by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Two years or four years? What should be the term of office for Thief River Falls mayor? At the Committee of the Whole meeting Wednesday, Jan. 26, Thief River Falls City Council members discussed potentially changing the mayor’s term to four years.
Brian Holmer, who was first elected in 2014, currently serves as mayor. For the entirety of his time in office, Holmer has served two-year terms. The mayoral position will be on the ballot again this fall. Even though the mayoral term is two years, council members serve for four years.
Steve Narverud, who currently serves as acting mayor in the absence of Holmer, raised the possibility of changing the mayoral term of office at the Committee of the Whole meeting.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me,” said Narverud. “I just don’t understand it.”
Narverud questioned aloud whether it involved a tiebreaker since there is a difference in the terms for the mayor and council members.
In the past, Thief River Falls’ mayor served for four-year terms. Sometime in the early 1990s, that changed and the mayor began serving two-year terms. Narverud has researched the subject, but he doesn’t know why the change was made.
Any decision regarding the matter needs to be made before the end of June since the city will need to post the offices up for election the following month. The council would also need to enact an ordinance related to the change. In order to pass such an ordinance, the council would need to hold first and second readings of the proposed ordinance before voting on the proposal. City Administrator Angie Philipp indicated there is no cost to the city to change the term of office.
Council members Rachel Prudhomme and Mike Lorenson wanted to know the history behind the change. Prudhomme also wanted to learn the mayoral terms in other nearby cities.
Lorenson indicated that the mayor may have a shorter term since that individual truly represents the city.
Council member Curt Howe said he saw the benefit of a four-year term since two years isn’t much time to learn city government. Howe, who has served on the council for almost eight years, added that he still doesn’t know everything regarding city government.
Council members planned to further research the history of Thief River Falls’ past four-year mayoral term before making a decision.
The committee briefly discussed the revitalization of the west side water tower and what the face of the revitalized water tower should look like.
Currently, the water tower features “Thief River Falls’ as well as “Home of the Prowlers” and some Prowler paws. The name, phrase and paws were added after a civic group raised the funds for those purposes when the water tower was last revitalized in 1995. Prior to that time, the water tower sported a smiley face.
Water Systems Superintendent Wayne Johnson, who noted he has no opinion on the matter, asked council members what the tower should say. He indicated that it would cost about $10,000 to have something similar to what the water tower has now. If city leaders decided to use some artwork, the cost would be about $30,000.
Council members would like to hear from the community before making a decision on the water tower. They also discussed the possibility of a civic group raising funds for the painting project. An answer is needed by May 1.
The interior epoxy coating of the 500,000-gallon west water tower is deteriorating. Its exterior was last reconditioned in 1995, which is past its life expectancy of 25 years.
A week prior to the Committee of the Whole meeting, the council approved an agreement with KLM Engineering Inc. for the engineering portion of the project. That portion of the project, which includes an inspection, is expected to total $101,898. The costs of painting and labor haven’t yet been determined. Due to the weather, city leaders expect that the project may be completed in July or August.
The city’s east side water tower, which is located at Lions Park, is set to be reconditioned in the next five or six years.
In the next edition of the Northern Watch, read about a potential project involving Chief’s Coulee in Thief River Falls.