Fearing that an opportunity was slipping through their fingers, Onamia City Council voted during their regular meeting on March 8 to take an active role in persuading Nexus to keep operating the Mille Lacs Academy locally. Also: Short of funds; Windfall irks mayor; and Other News.
Fearing that an opportunity was slipping through their fingers, Onamia City Council voted during their regular meeting on March 8 to take an active role in persuading Nexus to keep operating the Mille Lacs Academy locally.
Councilmember Bill Hill, who is also president of the Community Development Corporation, told the council that Nexus is determined to discontinue its lease with the Crosier community and build its own facility, but has yet to settle on a new location.
“We need to let the Nexus board know that we are interested in keeping them here,” Hill said, asking for the council’s support because “by itself, the CDC has little clout.”
“We should be the front runner in this,” Mayor Larry Milton said, brandishing several newspaper accounts, which indicated that Nexus was considering a move to Brainerd. Milton said that the city’s relationship with the Academy had always been mutually beneficial and ought to continue, a sentiment echoed by the other council members.
Hill showed the council a number of prospective building sites, which could be made available to Nexus, the most promising of which is a parcel currently owned by the Crosiers, located east and across Hwy 169 from the Academy’s current home in the Crosier building.
Hill told the council that the Crosiers had indicated that they might be willing to sell the 31-acre parcel to the city; the city in turn could donate a portion of this to Nexus for a new building site. The council voted to draft a letter to Nexus CEO Jim D’Angelo expressing the city’s interest in being part of the Academy’s future.
“I’ll have it in the mail tomorrow,” Milton said.
Short of funds
It was a bitter pill to swallow when the low bid for the Onamia School water main looping project came in at almost $40,000 more then expected, but the Onamia City Council was in unanimous agreement that it was a pill that had to be swallowed.
Despite the fact that the project is outside city limits and technically unconnected to city business, the council voted to dip into the city’s economic development fund to make up the shortfall.
Both council members Bill Hill and Robert Mickus questioned whether bailing out the school district was a proper use of the fund, but both also saw little alternative.
The school has no more money to contribute, city clerk Kathy McCullum said, relaying a conversation she had earlier that day with Onamia schools Superintendent John Varner.
Had the school known what the actual cost of the project would be they could have bonded for it, but that opportunity has passed.
McCullum said that if the school finds it cannot afford the water loop project and has to back out, their only alternative will be to install a more costly well and pressure tank system.
The council was adamant in their support for the school; most of their ire was directed at the engineering firm that had prepared the original estimates.
Council member Hill said that in the three years he’s been on the council, engineering oversights have cost the city almost $100,000.
Concerning the water loop project, Hill said that a $40,000 oversight on a $250,000 project is unacceptable. Hill’s suggestion that the city start looking for a new engineering firm also had unanimous council support.
Windfall irks mayor
A $17,000 windfall had Onamia Mayor Larry Milton steaming instead of celebrating. Milton took Onamia Fire Chief Don Nichols and Councilmember Bill Hill to task for not keeping the council updated on funds that have been trickling into the Fireman’s Relief fund since 1992.
The money, none of which has ever been spent, is the result of a settlement the city made with a former city employee.
Milton said he was shocked when he learned of the fund at the last council meeting; Councilmember Robert Mickus said he was also unaware of the fund and felt “used and violated.”
Both said that as custodians of the public trust and the city’s money, they should have been given regular reports from the relief fund concerning activity in the account. The existence of the fund surfaced last month when Nichols included the $17,000 as part of a funding proposal for a new multi-purpose vehicle for the fire department.
Nichols took responsibility for the oversight and apologized for any hurt feelings but said it was an unintentional misunderstanding and easily corrected.
Hill, the council’s liaison to the fire department, promised to improve communication between the two entities but noted that the settlement that produced the money had occurred long before he ever became a council member, and that, at some point, the council had to have been made aware of the legal settlement. Milton acknowledged being aware of the settlement; what had upset him was that the details of the settlement had not been shared with the council.
“I haven’t been sleeping well since I heard this,” Milton said. “Now that it’s out on the table, I’ll be able to sleep again.”
In other news
• The council voted to put up for sale an 8.7 acre parcel of city owned property located south and west of the city. Look for the land description and details of the sale in the next issue of the Messenger, or contact the city clerk.
• The council approved a contract with attorney Gregg Bilz, making him the city’s new city attorney.
Fearing that an opportunity was slipping through their fingers, Onamia City Council voted during their regular meeting on March 8 to take an active role in persuading Nexus to keep operating the Mille Lacs Academy locally. Also: Short of funds; Windfall irks mayor; and Other News.
Fearing that an opportunity was slipping through their fingers, Onamia City Council voted during their regular meeting on March 8 to take an active role in persuading Nexus to keep operating the Mille Lacs Academy locally.
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