rich, Roger Weideman, Dale Rachu ….

rich, Roger Weideman, Dale Rachu and Jeremiah Zeiset. Voting against the motion were Alds. Lori Huther and Dennis Kramer.

Grady said the council’s action “can be reversed” if the council votes against an ordinance drafted by the city attorney to eliminate the city administrator. Alds. Diedrich and Zeiset both waited to cast their votes until they were assured that the action they were taking wasn’t necessarily final. Also, Ald. Mason Rachu was absent from the meeting.

A motion was first made by Ald. Lori Huther to keep the city administrator position, but only two council members, Dennis Kramer and Dale Rachu, voted with her in favor of the motion.

The main difference between a clerktreasurer and an administrator is that an administrator oversees the director of public works (DPW) and the head of water and sewer utilities. A clerk-treasurer is more of a co-equal department head with the DPW and the utility supervisor.

In Abbotsford, the administrator also fulfills the statutorily required duties of a clerk-treasurer, such as overseeing elections and collecting taxes.

Mayor Jim Weix presented a list of 10 similar-sized cities to Abbotsford, and all but one of them have a clerk-treasurer rather than a city administrator. Park Falls in Price County is the only one with an administrator.

“This is for information purposes only,” he said. “I’m not dictating one way or the other. That’s not up to me.”

However, Weix made it clear what his personal preference is when it comes to hiring a new person.

“We survived with a clerk-treasurer for a lot of years,” he said. “If the right person comes along, I don’t think the pay is going to make a whole lot of difference, whether the title in front of their name is administrator or clerk-treasurer.”

When asked for their opinions, DPW Craig Stuttgen and utility operator Josh Soyk said it’s more about the person filling the position than the position itself.

“Dan’s been really good to work with,” Soyk said. “We’ve had a couple other temporary administrators that did not go so well.”

Ald. Huther said she wants someone who is knowledgeable enough to keep the city from making costly mistakes.

“I’m not so concerned about the title,” she said. “I want to make sure the person who gets the job knows the state statutes, so when we come up against a $6.4 million problem, we know how to fix it.”

Some of the conversation revolved around how much the city would be expected to pay for either a city administrator or a clerk-treasurer.

Basedonhisrecentjobsearches,Grady said the average salary for a city administrator in Wisconsin is close to $80,000 per year, which is about $7,000 more than what the city is currently paying.

According to a 2019 wage survey done by the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, the average wage for a clerk-treasurer is $23.10 per hour, or about $48,000 annually, for cities with a population between 1,501 and 3,000.

Ald. Nixdorf wondered about allowing people to apply for either position, and then basing the hiring decision on whoever has the best qualifications.

“I don’t think we should eliminate one or the other,” she said. “I think we should open up both positions and see what we get for candidates.”

Ald. Kramer, however, questioned if someone would really apply to be an administrator if they knew the city was also considering a clerk-treasurer. He said he wants someone who can present themselves professionally to parties interested in starting a business here.

“Can a city clerk do that? Yes, they can, but I’m thinking a city administrator would be much, much more likely to do that,” he said.

Ald. Weideman agreed with Kramer, though he wasn’t convinced that an administrator is needed.

“We’ve got to keep the city growing, and I think we need somebody professional like Dan,” he said. “Whether it’s going to be a clerk-treasurer or administrator, we need somebody who has that vision to keep Abby growing.”

Stuttgen cautioned the council against hiring someone without the know-how to make the city run smoothly.

“For what you want to pay, you’re not going to get an administrator with experience, and lack of experience is what makes our jobs bad,” he said.

Ald. Dale Rachu expressed frustration that council members were not prepared to make a decision the night of the meeting, saying it was up to each of them to do research ahead of time “I wouldn’t want to apply here for any job if this council can’t make a decision,” he said.

The agenda also included an item for beginning the recruitment process for a clerk-treasurer or administrator, but no action was taken.

Soyk said the city is not giving itself any time to find a replacement for Grady before he leaves, a process which could take months. By the time the council votes on a new ordinance at its Aug. 30 meeting, he said Grady will only be here for a few more days, and by then, the job opening won’t even be posted.

“I’m just saying, it’s going to be tough,” he said.

_ Grady told the council that Soyk and deputy clerk-treasurer Erin Clausnitzer have been fully trained to do payroll for city workers, so they can take on those duties as soon as he leaves after Sept. 3. A motion was passed to add Soyk’s name as a signer on the city’s bank accounts.

_ Stuttgen told the council that a storm sewer upgrade on West Linden Street near the railroad tracks has been completed and it appears to be effective.

“We got an inch of rain in 30 minutes the other day and it handled it perfectly,” he said. “We didn’t have a puddle in the street.”

_ Council members discussed a possible change to the city’s building permit fee structure, but took no action.

_ The council was informed that the Christiansen Foundation is donating money for installing two pickle ball courts at the H.K. Christiansen Park on South Fifth Street. Stuttgen said the courts will be placed near the flower beds, with fencing around them. He said the preliminary cost estimate is around $80,000 for the concrete, the nets and the fence, but the city will have to work within a budget set by the donation.

_ The council passed a motion to make council president Mason Rachu, deputy clerk-treasurer Erin Clausnitzer and utility supervisor Josh Soyk signers for the city’s recently awarded CDBG grant.

_ The council voted to take Grady’s name off of all the city’s banking accounts as of Sept. 3, his last day.

_ The council approved $17,160 in monthly police department bills and $1.1 million in August bills from the city.