By Sara QuamJust after the new Luverne City Council members and Mayor were sworn in, the council approved a motion made by Esther Frakes to pay Rock County the entire amount for contract law enforcement for 2005 — $499,447.Frakes pointed out that the previous council approved the law enforcement contract and the council should abide by it.Councilman Maynard LaFrenz said, "A contract’s a contract and it should be honored."The contract calls for payment by Jan. 15.The council also approved payment of one quarter of the dispatch costs, or $43,500. The council said it hopes to negotiate both contracts.The city is still under contract for law enforcement from Rock County but has terminated the contract effective Dec. 31, 2005.The city is no longer in a joint powers agreement for dispatching and record keeping services through the county, but the dispatch payment is a good-faith attempt to open the door to reaching a new agreement.Frakes said, "We are in a position where we want to extend to the county a message that we want to negotiate."The city will amend the budget to reflect these changes.Goodbye to some council and mayorOutgoing mayor and council members received a plaque from the city, acknowledging their four years of service.City Administrator Greg LaFond said, "The city has been fortunate to have had three individuals as committed to the betterment and best interest of the city as these three."LaFond said about Councilman David Hauge, "He is a well-read individual, who always knew the materials — the voluminous amount of materials that he received from the city." LaFond said city staff appreciated the amount of time he spent in City Hall and with people getting to know the issues.LaFond said Councilman Tom Martius was well-respected as a champion of the average person. People came to Martius with concerns and he always brought them to city staff or to the council.To outgoing Mayor Glen Gust, LaFond said, "I never cease to be amazed at your willingness to pick up the phone and call whoever needs to be called. You always believed in this city and what it was doing."LaFond said it was worth noting that even though his time of service was ending, just Tuesday morning Gust was checking in with LaFond on working with a business expansion.He said the mayor’s key phrase, "Keep Luverne moving forward" will be remembered.Gust said he came to the council totally "green" to politics. He said, "I think the biggest thing I learned was to keep my mouth shut."Gust said he enjoyed his time with the city and that his "challenge to the new council is to keep moving Luverne forward."Gust said, "Good luck and serve your city with pride."Hauge said, "It has been an honor to serve Luverne and it was an honor to serve with these people. … I learned that how you perceive things on the outside is different from what you see on the inside."
