Call to Order

A meeting of the City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan was convened in open and public session at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

Council Member Scheid delivered the invocation.

The Mayor led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The City Clerk took the roll call:

Members Present:        Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.

Members Absent:        None.

Approval of Agenda

Council Member Scheid made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, supported by Council Member Jones.

The question on the motion was called and the result of the voting is as follows:

            Ayes:               Council Members Feuerstein, Scheid, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.

            Nays:               None.

The Mayor called for Public Comments.

There were no public comments.

Consent Agenda

Reports by Council Liaisons

Council Member Jones stated he missed the council meeting two weeks ago and apologized as he was very sick.  The Recreation Advisory Board meets tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.  They will talk about a possible dog park and skateboard plans.  Anyone is welcome to come to the meeting at city hall in the main floor meeting room.  He doesn’t know if the clock tower committee has had a meeting since January.  He thanked the city, Kareen and the manager for getting the modesty curtain for the council table.  Council members received name tags.    

Council Member Feuerstein had no comments. 

Council Member Scheid stated the Housing Commission is meeting on Thursday night.

Council Member Lallo stated he attended a brief Labor Day committee meeting.  They are still finalizing things, but it is looking good.

Mayor Gunderson stated there would be a Library Board meeting on March 24, 2014 at 5 p.m.

New Business

Public Comments

Craig Gill, owner of Short Stop Power Sports, 240 Covered Village Mall, stated there were statements made by the city manager at a couple of public meetings discussing that the mall was closing by July, 2014.  On behalf of himself and the owners at the mall, it has brought a lot of concern, not only to customers that come to their businesses, but it has also reached the school newsletter.  It has created a lot of issues in the community. It still is.  They are still answering a lot of questions.  He had a brief discussion with Mayor Gunderson.  He also, after the last DDA meeting on March 6, confronted the city manager and attempted to get an answer about this and the comment was made that she did not make the comment.  She said it may close.  She also denied the comments about him personally, as far as him resigning from the mall board as mall president.  In the DDA minutes, it discussed his moving and closing his business.  He takes that very personal as any discussion publically about the mall, being the mall president, is something that should come from him.  He feels if a city representative is going to make some type of public discussion, he should have been asked questions and was not.  His bigger concern is the denial and the city manager making the comment that there were improper notes being taken as far as the DDA meeting.  He is quite concerned that these kinds of comments take place and no apology has been made and nothing has been done.  But there was a lot of denial.  It has created a lot of issues.  There are properties at the mall that are for sale and that could hamper those sales. It is definitely affecting businesses there and they are seeing less traffic.  Another concern, was the Rivertown Bike Week that is coming.  Craig Crebessa asked him about that and was very concerned because of everything that is going forward.  Again, he explained to him that the comments were not true.

Craig Crebessa, 8079 Storey Rd., volunteer with the Belding Chamber of Commerce, Vice President currently, stated he was here as a concerned citizen, a business owner within the community and is here to support and elaborate on Mr. Gill’s statements and a few other incidents from his personal experiences with current City Manager Meg Mullendore that have taken place in the last couple of months.  He referenced some quotes from her open interview on March 14, 2013.  He stated they were Meg Mullendore’s statements.  To go back to Mr. Gill’s statement he had made, that is true.  Meg was at a January 2014 chamber meeting and had made statements before that Craig Gill would resign from the board and was basically folding up and heading south and maybe the mall would be closing by July.  He was concerned.  He has been working with Mr. Gill regarding Rivertown Bike Week.  He was surprised that he did not contact him in advance and let him know about this.  He did visit Mr. Gill a day or two later and asked him about it.  He said he actually did not make any statements to the city manager in regards to this.  He just followed up on what she had said at the meeting and to let him know, so he had the correct information.  From that point, as they started to look into it and were trying to figure out where the information came from, he believes it may have come from a gentleman in the mall who does not attend any board meetings or is not a board member.  In fact in her interview, under skilled business relations, she says as a business owner, they wish to have validation for concerns and specifics.  She does the research to get the correct answer.  So basically, as he looks at the situation, she never did seek the correct information regarding the mall that she heard from somebody, she just went ahead and started making statements throughout the community. It was devastating in some senses to some of the business owners.  That is the statement from her interview.  He would like to reflect on another incident that happened back in December in another chamber meeting.  Himself, Mike Verdun, Patty Donovan and Meg Mullendore were all there early.  It was kind of a snowy morning.  People were coming in slow but that was the only four people present.  Ms. Mullendore brought up the issue of a couple by the name of Alicia and Robert Brown that were opening The Refurniture, a store in the mall and I guess she was kind of elaborating on the news there.  Again, this is back in December, prior to January’s meeting.

