##VIDEO ID:Im_qMz01P14## and call to order our special meeting for Friday September 20th 2 p.m. call the RO ball present Jensen present present Scott zeran present please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with li and justice for all can I get a motion for the approval of the agenda so moved second right any discussion all those in favor say I I opposed motion carries we will move on to the interview go ahead and uh Mr bonek if you want to to the hot seat turn apologies it is on or he needs to turn on Okay thank you sir for joining us today been a minute since we've seen you here in City Hall so welcome back it's been about nine months probably months there we go um well uh thank you for coming for the interview we just have a few questions for you and we're just going to uh break into it we do all have in front of us um a copy of a contract that you provided to the city along with your resume um with past experiences uh so just a few questions that we have is what do you think we should know about your education and work experience as it relates to the interim City administrator position oh my um well I've spent 33 years as a full-time City administrator um after I retired from the full-time profession I did some part-time work for the league of cities I have uh since that time I've had some contracts with small cities to do um in breey point included where I've done uh about I think I was here for about 12 years doing um the Planning and Zoning stuff for you folks on a part-time basis um throughout that 12E period I did I think four other uh interim City administrator stance um those communities that I have worked for have and did one more just got done with with the city of Cross Lake um those communities that I've worked for on an interim basis um ranged in size from about 2500 uh people population to approximately 5,500 um so I I think I I know the trials and tib relations of small communities I know the trials and tribulations of of growing communities um I think I from a professional standpoint one of the things I've really been proud of was the fact when I was in new prag uh I started in new prag when there were about 2700 people and I when I left we were over 8,000 um I would say that we managed the growth in a very effective way and that Community is still growing and it's still uh prospering um I think I have a wide range of experience I wouldn't say I'm a I'm probably more of a jack of all trades master of none uh than a real I'm not a bean counter I'm not a I probably tend to go towards the planning side of uh City Administration more than anything else um I think I'm a person that I'm not a top- down manager I'm a uh manager that involves the people that work for me um I respect their positions I don't think that I should be the one that tells the fire chief how to put the fire out in somebody's house I don't want to do that um I don't want to tell the the police officer how to give somebody a det ticket that's not my thing but I will support those people um I enable them to do their jobs thank you why are you interested in this position that we have open today well I um number number one I I I enjoy the interim side of administration quite frankly um I think you put yourself in a little bit different position than as a full-time basis because your next meal is not dependent on whether you please somebody or not um I I also find that if I say something I can say something and not worry about the political ramifications of where that's going if I see that there's something wrong and I want to fix it I I can do the right things to get it fixed I believe um I think you I think you in an interm basis you can be pretty effective in a short-term basis and and that to me when you're when you're worried about where your next meal is coming from it's very hard to sometimes dance around some of that politics um so getting back to Breezy I I spent 12 years here I quite frankly I enjoyed being here on a part-time basis it was I had fun um I worked for some good people I worked with some very good people and I met some very nice people in this community I've still got some some good friends I I occasionally go out to to uh lunch with a couple of your Planning Commission members um so I I still got some some ties per se so Breezy interest me because I I do have some feelings for it thank you do you have any questions for us uh well and I guess number one what are you what are you folks looking for um are you looking for somebody to be here five days a week are you um are you looking for a micromanager I'm not that are you um I like to know where the hostility is uh because that's something I didn't experience when I was here but I I sure think that's based on what I've read in the newspaper that that is an issue and that probably needs to get resolved and how do we work to get that resolved and I guess the other question that I would have is you as a group are you all in on doing an interim position at this time um is there dissension on the council about that um maybe that's too many questions at one time I I can certainly take the lead unless Mr Jensen you I mean this I think everybody here is on board I mean we need an interm City administrator I mean obviously this is budget season I mean in my opinion that's a top priority um to get through that and uh have the discussions and finalize the budget for the council meeting in uh December yeah I kind of echoed that so you know in my tenure here this is new new grounds for us um when the administrator redberg uh um resigned retired um we had him through the time that we we uh gained the next administrator Mr wo which then he attended us and and got us our next administrator Mr chansy so this is kind of new grounds for me and so um talking talking it over with myself you know just what's the best thing and I think we do need that leadership level and and having somebody come in to assist us to get through the end of the year as mentioned we have a number of projects that are currently in the hopper just to maintain and manage what that is um the goal in my opinion is not to take anything on new except for assisting Us in finding the next long-term administrator um you know guiding us through that what that process would be looking like having you part of those interviews in my opinion would be great beneficial um but just being available for staff um you mentioned about work hours I would say my preference would be as much as needed um you know if it's if it's 3 four days a week that'd be great if you can at least be a resource available for staff that they can contact you if you're not in in the office but be available for staff should anything arise um that's kind of my mind