One of the items on the agenda for the Jan. 22 meeting of the Wells City Council was to fill the position of the Community Development director, a position which was formally held by new city administrator, Tiffany Schrader.

“I’ll be honest, I thought I would be able to keep up with more of the duties of the Community Development director for a while once I began working as the city administrator,” Schrader offered. “But, it is taking more time than I thought it would.”

Schrader had two proposals for the council to consider to handle the duties of her former job.

“One is a proposal from CEDA (Community and Economic Development Associates). I know some of you on the council are familiar with CEDA and they have provided many different options for us to choose from to fit our needs,” Schrader explained. “I was also contacted by Rick Almich, who retired as the city administrator of Le Sueur in 2014 after serving in that position for 29 years.”

The proposal from CEDA that Schrader recommended the council consider was a three day per week contract at an annual cost of $69,120.

“Mr. Almich’s proposal was for 16-20 hours per week at a cost of $65 per hour plus mileage,” Schrader said. “He would not charge for time spent on the road.”

Schrader stated she felt either option could work but was leaning a little more towards the offer from CEDA.

Council member John Herman spoke in favor of hiring CEDA.

“They have a lot of resources. If we need help writing a grant, they have people who are good at that,” Herman commented. “If someone isn’t working out, they will bring someone else in.”

By a unanimous vote, the council voted to sign a three-day-per-week contract with CEDA.

The council also revisited the topic of making improvements at the Flame Theatre.

“We had considered a proposal some time ago but took no action because we hadn’t budgeted any money for it,” Schrader said while presenting an updated quote. “Connor (former city administrator Connor LaPointe) included $20,500 in this year’s budget for improvements at the theatre and I was happy that the increase from the last proposal to the updated one was not very much.”

The proposal, which was from Heartland Theatre Services, LLC, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, has a total cost of $23,287. The quoted price includes a new screen, new sound processor, new subwoofer, a new amp, a new digital server and includes all of the necessary cables and installation as well as six months for free service.

“This will result in a clearer picture and better sound,” Schrader told the council. “The picture quality has been brought to our attention by the public and the sound system is incredibly old. The new system is also supposed to easier to operate.”

The council approved the proposal for the improvements at the theatre.

City engineer Ben Rosol was at the meeting and mentioned his desire to televise a couple of more sewer lines which were not originally scheduled to be done. Rosol said the cost would be $2,500 and the council approved his request.

Rosol also presented three options to the council for the installation of new lights along Highway 22 from 12th Street SW to south of Third Street NE and along Highway 109 from Half Moon Road to Second Avenue NW.

“This proposal closely aligns with MnDOT’s (Minnesota Department of Transportation) project limits occurring in 2026 and 2027,” Rosol said. “Any new lighting which will take place on Highways 22 and 109 will need to be designed and installed to meet the MnDOT lighting design manual.

The first option utilized MnDOT’s standard lighting with spacing at 200 feet on Highway 109 and at 180 feet on Highway 22.

“The spacing is closer on Highway 22 because of its wider width and turning lanes,” Rosol explained.

The second option included the same spacing between lights but used a decorative fixture.

“The first option with the standard fixtures has a cost of $489,000 while the second option with the decorative fixtures would cost $681,000,” Rosol commented. “Keep in mind that MnDOT can participate in lighting costs up to 50 percent, to a maximum of $50,000. The city would also have the aesthetic budget to utilize for lighting if chosen. The aesthetic budget is two percent of MnDOT’s construction costs and is currently estimated to be $160,000.”

The third option was for the decorative light with an additional pedestrian light and would cost $1,398,000. This option was dismissed by the council as being too costly.

“There is no rush to make a decision and I am not the expert on lighting,” Rosol said. “If there are further questions about the lighting proposals, I can get someone here who would be able to answer them.”

Schrader shared with the council members that she did not have a formal report to present to them.

“I am just getting settled in,” she commented. “My plan will be to be in the office by 8 a.m. and be there until 4:30 p.m.”

The council did hear from one resident during the public comment portion of the meeting.

“My name is Sandy Schindler and as you can see by my outfit, I am an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician),” she informed the council members. “My concern is that the perimeter streets of the city were not kept passable during the last winter storm. If my husband would not have personally cleaned the road, I would not have been able to make it to the station if I had received a call. It appears it was just the streets on the outside perimeter of the city that were not plowed and I just wanted to call it to your attention.”

The City Council also went into closed session to discuss the sale of an odd-shaped piece of land located near the city’s water-treatment ponds. However, no action was taken on the matter at this time.

The council also:

• Passed a resolution to appoint election judges for this year.

• Approved a resolution addressing the counting and reporting of write-in votes. (This was done at the suggestion of the city’s attorney.)