The Rugby City Council voted to place construction firm owner Neil Lotvedt in a vacant seat on the council Sept. 7

Lotvedt took the Ward 1 vacancy left by former council member Jackie Albrecht, who resigned in July. Albrecht’s term expires in June of 2022, when voters from the ward will choose a representative for the seat.

Both Lotvedt and Bruce Rheault attended the meeting. Each had expressed interest in filling the seat. Both candidates had interviewed with council members for the seat in August.

After council members praised both candidates for their qualifications, council member Maurus Brossart nominated Lotvedt to fill the vacancy. Council members Gary Kraft, Joel Berg, Frank LaRocque and Brossart voted for Lotvedt to take the seat, while council members Wayne Trottier, Dave Bednarz and Matt Lunde voted “no.”

Council members approved financials and minutes from August meetings, giving their nod to a transfer of a $102,256 certificate of deposit from the city’s general fund to a capital equipment fund to put toward the purchase of a new fire pumper truck. Council member Gary Kraft estimated a new truck would be purchased in the distant future, after the department pays off the new fire hall.

“By the time we get to a point of replacing our current city truck, the fire hall should be paid for, in my opinion,” council member Kraft, a volunteer firefighter, said. “This is just setting aside a CD and earmarking it for a truck sometime in the future. We’re nowhere close to going out and looking at buying a truck.”

Council member Wayne Trottier examined August financials, asking Jim Olson of engineering firm AE2S about a mileage report he submitted for work done on sewer infrastructure on a weekend. Olson said he would “be glad to” submit any documentation for any questions Trottier had.

Rugby Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Laurie Odden submitted minutes and a budget for the CVB. Odden noted the CVB’s permit for their yearlong 50/50 raffle would expire at the end of September. “I brought tickets tonight,” Odden told the council, smiling. “They’re just a dollar a chance.”

Odden said repairs on Rugby’s Geographical Center Monument and Northern Lights Tower were “works in progress.” Odden asked council members if the monument’s current location would be “permanent.” Mayor Sue Steinke, Lotvedt and others said Anytime Fitness owns the property where the monument sits, however, council members suggested some of the property may be owned by the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

“It was just a question I had,” Odden said. “Someone thought maybe we could move it. Everyone has lots of ideas.”

Odden said the ideas were “just some things to think about. Nothing’s happening anytime soon.”

Odden reported a job fair held by the Chamber of Commerce and CVB “was a success. It was held at (Rugby) High School. It was a good turnout. It was educational for the kids.”

“We’re looking at doing this twice a year,” Odden said of the job fair. “We’ll probably do a fall one and a spring one.” Odden said local businesses had expressed “excitement” about a spring job fair, because they hoped it would aid them in recruiting graduating high school seniors.

Odden said the Chamber and CVB looked forward to a wine walk planned for Sept. 16.

The council approved Odden’s reports and financials with a unanimous vote.

Rugby Job Development Authority Director Karl Frigaard talked to council members about the critical need for affordable housing for workers and the need to attract workers to Rugby. Trottier asked Frigaard how he came to the conclusion that affordable housing was a critical need for Rugby workers.

“I’m looking for data specific to Rugby,” Trottier said. “You’re generalizing. How do you make the data more specific to Rugby? That’s my concern as a council member.”

Lotvedt suggested affordable housing was already available in the city of Rugby rather than in newer developments on the edges of town. He added many workers already commute to their jobs from surrounding areas such as Rolette.

The council approved the JDA minutes and financials.

Committee chairs gave reports to the council. Recreation committee member LaRocque told the council the committee had updated job descriptions for recreation manager and recreation director positions. LaRocque also reported conditions on the softball diamonds had improved with recent rains. He added measures would be taken to control weeds on the recreation complex property.

Kraft, who chairs the finance committee, reported members had finalized the city’s 2022 budget.

