BRAINERD – Brainerd officials have an ambitious schedule ahead of them in the search for a new city manager, but it’s necessary if they want someone in place by early March.
Interim City Manager Patrick Wussow, who took over after the resignation of Jennifer Bergman earlier this month, is hired to serve until Feb. 28 at the latest.
The City contracted with GMP Consultants to find a replacement for Bergman, who served as administrator beginning in January 2020. The consultants are busy working with stakeholders to create a position profile before seeking candidates. They plan to narrow down a pool of semifinalists in mid-January.
Council members agreed Monday, Nov. 20, to schedule a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 16 to review the semi-finalists and choose candidates to move on to the final round of interviews. These interviews will take place on January 29, although specific times will not be chosen until closer to the date.
These meetings and interviews are open to the public.
In other business on November 20, the council:
Promoted Allyson Timmons in charge of police records management, effective Nov. 21, placing her at Step 4 on the city’s pay scale, making $27.72 an hour.
Resignation accepted of Taylor Lokhorst as a street maintenance worker, effective Dec. 5, and authorized personnel to begin the hiring process to fill the position.
Agreement approved with CliftonLarsonAllen for 2023 audit services at a cost of $56,175.
Agree to act as a sponsoring agency for an Alternative Transportation Grant from the Federal Highway Administration to fund the 210 Freeway/Lum Park Pedestrian Bridge Project, and to assume maintenance responsibilities for funded facilities. Because the trail would be part of the state trail system, staff said the Department of Natural Resources would likely assume responsibility for the trail.
An offer has been accepted of Tom’s Backhoe for the ravine repair project in the Buffalo Hills neighborhood. The bid reached $870,113.10 and was the lowest received. The city received $905,000 in grants from the Minnesota Land and Water Resources Board for the project.
An offer has been accepted from Landsburg Landscape Nursery for 2024 downtown landscaping services in the amount of $9,878.88.
A variation has been approved and amendment of the conditional use permit for the property at 1202 S. Sixth St., which will be the site of an ice and water vending machine.
A public hearing has been scheduled for a South Brainerd reconstruction project for Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m. The project includes work on portions of the following streets: South Seventh, Tamarac, Sycamore, Rosewood, Vine, Todd, Paul, Paul Circle, South Eighth and Madison.
THERESA BOURKE can be contacted at
theresa.bourke@brainerddispatch.com
or 218-855-5860. Follow her on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/DispatchTheresa
.
Theresa Bourke began working at the Dispatch in July 2018, covering Brainerd city government and area education, including Brainerd Public Schools and Central Lakes College.
