The Babbitt city council met on Tuesday night and went through options for filling shifts with the police department short two people.
To start, the council approved an agreement with the police department union to increase pay from 80 percent to 100 percent for parttime officers due to staff shortages with the chief and another officer resigning recently.
City attorney Joel Lewicki will review what powers the police chief has to make agreements with neighboring cities.
“The agreement with the sheriff’s office is a little bit different than the other agency staffing agreements. The agreement with the St. Louis Sheriff’s Department is $80 an hour, and they come, they use their vehicles, their equipment. They do not use our vehicles. They’re, of course, in the sheriff’s uniform,” said clerk treasurer Nancy Sanford.
“And they will cover shifts, and they will be in Babbitt, because we had a question about whether it was just responding to calls or whether they were actually taking shifts. They’re actually taking shifts, and the rate for that is $80 an hour,” said Sanford.
The council approved the agreement with the county.
Lassi questioned the $80 an hour figure. “It seems like a lot of money,” said Lassi.
“According to the sheriff’s office, it is the rate that they’ve established that they charge, and it is regardless of location. So it’s not as though we are being charged any more than they would charge any other municipality in the area, and it’s their burdened rate, basically. So it’s their officer’s rate plus all of their benefits and taxes,” said Sanford.
She said it is more expensive than paying overtime to current officers but the county uses their own vehicles which saves the city money.
Council member Duane Lossing asked what the pecking order will be. “We will start with our officers, then we go to the part-time, then we go to back to our officers. This is going to be the last choice, correct?”
Sanford said that was right and that the city will go to neighboring outside agencies before the sheriff’s department.
Mayor Andrea Zupancich said the process has been going well and the shifts during school time are prioritized to be covered.
“Well, I guess we don’t have a lot of options,” said Lassi.
Council member Joe White, who was on Zoom, asked what the rate would be for officers from other communities.
Sanford said that rate would be at that city’s overtime wage rate.
“Their uniform, their equipment, our vehicle,” said Sanford.
On a split vote, the council also voted to permanently appoint Emily Jaeger as ambulance supervisor at $1,000 a month, up for $500.
White said this will be a change from the ambulance supervisor being approved annually.
White pushed for the change and said the ambulance department takes in between $160,000 and $190,000 a year.
“The problem is that money that the ambulance currently raises is enough to sustain a volunteer force. We are unable to with our volunteer force because volunteerism is dying in our country, including Babbitt, get enough people to meet the state requirements, which are that we have on call 100% of the time, which means 24 hours a day, two people are on 365 days a year. About the best we’re doing is about 60%.
“Some weeks we might get up a little bit higher if the sun and moon align right. But these requirements are changing how the ambulance has to run. And the city, quite frankly, we can’t just afford to dump $300,000 into the ambulance department, as we all saw during our budget meetings to accommodate a part-time full-time positioning for the ambulance department to go,” said White.
Sanford said Jaeger is doing a good job and is looking into developing additional revenue streams.
Zupancich said she would like to see the issue tabled until it can be researched further since it was so close to the end of the year and a change in how the city traditionally handles the issue.
The motion passed 3-2 with Lossing and Zupancich voting no.
In other business the council:
• Voted to sell six acres of land to Gary Kurpius for $1,800 an acre. Kurpius said he has no plans to develop the land, which at one time was proposed for development by the city. The cost of a survey will be reviewed.
• Sanford reported the issue of an employee benefit plan that had been implemented incorrectly has been rectified.
• Received an update from the city attorney who recommended the police chief or the on duty officer serve as the sergeant at arms for council meetings.
• Appointed Stephani Teslow to the Economic Development Authority Steering Committee.
• Waived facility rental fees for the Santa Claus Hayride on Dec. 13.
• Approved tobacco and liquor licenses.
• Approved a new employee dental benefit program.
• Approved a request from Timber Bay Resort to start the process to be annexed into the city limits.
• Approved a proposal from Zupancich to send out a city newsletter at an estimated cost of $1,200 per issue in the first quarter and third quarter of next year.
• Approved a request from the St. Pius X Catholic Church to waive the service process in a lawsuit against Reserve Mining Company over the deed to the property at 15 Ash Blvd.
• Approved on Oct. 30 at a special meeting to offer the 2026 campground host contract to Jeffrey Phetterplace at $32,000 salary for the season, this included $3,000 to be budgeted for programs and events to be held at the campground.