She had elaborated that she communicated with the Browns, that they had come here to address the situation with the city not helping them, not visiting them and so forth.  Ms. Mullendore had commented to the three of us that the city is not a marketing company.  They are a government body.  They were kind of surprised by that and taken aback by being they are a chamber.  She had an outburst of saying – (expletive), I am so tired of this (expletive).

Mayor Gunderson stated that his time was up.

Lori Shearer,1325 Fifth St., lifelong resident born and raised here in this community.  Many of them know her, including Ms. Mullendore.  She had a conversation with Ms. Mullendore after several attempts to contact her by telephone and leaving messages at her office in October regarding an incident that happened.  She was essentially blown off and told that she has two voice mail lines and she doesn’t check the other one because it wasn’t working. So after several attempts she finally got a call back with what she considered a blow off regarding an incident with her five year old son.  She took the appropriate channels and following up on a FOIA request from November 20 sent to the city by her attorney’s office which had went unanswered until quarter after two yesterday afternoon, which she finds coincidental in the fact that they have spent a lot of time here talking about FOIA requests and Ms. Mullendore’s manipulation of the statute, as related to Ms. Orlich.  If they recall the press release here they had a dean, she believes it was Nelson Miller from the Cooley Law School, commenting on this very news article that this city dealt with when Ms. Orlich was arrested.  He indicated that, in kind of a laughing manner, that it was pretty much a misinterpretation of that statute.  She agrees with him and is standing before them as a citizen and implores them to do their research on that, as a council who represent them as a body.  They have been elected by these people and Ms. Mullendore has manipulated that statute, which is intended for people that are incarcerated not to be able to make useless FOIA requests.  Ms. Orlich was incarcerated after an anonymous tip through the city that she may have been driving a vehicle and she may have had a suspended license.  They also had an officer from the county in which she was taken to in St. Ignace say this was really out of character. That was not the intent of the FOIA legislation in reference to incarceration.  Ms. Mullendore manipulated the law.  She finds it deplorable that they not only wasted our resources doing this in taking this action, that she feels was a personal action, a personal matter.  They also took from a second community.  That news story said they had a prosecutor and a sheriff that had to go to a church to get a ticket for Ms. Orlich to get back here.  Whether you agree with what she is doing or not they not only took resources from this community, they took resources from another community and other people that could have potentially used those resources.  That is embarrassing and should be addressed.  This council has several, several instances of things that have been going on and are now being made public and they as a people are demanding that.  Her FOIA request that was sent from her attorney’s office on November 20 went unanswered, it was ignored.  At least Ms. Orlich got the courtesy of having sixteen denials the day after she was arrested at approximately 8 a.m.  She and her family and her son did not get the courtesy of a response for four months and then, is it not questionable as to why people were coming to express their displeasure tonight, and then miraculously at quarter after two her attorney’s office gets the FOIA request granted yesterday, after four months of non-compliance with the statute.  That is not dictated by what people want to do, that is dictated by law.  That is unacceptable.  As Mr. Scheid stated at the beginning of the meeting, we are a country, one of the few countries that has a democracy and we need to remember that and everyone at that table needs to remember that, that they were elected by them to act as their voice and act for their people, not only for the adults but for their children in this community.  Also, Mr. Scheid said he would join the citizens sitting here today hoping the right decision is made.  I think they have spoken and many others will.

