New members introduced to Colby common council

The City of Colby Common Council reorganized at its monthly meeting on April 19.

Liz Bumgartner took her place as Alderman for Ward 1, replacing Steve Kolden in that role. Nominations for executive board seats were gathered and Todd Schmidt (president) and Randy Hesgard (vice president) will serve in those roles.

The council discussed the reorganization of Marathon County’s wards which were rearranged during the spring election. Colby is now a part of a three-ward district.

A benefit of the change is that the number of people in each ward becomes a more even number.

Mayor James Schmidt insisted that the city did not have anything to do with the recalibration.

“This was not a council decision, this was a county one,” Schmidt said.

The council reorganized their committees to reflect the number of members presently on the board. “Due to the council going from eight members to six members, I am making the committees three-member committees,” Schmidt said.

The finance and budget committee will feature Mayor Schmidt and the rest of the entire council. The city planning, economic development, revolving loan fund committee will consist of Todd Schmidt, Nancy O’Brien and Jason Lindeman.

The parks, recreation and recycling committee will include O’Brien, Baumgartner and Todd Schmidt.

The personnel and labor relations committee will be made up of Jason Lindeman, O’Brien and Hesgard.

The public works committee will include Lindeman, O’Brien and Hesgard.

In other business, wages for summer hires increased from $10/hour to $13/hour.

City Clerk Connie Gurtner made a resolution to recognize Michael Sazama and Steve Kolden for their years of service to the board.