Cliff Buchan
News EditorCity Administrator Chip Robinson has been signed to a new four-year contract that begins on Jan. 1, 2005.
By way of a 4-0 vote with one member abstaining, Forest Lake City Council at its regular meeting Monday, Nov. 8 made the action final.
The new contract for Robinson was recommended by the personnel committee and includes no major language changes. The contract will continue through Dec. 31, 2008.
Under the new deal, Robinson will earn $99,343 in 2005. That is an increase of $2222 over his 2004 salary of $97,121.
In the three subsequent years, the cityís personnel policy for non-union employees will govern the method and manner by which he will be compensated. The cityís past practice has been to provide salary increases for non-union employees at the same rate as wage hikes for union employees.
The personnel committee will base its recommendation for subsequent salary increases based on an annual performance and compensation review.
Under the contract, Robinson will also be paid an automobile allowance of $350 a month to cover automobile expenses.
Based on his tenure with the city, Robinson will receive 22 paid vacation days and 13 paid holidays in 2005.
The contract also includes language for severance pay, life insurance, sick leave and medical insurance.
It was the latter contract item that swayed Council member Susan Young to abstain from the vote last week.
Young questioned the cityís commitment to cover medical insurance for the administrator 10 years beyond retirement. She described such a benefit as a ìhuge riskî to the city.
The medical insurance benefit is effective only after 30 years of employment, Robinson said.
Councilman Bruce Carlson, who serves on the personnel committee with Mayor Ray Daninger, recommended approval, pointing out the medical benefit is already in the administratorís contract.
ìA lot of things in here (the contract) are very conservative, salary for one,î Carlson said. He said it would be ìa bad mistakeî to not approve the extension.
With the personnel committeeís blessing, Councilman Rick Ashbach said he was ready to approve the contract.
It passed with votes from Carlson, Daninger, Ashbach and Tom Lynch while Young was opposed.
Young, at one point in the discussion Nov. 8, questioned if the council should not discuss the insurance matter in closed session. City Attorney David Hebert advised that such a move would not be legal under the Open Meeting Law.
An Iowa native, Robinson grew up in White Bear Lake. A former educator, Robinson changed career paths in 1977 when he became town administrator in Forest Lake Township, a post he held for 17 years before being hired by the city.
Correction
In a story in the Nov. 11 issue of the Forest Lake Times, it was reported that the Forest Lake Lions commitment to a redesign project at Lakeside Memorial Park was $64,000. That figure was not correct. The actual commitment is $48,000 over the next four years starting in 2005.
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