Members of the Holbrook City Council reviewed three proposals for a moderator as they plan a meeting to organize their priorities for the city as far as infrastructure, economic development and any other objectives they determine are important to the growth of the city.
Those who submitted proposals were Bailey Strategic Innovation Group, Clear Communications Consulting and Jason Foutz, chief operations officer of Northland Pioneer College.
Clear Communications Consulting’s proposal noted that it would provide a total of 12 hours of services for $3,000 plus travel expenses. Bailey Strategic Innovation stated that it would normally charge $12,000 for such services, but provided a 75 percent discount due to the size of the community and other discounts for the type of package, bringing the total cost to $1,275. City officials also reached out to Foutz, who said he would provide moderation free of charge due to the partnership the city has with the college.
The recommendation by staff was to go with Foutz, as he has had experience conducting strategic planning sessions and his service would not cost the city.
Councilman Tim Dixon said he liked the fact that Bailey Strategic Innovation provided a detailed outline of how a meeting would be conducted and how the moderator would assist the council in keeping on track.
City Clerk Cher Reyes pointed out that Foutz reached out to staff late in the week and hadn’t had time to put an outline together. “I’m sure he could provide an agenda, too,” he said.
After reviewing the proposals, Councilman CJ Wischmann moved to choose Bailey Strategic Innovations, and Dixon seconded the motion.
Vice Mayor Wade Carlisle stated that the Bailey proposal sounded more like the firm would be providing the council with a “psychological evaluation.” Other council members also appeared to find the written proposal somewhat confusing, commenting that the three different options for services and discount pricing was difficult to understand.
“I think we’re smart enough to do this by ourselves, and, considering that there is someone local who is willing to do this at no cost, we could do this as an ongoing process for months or more,” said Councilman Richard Peterson.
He then noted, “I’ve been seeing this phrase ‘divided council’ in a negative connotation and I don’t think it needs to be. The system is set up so that sometimes you have a 3-4 vote or a 2-5 vote, or maybe someone is standing by themselves and that’s OK. It doesn’t make us a bad council or divided, just so long as everyone gets to put forth their ideas and argue their position, and feels comfortable doing that. I don’t think we need someone coming in here and telling us how to act like adults. I don’t think we need to pay some guy a lot of money to come here and do it for us.”
Wischmann withdrew his motion and Dixon withdrew his second.
It was then decided to seek more information from Foutz on how he would proceed with the meeting.
City Manager Randy Sullivan reported that the pool and splash pad are on schedule, with the pool slated to open Memorial Day weekend and the splash pad by the end of the week.
He also noted that work at the dog park at the north end of the city is nearly complete.
Once those projects are complete, the soccer field expansion is next in line, with the necessary equipment having been ordered.
Sullivan said that once the dog park is complete the city will be erecting kiosks at that park, the dog park on the west end of town and at Gillespie Park that will feature information on local businesses and events.
“The dog park on the west end has gotten so busy that there’s almost a waiting list of travelers with dogs, so we’re going to advertise our dog parks, too. If someone comes into west end they will see that there’s another dog park and that will get them into town,” said Sullivan.
He also said that Cher Reyes has a full schedule of events lined up for kids in the community as part of the summer recreation program that will be made available soon.
Switching subjects, Sullivan advised the council that the city will send out notices in the next couple of weeks to residents who need to take care of their weeds. He encouraged all residents to address their weed issues prior to that. The city will be addressing weeds along the sidewalks and city streets as well.
Sullivan noted that there has been some problem with scheduling practices for Little League and the city will be looking into creating more practice fields by next year.
The council also approved claims and payments to Walt’s Hardware in the amount of $390.15, and invoices totaling $179,409.
