The Wells City Council discussed and passed an ordinance that will add the Wells Public Library Board to the City Code that covers boards and commissions.

The city of Wells is very close to having a new Public Works supervisor, but there is one ‘little’ item left – a signed contract.

At the Wells City Council meeting held this past Monday night, Aug. 25, the council heard that a final candidate had been selected by the Personnel Committee and they were recommending that he be hired. That person is Adam Schroeder.

The position had been posted for weeks and the Personnel Committee had conducted several interviews.

City administrator Tiffany Schrader said that the position had been offered to Schroeder, pending approval by the council, and that he could start on the job on Monday, Sept. 8.

“I have been in contact with the city attorney regarding creating a contract with Mr. Schroeder,” the city administrator reported. “This contract has not yet been completed, and I am still waiting for the first draft.”

Once completed she said she will bring it to the next council meeting, which is on Sept. 8, for the council’s approval.

This past Monday the council formally voted to approve the hiring of Adam Schroeder as Public Works supervisor with a start date of Sept. 8, and to authorize the city administrator to work with the city attorney to prepare and execute an employment contract with Adam Schroeder based on the recommendations of the Personnel Committee.

The vote was unanimous, except for council member John Herman who abstained, as Schroeder is his son-in-law.

The majority of the one-hour meeting was spent dealing with review and discussion on several proposed city ordinances most of which would make changes to the City Code.

The first ordinance to be discussed had to do with amending the Wells City Code that had to do with building permits.

It was the second reading of the ordinance, which was described as “adding more teeth” to the building permits themselves. Those items included setting a length of time on the permits, and a fee enforcement.

The council voted to now have a Public Hearing on the ordinance which will be held as part of the council meeting on Sept. 8.

The next ordinance up for discussion dealt with amending the City Code as far as parking and storage of certain recreational vehicles.

This one generated lots of discussion dealing with things such as width of vehicles, parking on streets, parking on certain surfaces on private property (concrete, asphalt and gravel) and whether they can be occupied.

The biggest discussion came about with whether they can park in the downtown business district, and what exactly does the business district encompass.

This was the second version of this ordinance, and the council decided to have some changes made and a version three available at the next meeting.

The next two ordinances had to do with changes to the city’s established fire calls fees, and another one for all of the city’s fees and charges for a wide variety of items.

There were a few questions on it, but both were approved by resolution and will now be published in the local newspaper.

The final ordinance the council looked at was one related to establishing a library board for the Wells Library.

In a memo to the council from city administrator Schrader and city attorney Pamela Whitmore, the two pointed out that Chapter 31 of the City Code covers departments, boards and commissions of the city of Wells, but it does not include the Library Board.

“This ordinance would include the Library Board for consistency and accuracy,” the memo reads. “It would benefit the city to include the Library Board in this area of the City Code providing an official reference that authorizes the board and describes their role and responsibilities.”

Among other things, it establishes the board as consisting of five members who would serve up to three, three-year terms.

In other business, the board had a brief discussion on the 2025 Budget, which is still being created. Ideas included having funds for doing something about blighted houses in the city and doing roof inspections of city owned buildings.

Another area was the fact that most of the city employee contracts are up for renewal this next year, so changes in wages could affect the budget.