Applications being accepted to fill empty council seat
News | Published on January 20, 2021 at 11:47am EST | Author: Chad Koenen
0City office now open to the public
By Barbie Porter
Editor
Vergas Mayor Julie Bruhn welcomed the new council members at the first meeting of the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Bruhn, who won the bid for mayor in Nov., stated she was honored to serve in the position which her father and brother have also held.
Bruhn encouraged all council members to express opinions, ask questions, utilize resources and always put the residents at the forefront of their decisions and thoughts when conducting city business.
Bruhn was previously a city council member. Since she vacated her council position when elected as mayor the council now has an empty seat.
Vergas City Clerk Julie Lammers said the council can decide how it wants to fill the seat. In the past she said the councils has either appointed a member or taken applications. She noted anyone 21 years or older with no felonies and has lived in city limits at least 30 days is eligible. The vacant seat is for a two-year term.
In the recent election the remaining candidates that ran for the council seats were former councilman Paul Pinke and newcomer Austin Tegtmeier. Both received 100 votes in November and both expressed interest in being appointed, Lammers said.
Since there was a tie in the election between the two candidates, Councilman Bruce Albright suggested applications be accepted.
Councilman Logan Dahlgren agreed, noting that was the process the council followed for the last three appointments.
The council agreed that was the direction it wanted to go with filling the seat. Applications are available at the city office. The office is now open to the public after having been closed due to rising numbers of COVID-19.
Tegtmeier did find a door open when it came to getting involved in city politics. The Economic Development Authority needed to fill a seat after a sudden and tragic loss of longtime member Duane Strand. The council was informed Tegtmeier asked to be seated on the committee and his request was granted.
Lammers informed the newly elected council members that the iPads provided to them for city council business have emails and programs installed on them. She added that department information, meeting notes, ordinances and policies will all be accessible from the device.
“It will take a bit to get all on there,” she said and then encouraged the council to let her know if they have an item that should be prioritized.
In other news
• A public hearing was held in relation to the vacation and rededication of Glenn Street.
The plat of the street has it going through buildings. The intent is to correct the plat to place the road where it actually sits. To do that land transfers must occur.
No one spoke in opposition at the public hearing.