Shelley Cooper, 115 E. Ann, stated she was there to express her sheer disappointment with the lack of leadership, lack of professional conduct and unethical behavior of their city manager.  As she stands before them today, they know when they hired her, they hired her as a city manager.  She has interfered with police business.  She was been out on the shooting range, shooting with our police officers while they were on their own time and we were paying them time and one-half to be out there.  They didn’t have enough ammunition to outfit our own officers, yet she is out there shooting, in direct violation of the police department’s policy.  A non-officer of our department is not entitled to use the departmental issued ammunition.  It is a waste of our taxpayer money and it goes back to her fiscal irresponsibility.  She stands before them with stacks of judgments.  Their taxpayer dollars are being wasted.  Processing garnishments.  Ms. Mullendore has been in the position where she, in good faith, could make attempts to pay her bad debt.   She won’t.  She continues to make people chase her, garnish her.  She has the writ of seizure where her vehicle was towed by one of our local towing authorities, again creating hostile relationships, between business owners and city government.  A local court officer came in and she tried to interfere and obstruct justice, much as she did when it cost her her last position.  And they are all well aware of what she is talking about.  And she made him get on the telephone with her father and he still took the vehicle.  She participated in tazer training with our police officers, again wasting our taxpayer dollars.  She directed one of her department heads to let their employee know that this is not a democracy.  You were wrong, Mike, this is not a democracy.  We do it Meg’s way.  She is financially unstable.  She tried to interfere with official judgments and obstruct justice.  She manipulates the statutes.  She expressed in no uncertain terms that she is not beyond a corrupt form of government.  She does what she wants, her way.  Paperwork is lost.  Paperwork comes up missing.  Local lawn service has come down to city hall and chased her for their money as she wouldn’t pay him to have lawn service taken care of.  She had an oil change and again they had to chase her for her money to get paid for the oil change. That is not acceptable.  It is very unprofessional, very unethical and it shows that she lacks leadership ability as our city manager.  Touching on what Lori Shearer was talking about, she doesn’t discriminate between children and adults, they all have the same amount of disregard in her eyes.  They, as taxpayers, citizens, and constituents want her removed in no uncertain terms.  She has done nothing positive for the community in her one year tenure here.  She has destroyed it singlehandedly.  She has cost people life long friendships.  She has torn many homes apart and turned many families upside down.  She violated the Bullard Plawecki Act.  That is part of the police contract.  She knowingly violated that and blamed it on FOIA.  With Officer Cooper’s personnel file, FOIA had an exception where when something is pending litigation that information does not have to be released.  The police officer’s contract also says that the city will directly comply with the Bullard Plawecki Act, which does not allow you to release personnel information older than, she believes, over three years.  She went back over fourteen years with personnel information.  As they can see, she obviously doesn’t care.  She is corrupt. 

Mayor Gunderson stated that her time was up.