thought is is just being available for staff and being in the office here um and you know preferably like 24 hours at least minimal a week but enough to be here to get the job done to make sure the day-to-day tasks are being accomplished the projects are on time the projects are maintaining and being that resource um I think I would you know for sure be a attending City Council meetings um at which are evening and workshops and then also being part of um you know asking staff if if you need to be there for parks and wreck meetings as well as pnz and being that resource available should they want you to be there and have that guidance and Leadership available for for them that's in my mind that's where my wrap wrapping around with with having you here yeah I would agree and I would say too you know um knowing what you know what are you available for we need you 40 hours one week are you able to be here 40 hours that week and I I'll relate back to the stint I just did we just finished with Cross Lake I started that with thinking that it was probably going to be 28 hours a week or or something like that and it ended up being some weeks for 50 um there there weren't any other under 32 I'll guarantee you that but um that was uh a little bit different situation and and it it required some more attention than I I had anticipated but that said um I really you know I'd like to start with a goal of like three days a week and go from there I I know the staff here well enough to I think I um I would say I trust them I I think they they know what they're doing and and I don't think that um that staff issues are going to be an issue with me um I heck I still talk to these the same staff members that uh were here when I was here and you know in fact over the last couple years I was here some of the staff came to me before they went to the other administrator um that's not say anything bad about them it's just that what I'm trying to tell you is that I have a pretty decent relationship with your staff and I think that's exactly what we need right now um just for everyone to kind of come back together and um I think having somebody that already has a really good relationship with staff is probably going to be the best thing to move forward so I do think that to be a really good thing I too agree with your management style I don't think this staff needs micromanaging I mean you've my interactions with you were nothing but positive as the council lays on to Planning and Zoning um I think your resume speaks for itself um you've got a lot of experience I mean being a city administrator or manager at the same city for 30 32 years is a pretty big accomplishment um well I do like people also that's helpful and staff is familiar with you is a big plus so I mean you've interacted with them and um at the end of the day staff needs you know an administrator inter term basis um you know we've got like I said budget um you know Bush Monro will be coming up Street CIP um the council will have to make some decisions but um our first committee meeting for streets do we know when that is uh I already we have oh you did yes we have a new the current council meeting we formed an ad hoc you you also have an election coming up yes there could be some changes as a result of that see a lot of signs Runing wrong count I'm not used to seeing all that all those local signs yeah I guess I would just uh Echo that uh I also am interested in the interim position I think that would be really beneficial to the city um I also think your resume is great and all my interactions with you have been positive as well um I I was going to say part-time at first two um like hours so I think 3 days a week maybe makes sense and then you can see if there's a need for more um I yeah I from what I understand you do act uh interact also positively with with the staff so that will be helpful um at this time I think just to kind of like mayor said just bring everybody back together so yeah we start with donuts yeah um my question as we as we um come to conclusion or if anybody has any more questions or maybe you have more questions for us uh one of my questions that I had would be um if if you're chosen to move forward with this when could your uh tend to start date be I could start Mond day okay thank you um and then just reviewing your contract uh underneath the termination Clause um you know this is acknowledging we've discussed hours to be here minimum 3 days a week being getting the job done you know yield to you on making sure that the jobs are getting done I just want to reiterate that uh this contract is is between between the city and and yourself Lake class of advisers and that it would end upon the hiring of a successful permanent full-time administrator um or if you want to um remove yourself you'd give us a 30-day notice for that that's correct in this termination languages I see yeah perfect okay that was the intent I there's you know it's just not clear in that paragraph is why I brought it up because it doesn't there's some language missing so it doesn't flow like it should but I was so I wasn't sure if you wanted like a 30-day notice like if we found a new interim City administrator just transition out or if you were looking for just if we found somebody you can be done well this is one of the few interim stance that I've done where I've even had a contract most of them have been without contracts it's been a handshake it's been if you're happy with me and I'm happy with you we continue on if if neither one of us or either one of us is not happy we're gone and we don't have to go through the 30 days and all that kind of stuff I I don't see any advantage to sticking around for 30 days when you're not happy and I'm not happy so you know I I think there's some working back and forth and I was asked for a copy of that contract more than it Michael asked me for the for the contract and I provided it with you you can mess with that in any way you want to I I don't uh I'm not zeroed in on this is the way it has to be I I'm I can work through those issues and and uh I don't have any problem with getting halfway through and say hey we have to we'd like to review it and change it I I don't have any problem with that either um sometimes I think these relationships become so form that you can't work with them anymore and I really don't want to be in that position no sense I I if if you or your attorney wants to work something different I'm I'm happy to do that and this is the contract just to clarify too that Cross Lake approved yes yep I think it's signed by the mayor and the city clerk if I'm not mistaken and they were the ones that prepared that I I didn't even prepare that so it just if we don't want