By Jolene Farley
Hills City Council members Dana Dahlquist and Wendell Bengtson faced a tough decision Thursday evening when they voted on a replacement for former mayor George Langford.
The city published an ad soliciting interested mayoral candidates, but the only response came from council members Jim Jellema and Arlen Leenderts.
Jellema and Leenderts abstained from the vote leaving council members Dana Dahlquist and Wendell Bengtson to decide.
City Clerk Connie Wiertzema assured the council that according to the rules of the League of Minnesota Cities, the council could establish a quorum with only two voting members as long as Jellema and Leenderts abstained.
Bengtson was the first to cast his vote. He thanked Jellema and Leenderts for their interest in the mayor seat.
"I would rather have the problem of having to decide which one of you two I was interested in," he said. "I had difficulty deciding where I was going to come to roost."
Bengtson went on to say he was impressed with the way Jellema had handled his duties as mayor pro-tem after Langford's resignation.
"I would like to see Jim appointed understanding the fact that Arlen is equally qualified," he said.
Then it was Dahlquist's turn to vote. "I appreciate both of you, and I think both of you would do a good job," he said to Jellema and Leenderts. "But as long as Jim is pro-term I think he should have the job."
A resolution was adopted appointing Jim Jellema mayor.
The council then had to vote on the candidates for Jellema's vacated seat on the council. Linus Svoboda and Keith Elbers responded to the city's ad asking for interested council candidates.
"Considering the fact Linus has been at every meeting and he was up for election," said Dahlquist, "I would nominate Linus for council member."
After thanking Svoboda for his continuing interest in the city, a resolution was passed naming Svoboda as council member.
With two years remaining on a three-year term, Langford announced his intentions to move to Luverne after the sale of his home in Hills.
He submitted a letter dated Dec. 28, 2001, to the council tendering his resignation effective Jan. 1, 2002. Langford's resignation was accepted at JanuaryÕs meeting.
In other business:
The council negotiated with Martin Township representatives on fire protection contracts. The Hills fire department provides protection for 19 sections of Martin Township and the city of Steen.
Township fees increased from $300 per section to $350 per section and protection for the city of Steen was increased from $2,000 to $2,300.
To justify the increase, the council explained that operating costs keep increasing, and the fire hall, built in 1981, needs new garage doors and will soon need a new roof.
The United States Post Office has again contacted Wiertzema about renting space in the City Hall building.
The council published an ad offering the space for rent after correspondence from the post office indicated fiscal difficulties caused a nation-wide freeze on construction. No other parties are currently interested in renting the space.
An architect retained by the post office took pictures and measurements of the space on Feb. 12, according to Wiertzema.
The council decided to continue with a plan to randomly sample water meter readings in Hills. Customers currently read their own meters and send the figures to the city.