With one officer abruptly resigning and the chief set to leave on Nov. 1, the Babbitt city council is piecing together coverage of open shifts.
“Ely has to run it by their council, so there’s Ely, East Range and Eveleth and Gilbert also. St. Louis County will also assist. We can fill in the positions with the people we have and fill out with part-timers. Joint powers can fill in the blanks from there,” said Mayor Andrea Zupancich.
“They come in their uniform with their equipment, use our vehicles,” said Sanford. “We pay them overtime. Do we want to compensate them for travel time? Do we want to compensate them for mileage?”
Sanford said for the interim, the city could increase the part-time rate to 100 percent.
Zupancich said this was a lot to think about and it would impact the budget. She said the police chief and officer positions were posted. She said there are 900 positions open in the state and 600 are graduating currently. Sanford said the pool is likely 300 for 900 positions.
Council member Joe White said the city had three or four applicants for the last opening.
Babbitt has three part-timers currently.
Zupancich said the schedule has been filled through the end of the month by outgoing chief Troy Bissonette.
Council member Jim Lassi said the council should discuss with Todd Heikkila how to cover the shifts, assuming he would be appointed interim chief.
“By then we should have some of these agreements in place,” said Lassi.
Council member John Fitzpatrick said he was in favor of paying mileage. White said he would be in favor of paying part-time officers full-time wages but wasn’t in favor of the mileage.. Duane Lossing said many officers already commute to work. He said he was in favor of increasing the wage for the parttime officers.
Sanford said officers from other departments will be paid an overtime wage which Babbitt will pay to the city they normally work for.
White said eventually Babbitt will have a new chief and the open position filled.
Lossing said there could be scheduling changes including how long shifts are in order to save money. He said at one time cops worked eight hour shifts with four people. White said the union contract will limit the city’s choices.
The council noted the resignation of Philip Ruelle was given with less than 24 hours notice.