Public works chair Bednarz updated members on work done on water infrastructure and work on street gutters downtown. Bednarz also reported workers would put asphalt down on an alleyway near Ely Elementary School. Bednarz added mosquito spraying would begin again in the city, depending on wind conditions.

LaRocque, who chairs the public safety committee, told council members electronic speed limit signs had been placed in high-traffic areas around town. He also updated members on a new job description written for a sergeant position with the police department.

Brossart told the council the buildings committee had approved funding for the purchase and installation of wall girts for the Rugby Pool building. The council voted to accept the bid for the girts and installation submitted by contractor Mike Swanson at $14,800.

The council also approved bids for roof repairs to the city armory and swimming pool building submitted by Minot contractor A&R Roofing. The $159,850 cost for armory roof repairs would come from the 2022 budget, while funds for the pool roof had been earmarked in previous budgets. The pool roof repair’s estimate came in at $108,810.

The pool’s present white roof will be replaced with a black roof, which Olson said would be more budget-friendly and efficient. “We had a suggestion to paint the pool orange so we could have black and orange (Rugby) Panther colors, put some Panther decals on the side and it would be right in line with our water tower,” Steinke said with a laugh.

Olson presented a calendar of projects scheduled for city water/sewer infrastructure and buildings. Members discussed a project funded jointly by the city and North Dakota DOT for work done on a stretch of North Dakota Highway 3 running through Rugby. City Auditor Jennifer Stewart told the council $350,000 had been set aside for the city’s portion of the project. DOT officials first presented their plans for the roadwork to the council in 2018. Multiple delays put the project on hold until spring 2022. City Auditor Jennifer Stewart and Steinke said the total cost for the project could amount to more than $5 million, with the majority paid by the state.

Rugby City Attorney Bill Hartl told the council the city and resident Larry Vetsch had reached a legal settlement on clearing items from Vetsch’s property. Hartl and the council had met with Vetsch’s attorney in a closed executive session Aug. 30.

LaRocque brought human resource issues among city employees before the council. He presented documentation of a public works employee’s job performance, pointing out the lack of specifics to support allegations of sub-par performance in the document. LaRocque also referred to a lack of training for effective supervision and employee evaluation for city workers.

Hartl weighed in on the matter, telling the council when he learned the city would terminate the employee, he “was under the impression” the public works committee had voted to fire the employee. However, only committee chair Bednarz had decided to terminate the employee.

Hartl added he had been out of town when Bednarz told the employee he was terminated. Hartl said saw the employee working when he returned, so he was at first unaware of any attempt to fire the employee.

Hartl said after he learned council member Brossart questioned the termination, he said he “learned there had not been a committee meeting to approve the termination.” Hartl contacted other city officials and recommended an executive session be held to reinstate the employee.

LaRocque also pointed out the employee in the supervisory role failed to follow the city employee handbook. LaRocque and Trottier recommended that the council’s personnel committee hold more meetings in the future. The committee meets infrequently and has gone as long as a year without holding any meetings in the past.

Trottier also recommended more structure for human resource matters. “It’s unfortunate that it has to come to this,” Trottier said of the situation.

“I agree the city has never, ever put a lot of emphasis on training or other issues with their human capital,” Steinke said.

In other business, the council approved the first reading of City Ordinance 432, which pertains to appropriations for the annual budget. New council member Lotvedt abstained from the vote, saying he hadn’t read the ordinance.

The city also voted to approve an easement request to place a well in an alleyway near council member Brossart’s property, located in Rugby’s Chalmers Addition subdivision. Maurus and Sandy Brossart would assume all costs associated with the easement.

Council members also voted to send Steinke to represent Rugby at redistricting meetings to be held by state legislators. Members also voted to draft a letter of support for the Pierce County Courthouse to receive monies from the North Dakota Cultural Heritage Grant.

The council also approved a proclamation submitted by area resident Steve Fritel to designate Oct. 6 as German-American Day in Rugby.

The council will hold their next regular meeting Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Rugby City Hall.