Katherine Henry, business owner and attorney, lives and works in the City of Belding, not born and raised here as many of them were, stated she had a few concerns that she wasn’t necessarily planning on speaking tonight about, but hopefully will be able to put them together in some sort of understandable fashion for them. The first is, she doesn’t know who she is actually making this objection or concern to, because she doesn’t know puts together the order that has always been done in the City of Belding, but the order in which the agenda is in for the city council meetings, having comments on agenda items before the items are discussed by city council, she objects to that.  She hasn’t really come to city council meetings before, but they cannot have any meaningful participation or conversation by members of the crowd if they don’t know exactly what is going to be discussed, what issues that are going to come about, what questions council members might have of other council members, what documents might be reviewed or presented, and so that to her is very concerning.  They are supposed to have transparency in government and that to her is a concern.  Specifically, just as an example, just in case she has not been able to make her point clear on that, she had a concern about something that she expected there would be discussion, questions, anything about all these FOIA requests on the agenda for today, and she saw that they were just passed, that city council unanimously voted to approve or affirm the denials with absolutely no questioning, no discussion, nothing.  She had the opportunity to read them yesterday, she thought it may have been posted, by Kareen, or someone on the new interface they are using with the minutes.  The fact in this matter, she does not know this woman, this Kimberly Orlich, she doesn’t know her, it doesn’t matter, she doesn’t think anyway, she doesn’t know anything about the family or circumstances other than reading the facts that were presented in these requests that are attached to the agenda, it was very concerning.  The fact that the statute has been very wrongly applied, there is no way these FOIA requests should have been denied in that fashion, and the fact that there was no discussion at all, and she thought there would be, she didn’t feel coming into this meeting that she would need to make any comments or any questioning, so she just brings this up as an example.  They have already voted on it, there is nothing she can do, but she feels it should be handled differently, and hopefully they will take that to heart and change that procedure immediately.  Another small point she just wanted to briefly mention that Craig Gill eluded to, that for lack of better terms, Kareen Thomas was thrown under the bus with how she inappropriately put down minutes from the January DDA meeting.  Craig Gill, herself, were not present at that DDA meeting, so they personally do not know what was said, but she has talked to several members of the DDA who were present, and they verified that the minutes were right on, there was nothing incorrect about them, and what is concerning to her is Kareen is one of the hardest working, most diligent people she has ever met.  She has never met anyone who has had anything bad to say about her and for someone to even elude to the fact that she did something improper or wrong, making her take the blame for something, is highly concerning to her.  She questions, in all the things that have come up in public discussion tonight, she questions whether it was proper for the city manager to deny a FOIA request based on incarceration, when she was present at the arrest of this person and with considering all the other facts of our guys bringing her all the way up and dropping her off and leaving her no other way to get back.

Mayor Gunderson stated her time was up.

Dan Blunt Jr., 1120 N. State, stated there were a few items he would like to bring to the council’s attention. On March 14, 2013, Ms. Mullendore’s interview, Meg states that she tries to be a humble servant, she can bring a team effort, a skilled communicator, just communications with the individual, does the research, gets the correct answer, she is honest, she means what she says, and treats others well, she is a professional, responsible 24/7, behavior represents the city, she will act in a professional manner, she is honest and sincere, she has become softer and kinder, and the delivery of a message makes the difference.  Council Member Scheid asked her if her visit to Belding Tank was on a personal level at one time.  Ms. Mullendore stated she grew up next to the Blunts.  He grew up in Belding, she grew up in Greenville.  The visit was not necessarily personal.  The city and Belding Tank had an issue.  Council Member Scheid asked if she had promised anything?  Ms. Mullendore stated she was on the fence and would provide the necessary information to make the right choice.  She does not operate in that capacity with businesses.  She will tell it like it is.  Mayor Gunderson asked if she could keep a separate friendship or personal relationship and a business relationship and make proper decisions for the city?    Ms. Mullendore responded yes, absolutely.  April 6 he received a message through Facebook from Meg Mullendore.  We have to have a private conversation when you have time.  He said OK, that sounds like trouble.  Not really, just a heads up sort of thing.  A heads up for him, what did he do now?  Don’t want you paranoid, it is nothing bad, Danny, just a little something you should know that I don’t want to put on Facebook.  He said no reason to be paranoid.  April 21, 8:52 a.m.  You and I need to talk. He said what did I do now?  You haven’t done anything but we need to have a very private conversation.  I said OK.  She said let me know what works for you.  I said now.  She said where.  I said you tell me.  She said I don’t know, well you probably don’t want to be seen with me.  He said you nailed that one on the head, meaning yes, I don’t want to be seen with you.  Well, you know what I mean, professionally, that is.  Frankly, I don’t know, you know this area better than I do.  He said, one sec, he was going to meet her.  Where was she?  She said can’t, got to go to GR, be back around five.  He said just call.  She said no, she needed to talk to him face to face on this.  So, they found a place to meet, at an undisclosed location.  And he was handed a piece of paper, it was the tax abatement that he had signed.  She pointed out item number seven, the company agrees that during the term of certificate the company shall be in full compliance with all city codes.  Here’s the language, that (expletive), I was asked that same question during a ZBA meeting that he had for the sidewalk issue, trying to get a variance.  You guys were talking about it and this is what you were going to trip me up on.  It doesn’t have any bearing on it, because he was in compliance and he did comply in asking for a variance. He is still in compliance.  That goes back to professionalism, good business relations.  Council Member Scheid, you asked her if she had had a problem with the police chief in Cassapolis?  Ms. Mullendore stated she and the chief had to agree to disagree.  It was not reciprocated.  He had been there 37 years.  Agree to disagree.  She was faced with charges for obstruction of justice, obstructing a person performing lawful duties on an open case of an infant death.  The case file was found under Ms. Mullendore’s desk. Frankie, also known as Chief Williams, there was another individual involved, his name was Craig, stated while at his house New Year’s Eve, 2011, the subject of this file had come up.  Meg had made admissions to him that she had taken the file and hidden the file under her desk.  Later on, Meg advised Craig it was going to make Frankie, the chief, look bad and it would also prove that he was worthless.  Meg stated she wasn’t worried about the investigation.  There was no way to prove it.  Later on, the prosecutor asked more questions.  Craig stated she obviously had an axe to grind with him.  Craig stated he knew why she took it.  He asked him why, and she stated to make him look bad, to force him out.  He asked him how he knows that and he stated because Alan confirmed it. Her husband, ex-husband, he is not sure which at the time.  She and  Craig were best friends. 

