Mayor Pat Nesler submitted a letter of resignation, and this was the main topic of discussion at the regular meeting of the Ostrander city council on July 11. Members present included Erin Volkart, Pam Kunert, Clerk Chris Hyrkas, Heidi Jones and DJ Start. Kunert said Nesler had sent the letter in response to the complaint shared at the June council meeting. The letter indicated that the resignation was effective immediately, and in the letter, Nesler thanked the council and community for the chance to serve.
Council members expressed surprise at the letter, and Jones pointed out that the council would need to appoint someone to temporarily serve as mayor. Start suggested consulting with the city attorney, stating, “I just want to make sure we’re doing this right.” Start also asked for clarification about what happened at the last meeting which led to the mayor’s resignation. Jones explained that when the personnel complaint was received, she checked with the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) and was instructed that, “If there is a complaint, it needs to come to the council first.” She and Kunert explained that the issue was brought up to the mayor during the last meeting. Police Chief Mosher added, “It was a topic that needed to be discussed.”
Start asked if the city is required to accept the letter of resignation, or if they could ask to meet with Nesler to resolve the issues and see if he would agree to take the letter back. Hyrkas will check to see if that’s an option available to the city. The council voted to contingently accept the letter of resignation (only if there is not an option to try to work things out with Nesler). The matter was tabled until this answer is known.
A citizen addressed the council about the live music at Uff Da Days, which he said was to end at midnight, but which went until 12:30 a.m. Police Chief Tom Mosher responded, explaining that the band was instructed to end at midnight, but they played “one more song” and ended by 12:10 a.m. He said that’s not unusual, with audiences sometimes asking for an encore. He also gave his monthly report, saying it was the first meeting in eight years in which he didn’t have a piece of paper in his hand, because June was such a quiet month that he didn’t need notes to report from. He said the six “No Dogs” signs have been installed in the park. Mosher also shared that after the street dance in July, there were several fights, but that a deputy assisted him, and that the officers managed to keep things from getting out of hand. He said the next morning, he was informed there had been another assault that resulted in injuries. Mosher also explained that the street closure on Main Street (County Road 1) is always an “approximate time” because it takes a while to clear people out after an event. The council asked about having a discussion of the proposal for the Fillmore County Sheriff’s department to take over law enforcement in Ostrander after Mosher’s retirement. This will be added to the council’s August agenda.
The council approved bills from Bolton & Menk for $47,708.56 and the city attorney for $812.50. Both are related to the city’s infrastructure project. The council voted to add a direct deposit option for city payroll. The council also considered a request from the Leroy Ostrander Schools Forever Fundraiser, with Kunert asking, “Can we do that with public money?” Hyrkas will check to see if this is allowable, and will report back to the council.
The council discussed that regular council meetings on Tuesdays have been conflicting with EMR training nights. The council decided to regularly set council meetings for the second Wednesday of each month, so the next regular meeting of the council will be Wednesday, August 9, at 6 p.m. The public is welcome.
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