Other business discussed at the Feb. 28 Wells City Council meeting concerned the Wells Liquor Depot, pictured above.

The Wells City Council met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m.

Due to the recent resignation of previous council member Jessica Mortenson, the council was short its usual four members.

One of the more pressing agenda items constituted taking measures to fill Mortenson’s vacant position.

The appointee would be selected to fill Mortenson’s remaining term until City Council elections are held in November.

Though the council did not adjourn with a replacement council member in place, they did depart with a plan for selecting a candidate.

Upon the start of the Feb. 28 meeting, four candidates had applied for the vacant position on the council.

The first candidate was Donn Browne, who has been active in Wells’ surrounding area for over 10 years. He is a member of the Wells Planning and Zoning commission and an officer of the Wells Rifle & Pistol Association.

Crystal Dulas, a native of Wells, also applied for the vacant position. Dulas served on the Wells City Council from 2017 to 2020. She also has experience on Wells’ Economic Development Authority (EDA), its Housing and Redevelopment Authority and its Chamber of Commerce.

Josh Raimann, who has resided in Wells for 37 years, applied for the vacant council position fresh off of a recent appointment to Wells’ EDA board.

The final applicant, Bill Schuster, a seven-year resident of Wells, would bring experience from serving on a school board in Australia.

Council member John Herman was first to put forward his opinion regarding the best candidate for the position.

“My personal preference is to go with Crystal (Dulas),” Herman said. “She’s fresh off the council and she’s got experience.” 

Wells mayor David Braun agreed with Herman, adding given some sizeable road improvement projects slated for 2023, Dulas’ experience could be a significant asset throughout the next few months.

Council member Nancy Kruger acknowledged Dulas’ previous experience, but identified Browne as her preferred candidate.

“I’m leaning towards Donn (Browne) because he had experience before Wells,” Kruger explained.

“I understand he’s planning on running again in November,” she added, noting she would like to install a candidate who has lots of time to dedicate to the position.

Council member Brenda Weber agreed with Kruger’s observations, also noting Browne’s experience and willingness to run for election next November.

City administrator Connor LaPointe suggested several routes through which the council could select one of the four candidates.

If the council wished to select a candidate right away, LaPointe said they could conduct three rounds of motions, giving Braun the tiebreaker vote as mayor if a consensus still had not been reached following the third vote.

“If I had a little more time, I could set up a rank choice system,” LaPointe added, explaining the procedure would allow each council member to vote independently in two rounds of voting. After the first round, only the candidates with the highest number of votes would move on to the second round.

After some discussion, the council agreed they would prefer to use the ranked choice system, adding they will flip a coin if there is a tie after the second round of votes. They passed a motion to proceed with the voting procedure.

In other business, the Wells City Council: 

• Considered recommendations from Wells Liquor Depot coordinator Scott Berg regarding needed improvements for the liquor store.

Berg first requested the council’s permission to begin preliminary research on the purchase of a new cooler to hold additional inventory.

Berg explained the cooler’s estimated cost of $6,000 could be funded by lottery commissions. The store currently has roughly $15,000 in funds from lottery sales.

The council unanimously passed a motion approving Berg to pursue the purchase of a new cooler.

Berg also suggested Wells Liquor Depot part-time staff are underpaid with wages of $10.50 an hour, and requested their wages be increased by one dollar an hour.

The council asked LaPointe to refer the recommendation to Wells’ personnel committee for review.

• Appointed Raimann to the Wells EDA via a unanimous vote.

• Was reminded of an upcoming County Commission hearing on March 28 regarding the management of Ditch 87.

• Accepted the resignation of Mike “Moose” Johnson from the Wells Police Department.

• Unanimously passed a motion to vacate an alleyway on 12th Street in Wells.

• Unanimously approved an ordinance regarding burning regulations, which clarified open burning of leaves or grass clippings is permitted within city limits between the dates of Oct. 1 and Dec. 1.

• Unanimously approved an ordinance amending rental inspection requirements.

“Instead of doing rental inspection every year, if you pass a rental inspection you won’t have to do one for the next two years,” LaPointe explained.

“It will give landlords an incentive to develop property, buy buildings, and rent out units,” he added.