Mayor Marlys Tuftin announced at the December Whalan City Council meeting that Lolly Melander has resigned from the position of city clerk and Karla Merchlewitz is the new Whalan city clerk.
Present at the regularly scheduled monthly council meeting, held on December 9, 2019, were Tuftin along with council members Kim Berekvam, Everett Johnson and Tanya Cook. Owen Lewis was absent.
“This evening I want to announce the resignation of Lolly Melander,” stated Tuftin. Melander submitted her resignation on November 13, 2019.
“The City of Whalan will want to introduce and appoint Karla Merchlewitz, who has agreed to be our city clerk and treasurer,” said Tuftin.
“We have had the chance to interview her and she has excellent credentials; she was the city clerk in the City of Lewiston. She has a lot of experience in accounting and she has been working very hard already. She came on board in November and has agreed to help us during this transition period,” explained Tuftin.
Merchlewitz was unable to attend the December meeting due to prior commitments, but will be introduced and appointed at the January 2020 meeting. “In the meantime, she has done a lot of work for us — gotten all our 2019 records in order so we will be ready for the new year. She has been doing a lot of organization. We are just kind of beginning with the process and I hope everyone will be patient with us; I think things are going to be well organized and we are very happy to have Karla on board,” stated Tuftin.
The treasurer’s report and bills due were approved, with one bill looked into before payment will be made.
Visitors comments
Benjamin Ruberg asked the council when they had announced the date and time of the latest zoning meeting. The council stated the date and time of the zoning meeting was announced at the November 2019 meeting. The Zoning Board has met each month one hour before the council meeting.
There were no other comments from visitors.
Old Business
The City of Whalan will bill AcenTek for the amount of the final electric bill for the retired AcenTek site, in the amount of $460.
The council approved the final tax levy of 10%.
An additional 12 months will be added to the Short-Term Rental Moratorium, as the city attorney is helping with an ordinance on the matter but the paperwork is not yet completed.
An electric performance meeting will be held on January 4, 2020, at 9 a.m. and immediately after, a review of the Minnesota Basic Code manual will take place, beginning at 10 a.m.
New Business
Resolution 12-2019-2 was approved, allowing the City of Whalan’s appointed city clerk and treasurer access to all city accounts, including bank account records, for the purpose of conducting day to day city business and recordkeeping, pay and approve invoices, reconciling account activities and performing those duties as they relate to city affairs and the city electric utilities. This access will include the ability to co-sign checks from the city’s checking account at Merchants Bank and request documents as needed.
Mayor Tuftin recommended establishing a City of Whalan mailing address, as the city’s mail has been being delivered to the former city clerk’s home address. The address of 223 Second Ave. will be the official address for the City of Whalan, which corresponds to where the records are kept, and a post office box will be obtained for the City of Whalan.
It was approved to sign the Liability and Casualty insurance waiver through the League of Minnesota Cities.
The council reviewed it’s Liability and Casualty insurance coverage. It was decided to add bonding for city employees in the amount of $50,000 coverage per person (the city council and the mayor) to the policy and to also add coverage for the gazebo and the concession stand to the policy.
A resolution on how Whalan will hold elections was approved. A resolution is needed for the County Auditor’s Office. The purpose of this resolution is to maintain the continuation of election mail balloting for all elections including general, primary and special elections. Local races and local ballot questions will also be conducted through mail balloting and will include county officials, city officers, school board members and local ballot questions.
The next regularly scheduled Whalan City Council meeting will be held on January 14, 2020, at 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.
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