Mayor Gunderson stated his time was up.

Mr. Blunt stated he would strongly recommend to the constituents and on behalf of the community that she be asked to resign immediately.    

Ralph Brecken, graduate of Belding, he considers this his hometown, but he will be honest and this is the first council meeting he has been to in many a decade.  A couple things concern him. One goes back to FOIA requests.  He would like all of them to understand their place here is to serve as the governing body.  And it concerns him when he hears about a FOIA request in a gray portion of the statute with FOIA’s.  Things that they are not really sure, it is kind of gray.  Why wouldn’t the governing body error on the side of openness?  They had a choice to make tonight, whether to grant or deny a FOIA request and in a gray situation government should always error on the side of openness and transparency.  Government is by the people, for the people and of the people, as stated by President Lincoln.  So this really concerns him.  What also concerns him, as stated by Mrs. Henry, is on their procedures for the council meeting, where the public has to guess on what they are going to talk about and comments they might make and then decide to discuss them before they have the discussion.  It just doesn’t seem like a rational way to hold a public meeting.  The public should have a right to comment and he believes the public should have a right to comment while they are discussing the issues.  As things are brought up, the public has the right to question and ask.  That is part of their first amendment rights to petition government and ask government why they are doing what they are doing and the reasons for it.  The way this government is set up here, the way that he sees tonight, is the public has to guess and then the government gets to say what they want to and then the public has no recourse.  That is very troubling.  It is just not what the founding fathers set up for a democracy.    

Dan Blunt, 910 N. State, stated he sat there patiently listening to everything that has been going on.  You people need to be reminded that you were elected by the city.  You do a job for the people that are in the meeting, not for you.  When you set there, Mr. Mayor, and tell these people in effect to sit down and shut up, you are not doing your job.  When you say three minutes is up, he thinks it is getting pretty close to infringing on freedom of speech.  What in the world can you do and how can you guys do your job if you are not willing to set there and be patient to listen to what these fine people have to say?   You have cut every one of them off about halfway through the information they wanted to give you.  Do you want it to become public through the newspapers, the media, all kinds of stuff, or do you want to take care of business like you should?  You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, and furthermore, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Scheid and Mr. Feuerstein, all three of you were a part of hiring Meg Mullendore.  How in the world did all of this information get by you?  In his opinion, that is inexcusable, unacceptable.  He thinks they should render their resignations, as well. 

Dennis Cooper, 116 E. Ann, stated on behalf of this community, well, let me back up, they not only have the privilege to sit in those seats but they have the responsibility, and on behalf of this community sitting being him, he heard them, to make a motion to call for her resignation tonight.  That is what they are asking them to do for the sake of their town and the good of their people.    

