Jeremy Germann

It’s not clear how much, but the cost of investigations involving two Wells city employees has increased.

On Tuesday, council members approved a list of bills that included one from City Attorney David Frundt for the amount of $8,774.

When asked, City Administrator Jeremy Germann wasn’t sure how much Frundt billed the city for time spent reviewing a report involving allegations against a former street department employee and police officer.

Germann says Frundt also gave the council updates during closed-sessions at regular meetings.

“It’s for work done above and beyond the monthly retainer,” he says. “It also involves work on pending litigation.”

Under an annual contract, Frundt is paid a monthly retainer fee of $1,000. The agreement also allows for extra pay at $130 an hour for additional services provided, such as work on personnel matters.

Setter & Associates of Brooklyn Park charged the city $, for their services and The Data Recovery Guy submitted a bill for $1,552.

The five-month investigations involved written complaints against Police Chief Jim Ratelle and former Street Department supervisor Rick LaVallie.

To read more of this story, see this week’s Register.