SLAYTON CITY COUNCIL

SLAYTON CITY COUNCIL HIRES NEW POLICE OFFICER, RECAPS COMMUNITY MEETING AND MOVES FORWARD WITH GETTING FINAL DESIGNS FOR MAPLE AVENUE PROJECT

By Jenny Kirk Three of the seven items of new business at the Slayton City Council meeting on Monday pertained to the Slayton Police Department, with the council eventually approving the purchase of five tasers, the hiring of Javier Ramirez Valez as a police officer and the 2024-2026 Law Enforcement Labor Services contract. Police Chief Jeremy Steinle explained to the council that the police department’s 5-year contract for the lease of tasers is up this year and that he recommended the purchase of five new tasers instead of utilizing Axon Enterprise’s lease program this time around. “It was roughly $2,000 per taser at the time when we signed (the contract) five years ago,” Steinle said. “Obviously, things have gone up. I looked at leasing these five, and it was just over $20,000 over the five years. That’s with all sorts of supplies and different things that, honestly, weren’t necessary for a department our size.” The council approved the purchase of the five newer model tasers for a total cost of $15,007.50. In the past, some officers didn’t have the same model taser as others. Steinle said at least two of the tasers were quite old and would no longer be supported. Council member Kate Harmsen asked what the typical life expectancy was for tasers and learned that five years is about it. “You can get a little more use out of them, but we’re already seeing, with the ones we have, they’re starting to burn through batteries, just have malfunctions, not last or work the way they’re supposed to,” Steinle said. “And cartridges only last for so long.” Along with the five new tasers, the city will be getting 30 cartridges, which Steinle said was enough to get their first year of training in and for everybody to have cartridges on hand. He added that Officer McKenna Schreier has indicated that she would like to go to instructor school, so there’s a real possibility that they’ll have an in-house taser instructor in the near future.

The council also voted in favor of hiring Javier Ramirez Valdez for the police officer position at Grade 6, Step 1 ($27.65) contingent upon a satisfactory psychological evaluation and drug test. The background check for him is already completed.

The 2024-2026 LELS contract for the sworn officers was approved with the same changes and additions as AFSCME, so the same cost of living adjustment, placement in 2024, wellness benefits and donation of sick leave. The council decided to table its decision regarding the 2024 department head contracts, which has the same changes and additions as the AFSCME/LELS contracts. The proposed 2024 wages are also the same as the implementation for AFSCME/ LELS. Performance evaluations for Malchow, Steinle and City Works Director Weston Mahon had not been completed yet. “This is something that is part of the process and part of the expectation that is supposed to be done, so I’m not sure we should move forward on that until those are done,” Harmsen said. “It’s not that I’m anticipating any negative performance evaluations. I want to make that clear. But if we have an agreement, we have a process, then we should follow it. We haven’t finished the due diligence on anybody as far as the management.”

The 2024-2028 airport crop/ hay rental bids were awarded to highest bidder Les Overman. The current hay land consists of 32.84 acres, while the crop land spans 13.98 acres. The total revenue per year will be $11.183.78.

The council also approved an agreement for services with DGR to prepare the final design and bid package regarding the 2024 Maple Avenue project. “We’re looking at total estimated fee of $42,000,” Malchow said. “This is contracts, topo (topographic survey), field work, final design, bidding, bid letting and construction. This gets us to final project, with a check list of items there.”

A request for satisfaction on the property of Gerald and Margo Davis was also approved by the council. The mortgage goes back to October 2009. It was noted that a clerical error — the words mortgager and mortgagee — had been discovered and that there was an updated version available.

At the start of the meeting, there were no additions and a motion to approve the agenda was successful. The minutes from the Nov. 20 meeting remained as printed.

The council then approved the claims.

Regarding pending items, Malchow gave a recap of the city’s electrical information meeting held on Thursday, Nov. 30. He said he thought it went well and shared that there were a few good, well-informed questions posed to them at the end. Malchow noted that a May 14, 2024, special election would require the city to have at least one public hearing between the dates of Jan. 15 and March 31. He anticipates having their consultant, Dave Berg, in attendance so he can answer any of the more detailed questions on the feasibility piece. Nobles Cooperative Electric representatives will also be at the table for the next informational meeting. Malchow said the reps could answer any of the maintenance and operations questions, such as purchase of power, outages, billing, meter reading and those types of questions, since they’re the ones the city is proposing will do the work.

After a brief discussion, the council set Wednesday, Jan. 24 for the next informational meeting.

The next city council meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 18 at City Hall. The 2024 budget truth in taxation presentation will take place.