Keith Swanson, one of those owners of the mall, 410 Covered Village Mall, has been in Belding several years, stated he has just got to throw something out there, doesn’t have anything to say but he has three minutes to talk so he is going to use those.  So he is glad and just let him know when the three minutes are up, alright?  Being an owner in the mall, if the city manager is saying the mall is closing, for one, she didn’t call and ask him if he had any information on that.  He has been over there for probably 15 years.  Never met Meg, never talked to her.  So, did she do due diligence?  Ah, no.  Another thing, as a business owner, he teaches integrity and integrity is to do what is right when no one else is looking, so if she is at a meeting, a public environment, she has to talk on facts, not opinions or personal preference.  So, also in integrity, if they do something wrong, they stand up and quit right now.  They don’t need a panel, they don’t need people to stand up and tell them they have to quit or resign.  If they screw up, they stand up and quit.  OK, if you make a mistake, you quit.  OK, he is not here, he is not pissed off,  because he does not know all the facts.  He doesn’t think he heard Cooper or anyone say anything that wasn’t factual.  They have done their homework, they all had piles of papers up there, OK.  If Meg said something that was not factual, OK, he has lost the sale, he has had three potential sales for his property in the mall, none of which sold because they keep hearing these rumors that the (expletive) place is closing.  Well, thank you, he appreciates that.  He has lost business, he has moved his business to the City of Greenville, because people won’t sign a contract with him, because why would they sign a one, two, three year contract.  Well, they hear this place is closing.  They are not signing a contract with him.  If they are closing, why would they pay him money?  They sign a contract to pay him for three years, and he might not be here next week?  Does that make sense to anybody?  OK, so who hurts?  His family hurts because he loses income.  He is sitting on a property that he paid $50,000 for and is probably worth $500.  OK, that burns his (expletive), that pisses him off.  Why is the property valued at so little over at the mall?  Because of what you guys say about it, what you guys do.  The mall doesn’t get any support, is that correct?  When he was living in town, he tried to work with the Chamber of Commerce and DDA.  They want nothing to do with the mall, it is a bad place.  It is like a black hole.  Why is that – you guys don’t support it?  That doesn’t make any sense.  He stated he was kind of rambling on here, but it is ridiculous.  If someone has integrity and they screw up, stand up and quit.  If they don’t want to do their job back there, quit, leave, there is the door.  Nobody is making them sit there.  If you don’t want to listen to these FOIA requests that Mrs. Henry was talking about, OK, then don’t, leave, let someone else take your place.  Anyone here want to be on city council?  (Dennis Cooper stated that he wanted to be on council).  Thank you, Mr. Cooper.  Well, again, if anyone has something to say, they need to speak, stand up and say it, because, you know, they should not be there if they are not doing their job. He does not currently live in the City of Belding, he did for several years, but he still owns a place at 410 Covered Village Mall.  Everyone know where it is at?  It is worth nothing, so thank you for that, he appreciates it.    

City Manager’s Comments

City Manager Mullendore stated she had one item to touch base with, relative to the condemnation and demolition of four properties.  They did have one of the owners of two of those come down and ask for an extension, however the two properties in question, one goes back to citations starting in May, 2004 and the other started with citations in August, 2008.  Those are the documented ones, but that is not an exhaustive list.  He has asked for an extension.  She and the fire chief have denied it.  She told him the only recourse was to come to council, so they are aware of that.  The property owner of the other two affected properties, she doesn’t know what they will be doing, however based on what they have submitted to them, they were noticed on March 12 of an additional 30 days to demolish the properties, or if not, the city would take that action.    

Council Comments

Council Member Feuerstein stated that the properties are past due and it is pitiful and that is all he has to say about it.

Council Member Scheid asked if they had to ask for her resignation, or was she willing to give it?

City Manager Mullendore stated she was not willing to give it, no.

Council Member Scheid stated she lied to him.  At her interview he asked her what happened in Cassopolis and she said there was a gag order on it, and there was not. 

City Manager Mullendore stated she did not say that.

Council Member Scheid said yes she did.

City Manager Mullendore said no, sorry, but relative to Cassopolis, you asked if I had a problem with old people.

Council Member Scheid stated he asked what happened down there and she lied.

