SHERBURN — During the Sherburn City Council meeting on Tuesday, there was an overflow crowd, mostly those wanting to discuss the Temperance Lake Ridge (TLR) situation.

Nancy Hanson brought up several things that she did not like about how the former executive director, Lisa Lange, was managing the facility.

Kevin Lange works in maintenance at TLR and praised Lisa Lange as an executive director and said that the Cornerstone would not fix payroll problems and that Lisa told the city council the company replaced her and that she had a conflict of interest since she was an employee of Embark company, the company with which the City replaced Cornerstone. Kevin showed emails from the Cornerstone praising Lisa for her activities and 19 years of service.

Lisa defended her position and said she complained to the city council about Cornerstone’s actions and billing problems. She also defended the staffing levels and defended using Indeed for recruitment of staff and answered other allegations from Cornerstone that suggested that she was a bully and difficult to work with. She mentioned using a volunteer ombudsman for three years to talk to the residents and make sure their rights were protected. She said she is willing to work with Embark or Cornerstone or whatever management company the council agrees to hire.

The Cornerstone company had three representatives, one of which is working as executive director now, at the meeting to speak to the council.

The contract termination notification was delayed, Council Member Brad Ringnell said, because the city attorney sent it to the wrong address. The representative said Cornerstone reviewed documentation and accountability and they asked the council to reinstate the company until the end of the year and give them a chance to show what they can do. The “roadblocks” they contended that were put up from Lisa included staffing favoritism, their inability to make decisions and changes because of her, staff and family did not know how to communicate concerns to Cornerstone, elderly waivers incomplete or not given to them and organization incomplete.

They hired another Executive Director and a nurse to replace Lisa and feel they are making progress for the month they are working there. They have terminated some staff for handbook policy offenses. They asked about council communicating changes and offered to show the council the things they asked about from last year.

The council asked that the Executive Director come to the council meetings and that the company send them the things they asked about, such as the service contracts with residents and elderly waivers and accountability reviews and the budget for last year and this year.

Later in the meeting, contacting other management companies besides Embark and Cornerstone for the management company for the Temperance Lake Ridge facility was discussed by the council. Two companies have not returned reports yet although they did tour the facility. The council discussed the Cornerstone proposal to stay as the management company until the end of the year and approved rescinding the Embark contract with a loss of $15,000 and letting Cornerstone finish the year to show what they can do, approved by a three-to-one vote.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, there was a complaint by Tim Eisenmenger about the sewer problems he has had by the motel with plugged mains and work done that was not correct ending up with his sewer lower than the streets. He wondered when the city hired the work done if they admitted they did not do the work correctly. He said he has had to put in a drain field which was $30,000 and he would like the city to look into helping him pay for some of that since it was installed incorrectly by the company the city hired.

He gave council members photos of the damage and incorrect work. The council said they would take it into consideration. No action was taken that night.

The Main Street sewer lining project was discussed at a previous meeting and the council asked the clerk to contact the Drown company representative they work with, Shannon Sweeny. The clerk reported what Sweeny told her namely that the project should be done and that some grants could be applied for. This is covered in the facility plan already set by the city so the applications for grants etc. can be started right away. The project should cost about $580,000 and the city may be paying $120,000. The five percent increase for sewer should let the sewer fund cover the project. He suggested starting the paper work for the project. The council approved beginning the project plans.

The council discussed a possible discount if residents sign up for the portal and do e-billing. The clerk was asked what the price is for the billings done on paper and she showed the council the $5,000 a year billing. She suggested a $10 one-time discount for signing up and doing e-billing and mentioned the time saved by the City Hall staff if residents would use the portal and e-billing. The motion for that plan was dropped due to no second. The council discussed other plans and asked the clerk to bring a report about what other plans would cost to the next meeting.

The clerk’s report mentioned that most of the week was busy with preparations for this meeting and TLR reports. The Midwest IT company will increase their price and the clerk will look into other companies with reports about what the city needs and does not need and the prices. A third party not affiliated with any company or city will help her. At the last meeting the FREA Street Light Audit was mentioned and a question about the difference between LED and regular bulbs was asked. The FREA reported to the clerk that there is no difference as far as water resistance and blizzard longevity.

The clerk reported that the auditor is still Burkhardt and Burkhardt but the name is changed to Carlson SUV, since they merged with that company. They will concentrate on the cities that they audit and Carlson will concentrate on the agriculture accounts. Cornerstone will report to them for the audit and budget.

There was also discussion about getting a new mayor. The League of Minnesota cities said there would not be a need for a special election and that a mayor could be appointed by the council to finish the 2026 year. A council member may be appointed but then a new council member should be appointed. The mayor should have the same requirements as an applicant with an affidavit of candidacy has, such as age 21, citizen of US, and residency. The council approved the posting of an application for mayor by the clerk. The deadline for the applications is March 11. Contact the City Hall if interested in being mayor or council for Sherburn.

In other news:

— The discussion about the sale of the liquor store to a private party also was tabled until the financial reports for the year were available. The council wanted to know if the store had a profit this year.

— The Union proposal was tabled since the TLR and liquor store employees are not ready.

The Sherburn City Council’s next meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Feb. 2 at City Hall.