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During a special meeting of the Holbrook City Council on Dec. 18, four finalists were named for consideration as the new city manager. Those listed include Theresa Coleman, Jason Foutz, Glenn Irby and Tedmond Soltis.
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Theresa Coleman is currently the city administrator of Kasson, Minn. She previously served as the city administrator in Spring Grove, Minn. Coleman holds a Master of Science degree in Economic Development from Eastern University in Wayne, Penn.
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Jason Foutz is currently the City of Holbrook’s code compliance officer. He previously served as chief operations officer/associate vice president of Northland Pioneer College and administrative assistant in Oakdale, Minn. Foutz holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Juris Doctor Degree from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minn.
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Glenn Irby was most recently the city administrator in Apopka, Fla. He also served as city manager in Umatilla, Fla., and Mascotte, Fla. Irby holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy State University in Troy, Ala.
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Tedmond (Ted) Soltis was most recently the city manager in Wilcox. He previously served as town manager in Kremmling, Colo., and city manager in Florence, Ore. Soltis holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont.
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An open house is scheduled for Jan. 25 at the George Gardner Performing Arts Center, with the time yet to be announced. The candidates will receive personal interviews with the city council on Jan. 26.
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During the meeting, the council also discussed a contract agreement with Mike Reidhead for cattle grazing near the Hidden Cove Golf Course and Petroglyph Park.
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The city had entered into an agreement with Reidhead in 2008 for sludge hauling from the city’s Painted Mesa Water Reclamation Facility for use on the reuse farm and for the lease and use of the reuse farm by Reidhead for the farming of crops. After the contract expired the previous city administration allowed Reidhead to continue the terms of the agreement on a year-to-year basis.
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That agreement did not include grazing rights but according to Interim City Manager Cher Reyes, “Someone from a previous administration told him (Reidhead) that he could do whatever he wanted out there so he planted a crop thinking he was going to be able to graze. When I took over in August I sent him a letter saying he could no longer graze cattle out there,” explained Reyes.
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Reidhead has already grown a crop on the 50 plus acres expecting to graze his 40 to 50 head of cattle there. To accommodate the situation, Reyes had the city attorney write an agreement stating that Reidhead would be allowed to use the land for grazing from Dec. 19 to March 1 only. The agreement states that Reidhead would be responsible for any damages to park benches, kiosks or any other city property as a result of the cattle. Also in the agreement it was stated that Reidhead must prevent the cattle from entering into the Petroglyph Park and onto the golf course. If the cattle enter the area and are not removed within 48 hours, then the city will have the cattle removed.
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Mayor Phil Cobb stated he would like to table the matter in order to visit the property and “get a visual” before voting on it. Richard Peterson noted that Reidhead wanted to begin the grazing the following day and that to put off the vote would mean putting that off possibly another month.
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Councilman Adam Marsh said that he would like to wait as well. “We just got this agreement today and I have some questions on it. More importantly, this was not a part of the agenda that the public was able to review and there is no option for public comment on the agenda.”
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Councilwoman Francie Payne asked Reidhead his opinion on the agreement, to which he replied that he didn’t know that it was coming. “I put (the request) in the fall and planned to use it (the land),” he stated.
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Reyes said she was in favor of the grazing for the few months but was agreed that tabling the discussion was a good idea as she had “been hit with a bunch of concerns and I’m not sure we have all the answers to the concerns.” She added, “Everybody has an idea of what they want to do out there but nobody’s putting it into any formation where decisions can be made.”
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“I think it’s a reasonable agreement but its our duty to keep some of this protected. People that I’ve heard from would have something to say about this. I can’t emphasis this enough, we need to provide that opportunity for people to speak on this,” stated Marsh.
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The council agreed with a four to three vote to table the discussion until Jan. 8, with Marsh, Cobb and councilmen Tim Dixon and Earl Kester in favor, and Payne, Peterson and Councilman Mike Nilsson voting against.
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