared.
Personnel
Much of the remaining council meeting was spent on staffing personnel. The council authorized hiring Emily Baumann, Isaiah Evenson, Mason Krings, Henry Meyer and Henry Werner for the Youth Conservation Corp.
Hired for student staff for summer rec were Stella Keehner, Alizabeth Larkins, Natalie Skifton, Max Sonnek, Tatum Vix and Rylee Servais. The council granted City Administrator Michelle Quinn permission to hire additional staff as needed if they met the qualifications.
The council accepted the resignation of Emily Freeman from the ambulance crew. Freeman had been a teacher at Houston Schools. Since she is no longer employed by the school, she will not be available to take call or respond for the ambulance department.
With PWD Randy Thesing officially announcing that he plans to retire as of January 2, 2026, the city needed to begin a search for a replacement. Licensure for the position takes about three years to complete. Michelle Quinn asked that they begin a search for a full time staff person. When a person is hired, the city would have four people on staff in the public works department for a short time until January when Thesing retires.
Emily Krage asked what impact this would have on the budget. Quinn responded that while it would increase expenses for a short time until Thesing retires, ultimately the city would probably save money with the new hire. Quinn.will do some projections and present them to the council in the future. The council approved beginning the search process for a public works employee.
Fire Chief Steve Skifton asked the council to interview a candidate for fire chief. He also asked that if the candidate was selected, it would be announced in July with the candidate assuming the fire chief position effective January 1. In this way, Skifton could work with the new chief completing items that happen annually during that time.
The council approved interviewing the single fire chief candidate during the week of June 23. The interview panel will consist of Mayor Scott Wallace, Danny Todd, Michelle Quinn and a member of the Rural Fire Board. The council felt that since the Rural Fire Board pays half the expenses of the fire department they deserved a say in the hiring process.
The city is still looking for a replacement for Nature Center Lead John Langheinrich who recently resigned. Quinn noted that someone had picked up an application packet from city hall, but she wasn’t sure if it was for this position. Langheinrich offered to stay on for one day a week to help for the summer. The two new Nature Center assistants started work this past week.
Other Business
In other business the council:
•Accepted a gift basket from Bolton & Menk and chose to donate the basket to The Friends of the Nature Center; the basket will be raffled off as a fundraiser;
•Learned that all the street sign brackets and poles have arrived; once the new street signs arrive, they will be installed;
•Heard that the city’s John Deere is having issues; it is under warranty and will be repaired by the company;
•Learned that city streets will soon get a new coat of yellow paint where needed.
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