Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area Reporter

Based on the recommendation of Administrator Craig Mattson, Wyoming City Council approved three firms to provide professional services for the city. Decisions were made for each firm individually, but approval was unanimous in each case with all council members attended the meeting.

Mattson reviewed the requests for proposals. He reported receiving seven from auditors, eight from legal firms and several for engineering and accounting service.

Council approved Ekberg, Lamer, Briggs, Wolff, & Veiling, PLLP, of Stillwater, as city attorneys. The firm has about 100 attorneys and provides legal service to 23 cities and towns. Among its clients are Bloomington and North Branch.

A representative summarized the strengths of the attorneys in the practice, including a firm-wide resource pool to help with special situations. There are attorneys on staff with real estate inspection; they also have an affiliated title company. The firm also has experience with code enforcement.

Council member Blake Tiedeman asked if the firm has had experience with mergers and was told there are attorneys in the firm who have such experience.

The firm of HLB Tautges & Redpath, White Bear Lake, was selected the new city auditor. They also have a variety of specialists in the firm to be consulted as needed. The agreement with HLB Tautges & Redpath is for the fiscal years 2006-2008.

Abdo, Eich, & Meyers, LLP will continue as the city accountant. Mattson said it is wise to have accounting and the annual audit completed by separate firms.

Mattson recommended retaining WSB & Associates, Inc. as city engineers. This group also uses a team approach to civil engineering.

Mattson said it would increase costs to change engineering companies. Mark Erichson, who is an engineer with WSB, is familiar with the city infrastructure and its ongoing projects. Erichson told the council he is looking forward to continuing to work with the city.

Council member Gary Menne asked about the cost of the maps produced when some maps have been produced before. One engineering firm will not be liable for the mistakes of others, Mattson said.

Mattson said it is not just cost of service, but the experience package each firm brings to the city, for its particular needs. The most important consideration is a combination of experience and breadth of service a firm can provide.

In all cases, the recommended firms “have the ability to provide the service we need,” Mattson said. As an administrator at other cities, Mattson told the council he worked with all the firms. They each use a team approach to providing professional service and have the “staff to support the city.”

No council members have used or are familiar with the firms recommended therefore there is no potential for conflict of interest, according to Mattson. Because of the time required to review and compare proposals, Mattson said the agreements with the companies are likely to be for indefinite terms of appointment although contracts must yet be signed.

“I don’t want to be doing this (reviewing RFPs) every year,” he said.

Police purchase

Council authorized the purchase of two radar units for the Wyoming Police Department; one Stalker DSR 2X unit and one hand held unit. The original request for two new Stalker DSR 2X radar units came from Acting Police Chief Scott Dexter; the price, $1871 apiece.

Questions from Mayor Sheldon Anderson and Joe Zerwas asked about the difference between these and hand-held units. Dexter explained that car mounted units can monitor speed of cars coming toward a squad car and going away from it.

The cost of a hand-held unit is $3000.

Tiedeman asked about the status of the other equipment in the fleet. All other city squads have units that are one or two years old, except if additional squad cars are added to the department fleet. Dexter said LED segments could be replaced in the units, but other repairs would cost more than the radar units are worth.

The department has five working radar units, but one is older, and an additional one is not working.

Mattson recommended the department plan for replacement of equipment “as part of the capital improvements,” so there is money budgeted each year to be available for purchase.

The cost for these two pieces of technology is $4871. One contribution of $1000 is designated for the purpose of purchasing new radar.

Money to cover the rest of the cost is to come from the police supplemental fund. The current balance in the fund is about $6500. There is no cost to install the units. The purchases are to be made from the state bid list.

LaBarre statement

Councilman LaBarre read a statement explaining the extent of his particular involvement in the campaign during the last general election and a dispute involving defeated candidate Ted Phillips.

He stated, “Mr. Phillips helped me during my campaign I didn’t believe it would be a problem (to help distribute flyers).” He said he helped again after many had been removed.

“I did not help Mr. Phillips with the writing, editing, or printing of those flyers, nor did I contribute monetarily to his campaign.”

To those who were upset with the flyer and felt threatened by what Phillips distributed to city residents, LaBarre apologized.

Other business

In other business, the council:

•On Mattson’s recommendation council voted 5-0 against an unbudgeted $1000 contribution to the Chisago County Senior Center to assist with the meals on wheels congregate dining and other senior programs. The primary concern is lack of documentation about the number of individuals in the city who are served by the program. Council will review the request and reconsider it during the 2008 budget planning.

•Tabled a decision on the amendment to the ordinance related to kennels, until the new law firm can review proposed change and offer input. Vote was 4-0, with Menne abstaining.

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