by April Scheinoha
Reporter
There will be a changing of the guard in the Thief River Falls Public Works Department. At its meeting Tuesday, May 18, the Thief River Falls City Council approved hiring Travis Giffen as public works director.
Giffen starts his new job Monday, June 14. He will be paid $8,056.95 per month. Giffen succeeds Public Works Director Mark Borseth, who is retiring Friday, May 28 after 32 years with the city.
A retirement party for Borseth will be held Thursday, May 27, from 2 to 4 p.m., at City Hall.
This council meeting was Borseth’s last council meeting as a city employee. “Thank you for your service,” said council member Anthony Bolduc.
City Council approved granting a Commercial Energy Improvement Loan to Pete Patel, owner of Quality Inn. Patel will receive a loan of up to $35,000 to improve the heating and cooling system for the restaurant in the building. The seven-year loan has an interest rate of 2%. The loan will be secured with a mortgage on the property.
After a public hearing, the council authorized an amendment to an Oct. 20, 2017, grant between the city and Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The council applied for the Minnesota Investment Fund Grant on behalf of Digi-Key, which had received a $4 million forgivable loan for the construction of its 2.2 million square foot building. The forgivable loan was awarded with performance standards, including the creation of 305 new full-time equivalent jobs. Digi-Key now has until Thursday, Sept. 30 to complete its reporting requirements related to the grant.
In November 2020, Digi-Key felt that it had met the jobs requirement. However, state officials audited the report and found that Digi-Key hadn’t met the requirement at that time. Mayor Brian Holmer said that Digi-Key had already exceeded the jobs requirement by Dec. 31, 2020.
City Council provided a summary of the job performances of co-fire chiefs Rick Beier and Marty Semanko.
The council referred to the co-fire chiefs’ cooperation with other city departments and their engagement with the community. Reading the summary aloud, Holmer said the long-term service of the volunteer firefighters reflects well on both Beier and Semanko. He read that the co-fire chiefs do a good job of providing in-house training to the full-time firefighters and volunteer firefighters. However, the council would like them to provide more instruction using local trainers.
Two weeks earlier, the council met in closed session to discuss the job performances of both Beier and Semanko. The council is conducting performance reviews of all department leaders. The council is able to meet in closed session for such purposes. By state statute, it is then required to provide a summary of the closed session at its next open meeting.
The next council meeting will be held Tuesday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.