By Jolene Farley
Hills City Council members accepted the resignation of Mayor George Langford at their meeting Tuesday evening. A letter received by the council dated Dec. 28, 2001, tendered the resignation effective Jan. 1, 2002.
"It's been a pleasure to serve the city of Hills," Langford wrote in the letter.
"We are going to miss George," said Jim Jellema, acting mayor pro tem. "George was a good mayor."
Langford notified the council at December's meeting of his intention to move to Luverne after the sale of his home in Hills, but at that meeting he said he would remain mayor as long as possible.
When the council discussed finding a replacement for Langford, Jellema suggested publishing an ad soliciting interested mayoral candidates.
A list of interested parties would allow the council to fill the mayor's seat or a council seat if it was determined a current council member would be appointed as mayor.
"If there are any interested parties out there," Jellema said, "it gives them 30 days to step up and say, 'Hey, I'm interested.'"
Any appointment would be in effect until the next general election in November.
In other board business:
The City of Hills will begin random checks of water usage every month. The city currently relies on residents to read their own meters.
The council voted on a two-year refuse collection contract with Town and Country Disposal. In the contract, rates increased from $3.75 per household with $1.75 additional for recyclables to $4 per household with $2 additional for recyclables. The last price increase for the city was in 1996.
The following were appointed for 2002: Jim Jellema, mayor pro tem; Doug Chapman, civil defense director; Steve Fagerness, weed inspector; Exchange State Bank, official bank; Dr. Diane Kennedy, health officer; Doug Eisma, city attorney; Joanne Goehle, EDA treasurer; Connie Wiertzema, EDA secretary.
The appointments of EDA president and EDA vice-president were left open until the mayor or council seat is filled.