FAIRMONT– The Fairmont City Council on Monday was tasked with determining the next steps in the city administrator search. Some council members were ready to extend an employment offer to Jason Baker, while others wanted to hold off in order to do a more in-depth examination of the candidate.

Baker, the current city administrator of Oronoco, was interviewed along with one other candidate on January 9. Of the two, the council decided at a regular meeting on Jan. 12 that Baker should undergo a comprehensive background check.

Human Resources Manager, Rachel Viesselman, on Monday told the council that the background check was done and that everything came back clear. She told the council if it wanted to continue to consider Baker as city administrator it would next need to figure out terms to outline in an employment contract, which would go to Baker for review.

Terms needed to be determined included employment start date, starting salary, placement within the 2026 pay scale and vacation and sick accrual placement along with a potential moving expense reimbursement.

Council Member James Kotewa asked if discussing an employment offer required either a closed or open session. David Assaf, an attorney with Flaherty and Hood, said that open session was fine and that the council could not go into closed session to discuss public information.

Mayor Lee Baarts pointed out that the council had all met Baker and had been waiting for the details of the background check to come back. He asked the council what it had to discuss.

“We get good at tabling things and we don’t want to continually do that either,” Baarts said.

Council Member Randy Lubenow acknowledged that the council has “been down this road a couple of times.”

“I do have a little bit of concern with Mr. Baker going from a town of 1,500 to 2,000 to 10,000 people. I don’t think just because he’s the only candidate we have at the moment, we should feel that we have to hire him or settle or that he’s a great candidate. We should look at his experience,” Lubenow said.

He added that there have been some questions regarding how Baker is doing in the city that he’s currently at.

Lubenow said he would like to see any evaluation that Baker has had in the last year.

Viesselman said Baker would have the option to willingly show the council any evaluation that he’s had. Assaf added that his firm would need to follow up on how to best make that happen.

Baarts asked the council if it wanted to table the matter to wait for more information.

Council Member Wayne Hasek said he thought the council needed to make an offer rather than table the matter.

“If he’s going to find a different job… then we won’t have anybody,” Hasek said.

Council Member Jay Maynard also said he was prepared to make an offer, based on the summary review.

However, Council Member Britney Kawecki said she agreed with Lubenow.

“For me, I agree with Councilor Lubenow that we’ve been down this road many, many times. Jumping in just because this person presents, they’re coming from a population of 1,500. We’ve turned away a number of candidates because the cities they were coming from were way too small. That they wouldn’t be ready for a city of our size and/or complexity,” Kawecki said.

She said she didn’t want someone to start with the city only to have six months pass and then the city has to let them go and pay severance.

“I have more hesitation than I do confidence at this point,” Kawecki said.

Baarts suggested talking to Flaherty and Hood and then having a special meeting to discuss asking for more background checks or a personnel file.

“I hate to say it but what’s another week or two to get more information and then we can decide?” Baarts asked.

Kotewa pointed out that the council had hired an independent source to do the full background check.

“I respect that other council members want to see performance evaluations, but then again, if we’re going to have a discussion, it’s all private data, we can’t discuss at open session. It would have to be in closed session to do so. I’m okay with it, but I’m also okay with trusting the individual we paid, who does it professionally for a living, to determine if they are capable of doing the job,” Kotewa said.

Maynard asked Assaf if the council could have a closed meeting to discuss non-public information about the candidate. Assaf said he could work with a labor attorney to structure a special meeting to review anything further.

Maynard made a motion to have a potential closed session at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 to discuss non-public information regarding Jason Baker and an open session following for potential further action. Council Member James Kotewa seconded the motion. It passed 4-1 with Hasek opposed.

In other news:

— The council approved the second and final reading of ordinance 2026-01 repealing and replacing Fairmont city code chapter 14, article IV- lodging tax.

— The council considered potential locations of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and approved the bathrooms at Winnebago Avenue Sports Complex and Gomsrud Park and authorized staff to cover the cost of installation and annual maintenance fee (about $600 per unit per year) consistent with the existing AED unit at Jeffrey Kot Soccer Field Complex.

— The council accepted the Request for Proposals received from Beemer Companies in the amount of $43,000 for the demolition work at 315 N. Park Street and authorized staff to work with S & J Excavating and the city attorney to prepare a contract for future council consideration.