By Sara Strong
Before two outgoing Luverne City Council members said their last round of ayes or nays, they failed to get a salary increase for City Administrator Matt Hylen.
Councilman Jim Kirchhofer made a motion to override Mayor Glen Gust’s decision and increase Hylen’s salary by 4 percent.
Hylen hasn’t received much of a raise for two years, earning $75,545 a year on contract in 2002. His contract for the previous year was $74,651.
The mayor was given the authority by the council to negotiate the city administrator’s salary and set it without further council approval.
Councilman Keith Erickson seconded the motion, saying Hylen’s performance goals were met and that his job evaluations were positive, so a raise similar to other city employees was warranted.
"My suggestion, quite bluntly," Erickson said, "is that there’s something more than performance at issue here."
Mayor Glen Gust suggested that the salary issue should be one the new council takes on, since the outgoing council members were at the end of their terms after a short special meeting.
Assistant City Attorney Jeff Haubrich said that since the old council was meeting as part of a special meeting, it probably shouldn’t add items to the agenda.
Gust declared the motion and second out of order and the meeting ended.
The City Council sets regular union employees salaries and 11 managers at a 4 percent increase for 2003. Those salaries got the approval of the council.
New council
After an invocation from the Rev. Dell Sanderson, new council members Pat Baustian and Bob Kaczrowski participated in their first meeting.
The council elected Tom Martius as acting mayor, who leads the council meetings in the absence of Gust. Martius and David Hauge were eligible for the position, as the two senior-most councilmen.
In other business Tuesday, the council:
Designated the Rock County Star Herald as its official newspaper to carry city legal notices and publications.
Heard from Betty Mann, president of the Rock County Historical Society, about the barn recently moved to the fairgrounds to serve as an agriculture history museum.
The city disconnected electrical lines for the barn to be safely moved on site and didn’t charge the Historical Society for the work. Mann thanked the city.
Heard a request from the Southwest Minnesota Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The group is soliciting members to represent Rock County on the board and asked the City Council to help suggest good candidates. Interested people should contact City Hall.
Voted to subsidize the electric use of $2,100 for the Senior Center.
Approved citizen appointments to various city boards and committees. They are: David Paquette (reappointment) to the Airport Board; Mike Jarchow (replacing Robert Dorn) and Bill Ketterling (reappointment) to the Board of Appeals and Adjustments; Mike Jarchow (replacing Dorn) to the Planning Commission; Nancy Frakes (replacing Joyce Bennett) to the Library Board, and Larry Wills (reappointment) to the Luverne Economic Development Authority.
The city still has one vacancy to fill on the Airport Board.