FAIRMONT–On Monday the Fairmont City Council looked at making some changes to the city charter, specifically relating to the purchasing policy. The suggestion to change it comes from a newly formed charter review team.

Interim City Administrator Jeff O’Neill provided some background and said that quite some time ago the city council engaged in an effort to look at reconciling the city ordinances, state statutes and the city charter as there were some elements of the three that weren’t consistent.

“As part of that effort one of the things that came out right away is that the current threshold for requiring a bid process to occur is for any purchase that’s over $5,000 or above. That goes back to 1991,” O’Neill explained.

With that, he said there were some concerns because over time the city has been making purchases in excess of that amount without going through a formal bidding process.

“We have been not following our own charter so obviously this is something that needs to be corrected,” O’Neill said.

However, he said the fix could not be as simple as raising the amount of money, so the charter review team– which consists of two city council members, two charter commission members and two people at large– got together and went though the purchasing policy, as well as state statute.

“The group met on two separate occasions… and their feeling is that the city should follow state law, regardless of charter language,” O’Neill said.

He said this will give the city council the authority to set up individual policies in which it can operate under and can set its own standard for purchasing.

“What we’re proposing today is to modify the charter to, instead of delineating the $5,000 and additional language in the charter, to simply follow state statutes, which gives council authority to set its purchasing policy and direct purchasing that way,” O’Neill said.

Once the charter review team came up with a suggestion, it was passed by the charter commission, which agreed with the change before it came before the council for a decision on Monday.

The potential change required a public hearing so on Monday the first reading of the proposed ordinance change was held. There were no comments made from the public but once it was closed Council Member Jay Maynard said, “The proposal here is the ideal solution because it removes something from the charter that probably shouldn’t have been there to begin with and puts the authority on how to do purchasing right here with council where it belongs.”

The council unanimously approved of the first reading of the ordinance amendment.

On Monday the council also considered whether or not councilors should be able to remotely attend city council meetings and workshops.

O’Neill noted that it would be an interim policy to allow that a council member would use on short notice. He specifically brought up the upcoming budget season and some workshops that are to be held.

“Really the intent is to get clearance from council to do the best we can,” O’Neill said.

The council was provided with all state rules that would need to be followed. He said that when most cities establish the ability for councilors to attend meetings remotely they provide a list of conditions under which they will conduct them in.

“During the budget setting session time we might have a number of meetings that are compressed and/or it’s difficult to get everyone in a room at the same time so this gives us some added flexibility,” O’Neill said.

He said the council could decide to only allow for remote meeting abilities on a temporary basis but also suggested the council look at the city’s technology and called this ability “contemporary.” He said it would be similar to what was done during the Covid-19 time period.

Council Member Randy Lubenow said that while everyone gets busy, he thinks it’s important to meet as a group. He also noted the city doesn’t really have the correct technology to go forward with something like this.

“I guess I’m okay with it for a short time period while we can research some of those needs to have remote access here in this room (council chambers). That way the public can participate,” Lubenow said.

He made a motion to allow remote participation by council members through Sept. 30, 2025.

City finance Director Paul Hoye said he wanted to clarify something and shared that virtual meetings were held in council chambers during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the only drawback was the timing of the video and the audio.

Mayor Lee Baarts asked whether there were other Minnesota cities that allow for this. O’Neill acknowledged that there are and said he thinks more cities will be adopting it on a limited basis.

“There will be some cities that don’t want their council members to relocate or constantly be dialing in from another location but that will be up to the council to set those parameters of when it’s acceptable and when it’s not,” he said.

O’Neill said it will also apply to the different commissions as there are a number of commissioners that serve who can’t be present during the winter months. He said if the technology is set up the commissioners can meet at council chambers.

Council Member Britney Kawecki noted how the council had just discussed updating some of its rules and alluded to this being a good change but noted she thought there should be a limit on how much it can be used.

“I feel that we should be looking at a policy and technology and this should include committee members as well,” Kawecki said.

Baarts asked what would happen if there’s technology issues and O’Neill said that could be addressed in the policy but pointed out that if there’s a quorum present the meeting could likely continue. He said if there is something critical to be discussed, the council could decide to table the matter.

The motion to allow remote access on a temporary basis until Sept. 30 passed 4-1 with Council Member James Kotewa opposed.

In other business:

— Hoye, presented the June 30, 2025 investment schedule with an investment balance of just over $42 million. Hoye said there is just over $911,000 in interest earnings in just the first six months, which is about double from where the city was at this time last year.

— The council approved awarding a contract to National Pipeline Construction Co. for lead service line replacement in the amount of $6.7 million contingent upon funding authorization by the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority.

— The council authorized a purchase agreement for the sale of real property located at 403 E. 5th Street to Habitat for Humanity of Martin and Faribault County.

— Community Development Director, Pat Oman, gave a recap of the most recent Lakes Management Committee meeting that took place on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

— O’Neill shared that since the city administrator position has been posted, the recruiting firm said a few candidates have “thrown their hat into the ring.”