Weix, who opposed the hiring ….

Weix, who opposed the hiring of a city administrator back in 2018, said the council should be able to vote on the issue as soon as its April 5 meeting.

“We need to proceed with this now,” he said.

Ald. Dennis Kramer said he, too, believes the council should get started as soon as possible on switching back to a clerk-treasurer, calling it a “big process.”

Ald. Rachu was insistent that the council wait until after the election to make any decisions.

“One more month isn’t going to hurt anything,” he said.

Voss expressed concern that Grady could find another administrator’s job elsewhere, and the city would be left unprepared for hiring a clerk-treasurer without a new ordinance in place. (Grady was recently a finalist for a city administrator’s position in the city of Ripon.) As it stands, Grady’s contract as city administrator doesn’t expire until Dec. 31, 2021, but if he were to find employment elsewhere, he is required to give the city 30 days notice that he is resigning.

When Kramer pressed Rachu on why the council shouldn’t get started right away on making the switch, Rachu wasn’t comfortable offering a full response in public. “Dennis, what I really want to say I can’t say, but you can read between the lines,” he said.

Ald. Mason Rachu said it’s only fair to let any newly elected officials have a say on whether the city keeps the city administrator.

“I think we’d be doing a disservice to them if we made all these decisions without them, but then they’re ones that have to deal with it,” he said.

Right now, there’s little indication that the makeup of the council will change much following the April 6 election. Alds. Frankie Soto, Dale Rachu and Mason Rachu are all running unopposed for new terms.

If Weix is elected mayor, a vacant spot could open up in Ward 3, unless a writein candidate earns enough votes and agrees to accept the position.

Weix said he’s trying to “prepare for the inevitable,” though Ald. Dale Rachu questioned whether it was fair to assume that Grady is leaving soon.

“I think we should move on with it right now,” Weix said. “That way, if Dan finds a job and gives us a 30-day notice, we’re prepared to move forward with this.”

Other business

_ Grady said the city is set to receive $220,000 in federal funding under the recently passed American Recovery Act, which provided money to help local units of government during the COVID pandemic. The money cannot be used to offset revenue and lower taxes, he said.

However, the money can be used for water and sewer projects, Grady said, so the city could spend it on drilling new wells or upgrading its existing facilities.

_ Mayor Voss said the defibrillators at city hall are set to expire in October of this year, so she’s hoping to trade them out with ones at the local EMT service and save the city money. Right now, both sets of pads are for adults, she said, but one for children should also be available.

_ The city’s annual open book review is scheduled for Friday, May 14, from 1 to 3 p.m., followed by the board of review meeting on Thursday, May 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. Starting next year, Grady said at least one council member will have to be trained to conduct open book reviews based on a new state law.

_ The council approved $29,628 in monthly police department expenses.

_ DPW Craig Stuttgen said he will be looking for approval from the council at its next meeting to go ahead with a proposal to install a 30-inch stormwater pipe on West Linden Street in order to alleviate flooding just west of the railroad tracks. The $94,000 proposal came from Cedar Corporation, which has a target date of July for one or two weeks of work.

“It will be one independent line that will drain into the creek right by well 1,” Stuttgen said.

_ Soyk said a motor had to be replaced on city’s well 14, but since then, two other wells, 6 and 17, have also gone down. Well 6 is located right next to Abbotsford schools, so Soyk said the city is going to wait until classes are out for Easter break to bring in heavy equipment to the site.

“We won’t do it when school is in session,” he said.

Soyk said the wells need to be pulled to see what is causing the problems, whether it’s a motor, a pump or both.

_ The council reviewed and approved a total of $309,544 in monthly expenditures.