Tuesday’s Babbitt city council meeting took place on Monday instead, with council members John Fitzpatrick and Joseph White absent.
The majority of the meeting was a discussion amongst the council members and the audience of what option to pursue if no police chief can be hired for the city of Babbitt.
Last council meeting the St. Louis County Sheriff’s office presented options of taking over the Babbitt Police Department.
Last week interim police chief Todd Heikkila and city clerk Nancy Sanford heard from the East Range department of what a possible merger could look like.
Some other options include approaching Ely city council about contracting with their city, potentially restructuring and maintaining a local department, or approaching a different agency entirely about a partnership.
Mayor Andrea Zupancich wanted to clear up some rumors circulating on social media, “I had seen one rumor that said we’re not going to have a police departmentcomesummer,that is not true…the other rumor I had heard was that we aren’t gonna have a PD in two weeks; to the best of my knowledge that is also not true.”
TheBabbittPDwasbudgeted at $815,521 last year; the East Range would be able to provide coverage for a comparable amount.
The county quoted the council for $650,125, or about $165,000 less than the city budget. There was some doubt that these numbers accurately reflect a full year’s coverage.
Conversing about the visit to East Range, Sanford said, “I was really impressed with it and I just thought it matched up best with what I hear from the citizens.”
Heikkila agreed. “I believe that would be the best option because they are very community- based, like us.”
For parties interested in applying for Babbitt Police Chief, please see the City of Babbitt Employment Opportunities website at https://www.babbittmn. gov/employment-opportunities.
In other business the council:
• Approved professional grant writer Stephanie Teslow’s application to the planning commission.
• Approached attorney Joel Lewicki about proper process to request presence at council meetings. He stated that he feels his legal expertise is best exercised in review of council proceedings, and the council can always pass motions contingent up his review.
• Approved repairs for $1,371 and potentially above for the PD squad car’s non-functioning heater.
• Approved the fire department request for pension to be increased from $1,900 to $2,000.
• Granted a pay request for arena compressor projects up to $233,858 for materials.
• Approved a motion to change the payroll schedule for the ambulance department from monthly to biweekly.
• Approved ambulance director Emily Jaeger and new assistant director Rebekah Littler to split training responsibilities and the salary budgeted for the training director’s position, since the city has not employed a training director. They were both approved to receive an additional $75 a month, bringing their salaries from $500 and $400 to $575 and $475 a month, respectively.
• Approved the city clerk’s request to redefine payroll responsibilities to include the deputy clerk, in order to provide some additional contingency in the case of clerk absence.
• Tabled evaluation of city clerk performance for the next meeting as two councilors were absent.
