City seeks 'fair and equitable' contracts

By Sara StrongThe Luverne City Council again crunched numbers in review of contract law and dispatching.City Administrator Greg LaFond called it a process that "seeks to negotiate fair and equitable contracts and treatment."Some negative public comments toward the city’s actions haven’t been communicated to the council or LaFond personally."I’ve not received one call or visit from a citizen in opposition to what’s been done so far," LaFond said."And if I’m called ‘gung-ho,’ it’s a compliment. … I am gung-ho to the ultimate when it’s protecting city taxpayers."At the center of the council’s discussion is the notion that city residents are paying twice for some county services; first as city taxpayers and then as county taxpayers.Law enforcement, for example, costs the city $447,486 in direct contract costs, which is half the department’s budget. Then, city residents pay 20 percent of the county’s half of the law enforcement budget.Luverne says that other county residents aren’t charged the same "premium tax" that city residents are.The county says the premium services the city expects come with higher costs.Council members want it made clear that although they have terminated the dispatch agreement, it was just to ensure it wouldn’t continue through 2005 without resolved negotiations. The existing joint powers agreement requires notice of termination at least 12 months in advance of the actual termination. The county said it would have negotiated the contract without termination, and would have let the city out of it, if no settlement was reached.The county claims that the city’s actions show no "good faith" in its previous relationships.LaFond said, "We want to cooperate, but we want to have a legitimate discussion."The city maintains that it is just operating within the rules of the contract and that the county could have held it to the agreement through 2005.Councilman David Hauge said, "We don’t always agree as a council, but we always try to discuss and come to decisions that are the best for the city."In other business Tuesday, the council:
Approved an ordinance allowing crematoriums as conditional uses in residential-institutional zones. To get one, a company would still have to go through the process of applying for a conditional use permit.
Designated the Rock County Star Herald as the city’s official newspaper.
Approved committee appointments, including Steve Perkins for the Airport Board and Isaac DeBoer on the Economic Development Authority.
Changed the final meeting time of the month to 5 p.m., like the two first meetings of the month. Previously, this had been 7 p.m.