City Manager Mullendore said no, he asked about Buchanan, and she told him there was a confidentiality clause and that she was not allowed to discuss.   

Council Member Scheid stated she should be done.

Council Member Lallo stated he wasn’t here at the time of the interview.  He has been in her office several times and he told her exactly what he would like to see done.  She knows all he gets is a no and that is the only issue he has, was every time they discussed matters it was always a no, it was never let’s see or be positive.  That is the only thing he will tell her, and she knows that.  He stated to Keith that he does shop at the mall, he does go there.  He would rather shop in town than drive thirty minutes away to shop, but he does shop there.  So sorry to hear him say they don’t support the mall, but they do.  He and the mayor have been visiting the mall. He congratulated Sgt. Taylor on her retirement.  There will be a blood drive on Thursday at the VFW from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.  He asked the citizens without water to hang in there. 

Council Member Jones stated that Dan Blunt missed him, as he was on the board when they hired Meg.  They hired MML to do the reviews.  He thought they would do any police searches.  His understanding was that they did at that time, but it has come to light that they did not do the job he thought they were being paid for.  Regarding his comments two meetings ago, he had talked about the water service lines in the city and the expense and problems of fixing them when the ground is frozen four, five or six feet deep.  He would be upset if he didn’t have water when paying taxes and water bills.  His response to the FOIA, all of these that were denied because of the incarceration, gray area, not gray area, if she wants to resubmit them, resubmit them.  If she is not incarcerated now, they would have to respond to them in a different manner.  He doesn’t have paperwork with him, but the last time Meg ran a tally with the requests that Kimberly Orlich filed with the city, was that $25,000 to $30,000? 

City Manager Mullendore stated it is more than that at this point.

Council Member Jones stated he understands the reasons for FOIA and why the program or law is out there.  It has become, to him, frivolous with Ms. Orlich.  It has cost the city over $25,000 - $30,000 to respond to these.  He realizes anyone has the right to do that, but some of these requests, and she doesn’t have a reason for it, other than the public good.  But when it reaches that point, you question what public good she is trying to do, other than just, anyway.  He has no problem if she wants to resubmit these and it won’t be a gray area.  When they first got organized and he first came on, he did question procedure and he has always pushed to have the city council the other way and it was left at that.  He would prefer to see comments done at the item level than before it.  It may be changed, it may not be changed, but that is the way it had been done.  He does appreciate all of the people here tonight and that is what this government is about, participation and feelings.  In discussion with the mayor, he believes he is intending to have, the second meeting in April, will be the schedule for the city manager’s annual review.  He guesses at that point they would have to determine the procedures or how they would handle it at that time, unless something else come up before that at one of the council meetings.  They will get two more, or one more, and that meeting.  But, he does appreciate the participation tonight. 

Mayor Gunderson stated he appreciated the input and he has heard a lot of it already.  He appreciates them coming here tonight. With some of the questions that came up, he understands completely their concerns.  It has already been set up for the yearly evaluation that is on the agenda for the second meeting of the month in April, the 15.  MML did not directly do the search.  MML actually hired another firm to do the search.  He has had concerns about this, and it has come to light that people have made sure that certain people have information that need to know what is going on.  Regarding the water issue, he asked if any of the water had come back on, that she was aware of? 

City Manager Mullendore stated the city is supplying water for residents with frozen water lines. One service was thawed by a plumber on York Street. 

Mayor Gunderson thanked everyone for coming.  He appreciates them being here.  He doesn’t think there was any one of them up here that have not heard what was said tonight.  He sees people shaking their heads, obviously they don’t believe that, but he appreciates the effort they have put forth in coming here and speaking their minds.  He does believe that the issues at hand that Mike was discussing can be discussed when the review comes up.  He asked Mike if he agreed with that? 

Council Member Scheid asked why do they have to wait, why? 

Adjournment

Council Member Lallo moved to adjourn the meeting, supported by Council Member Jones.

Ayes:               Council Members Feuerstein, Lallo, Jones and Gunderson.

            Nays:               Council Member Scheid.

The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:45p.m.