Current Wells Community Development director, Tiffany Schrader, above, was hired as the new city administrator for the city of Wells. Current city administrator Connor LaPointe’s last day is Jan. 12, 2024 and Schrader will begin her work as administrator three days later on Jan. 15.

It did not take long for the Wells City Council to find a replacement for outgoing city administrator Connor LaPointe.

At their City Council meeting on Monday night, Dec. 11, the council voted to offer the position to current Community Development director, Tiffany Schrader. The next day Schrader announced that she was accepting the council’s offer to become the new city administrator for the city of Wells.

LaPointe’s resignation takes effect on Jan. 12 of next year and Schrader’s first day on the job will be three days later on Jan. 15.

Schrader was one of the persons who took over some of the city administrator’s duties while the position was vacant before LaPointe was hired just over two years ago.

The council had considered a proposal from South Central Service Cooperative for the process of hiring a new administrator and LaPointe had reached out to the second-choice candidate from the last round of hiring but that person declined. LaPointe then recommended Schrader be promoted to the city administrator position.

Mathew Thibert of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) was at the meeting to give a municipal consent presentation to the council regarding the Highway 109/22 project.

“The municipal consent process was triggered because of the state acquiring some additional right-of-way from the city,” Thibert explained. “A packet will be submitted to the city which shows the areas to be acquired with preliminary cost estimates. Once the packet is received by the city, they have 15 days to schedule (not hold) a public hearing which requires a 30-day notice and has to be held within 60 days of receiving the packet.”

Thibert provided a rough timeline for the project with bid letting happening in the Fall of 2025 and construction beginning in 2026 and continuing into 2027.

Council members raised concerns about traffic flow on Highway 22 during the winter.

“Our goal is that there will be no detours during the winter months,” Thibert replied.

During the public comment portion of the meeting the council heard from a citizen about the stray cat problem in the city.

“I believe the cats are breeding and the situation is getting out of control,” the man said. “With the facility in Blue Earth currently closed, I think we need to look for a place to keep these animals.”

Council members discussed the possibility of using buildings currently owned by the city but could not come up with any good options at this time.

Action was also taken by the City Council to adopt a number of resolutions including adopting the 2024 Fee Schedule which saw no changes from the previous year. The council also passed a resolution authorizing MnDOT to execute a Transportation Grant agreement for improvements at the Wells Municipal Airport.

“This is for the turf rehabilitation of the airport runway,” LaPointe explained. “The total cost is $18,500 with MnDOT covering all but $925 of that cost, which will be paid by the city.”

Other action taken by the council included:

• Approving a personnel policy to replace the one that had been in place since 2007.

• Approving liquor licenses for Wells American Legion Post 210 and Wells VFW Post 1778.

• Voting to renew the tobacco licenses for Wells Municipal Liquor Store, Wells Marketplace Foods, Casey’s General Store, Dollar General and Wells VFW Post 1778.

• Voted to appoint Brad Heggen to the Tri-City Sewer Board. Heggen will replace Charles Schulenberg following Schulenberg’s resignation from the board.