the 30-day notice in there at all then we can just have that removed it's really the only part that just is confusing so and if he doesn't if we don't need it and we just want to be terminate at will or we can terminate our relationship with him you know it's just Mutual then we don't need to have a 30-day notice in would that include then let's just say we did hire somebody wouldn't it make sense for him to work with that person to get them on boarded so not just ending the contract which at the time that we offer we could certainly ask and and that was one thing that and again we can dive deeper into that as a new administrator is going to be on boarded but is there a transition period should they should Jerry stay here first those things will be worked out later on on in that um so we may not want to tie it to the hiring of a new maybe maybe I could comment on that to well my biggest thing and before it was more or less that Jerry knows he's we're asking him to stay until we get a full-time administ that is our ask which that time frame is a variable right until we find a right candidate so I just want to ensure that you can be here for 3 to 6 months pending our yeah replacement that's that was my more concern of making sure again you've been here for 12 years but communicating right that was part time um no I um I have done these interim stints where the new person walks in the door and I walk out the door and there's no it's and I've I've done them where I've stuck around for two weeks to to help out through the transition and and you know just kind of back to phone calls and and that type of thing it's it all depends upon the people that the person that you get to fill that full-time position and and what what they want for help and that's variable every every person is different some have more experience than others some have uh very little experience I um I was encouraged that in Cross Lake they found a a pretty decent pool of people that I haven't seen for a long time um but uh it there's so many variables and that that's why I get really I don't want to get hung up on 30 days or 24 days or whatever it is I think we can work through that and work well and in reality if you if you read that verbage and and yield to you but in the event the contract is being terminated by the intern City administrator so he's wanting out a he'll give us a 30-day Clause to say in 30 days I'd one right but I heard him say he doesn't even need so I'm I'm suggesting we just strike that last sentence from the contract and if we move forward and um and at will what's it at will I think we just have to revise that last whole last paragraph or just remove it entirely because it just doesn't make sense I guess I'll defer to I mean we can work it out after this I don't think it's that yeah I'll let her take care of that handshake will work for me at the beginning it already says it's going to start on X date which could be Monday and ends at such time date and time agreed upon by the parties like maybe that's all we need sure and just strike the last that whole termination section I don't think we need it based on relationship with you Jerry I think like you said we can work things you know I feel more comfortable with not having the the formality yeah that's fine by me yep I'm fine with that so we're going to strike that last paragraph yeah okay um do you have any other further questions for us where's Bushman at open right over here I it uh Bushman uh you know I I could we lean on you Joe for sure that full um we'll have open house next week I believe believe the final plans are 70 80% done um we're navigating through the rightaway acquisition process um it's not complete um and then the plan last discussion the budget the funds are not allocated for the project um it should be ready to go out for bid everything goes correctly January how you planing on financing it to be determined it'll be it in conjunction I think with City Hall cuz we um did not do anything with bonding um yet we have 18 months so I think it's going to be very much similar with Bushman how we decide how what percentage or what percentage of bonding or cash are we going to pay for either one of them so that's to be determined so you're still into that deliberations about that that's which we'd lean on you for yeah I think we have are easy finalize the bush Pro in January to Bushman though there's the city's Capital Improvement plan you know for each department so that needs to be discussed again you know we need to finalize that as part of the budget process um Street CIP will be presented at the December meeting as well um by Wess so you know there's several projects that uh are coming due for decisions well I I know past councils have been very reluctant to borrow and it almost seems like there's there's borrowing in in your future yeah I don't know if we can get around it if we do something like Bushmen you know and that's those are those are the reasons you guys get the big bux to make those decisions any other questions that we can answer at this time no I I think I'm I've asked enough all right any other additional questions of Jerry from the council none for me all right well thank you Jerry I guess you can go back there if you want and um our next item on on our agenda then is deliberation and decision on this um we've all kind of talked about uh the contract here again this was a uh copy it's been modified proved for us but it was given to us from what the Cross Lake was given um and signed off on um for that and so this was modified um just to take out and put in Breezy Point uh we've talked about removing the termination uh Clause um which we can either leave that subcategory and just say Jerry is at at will and that way it's there um we've discussed that uh his start date could be as soon as Monday um again go back to where we're at we we were given a list of potential candidates we've reached out to a number of them um we uh asked for if anybody else knew on the Council of any additional candidates that could be brought forth um we have Jerry's resume and application in front of us the contract so at this point does anybody want to make a motion I'll make a motion to approve the hiring of Jerry as interim City administrator to start on Monday to start on Monday and if we have to vote on it a vote a motion also to remove that in that same motion to remove that last paragraph of the contract termination I don't think it's needed I would second that any other discussion all in favor say I I I opposed motion carries well welcome to Breezy Point again welcome back all right um I have a motion to adjourn so move second any discussion all those in favor say I I I opposed motion carries