The Crookston City Council held two special meetings on Monday night. The first was to pass a pair of agenda items to act as the CHEDA board and exercise all powers moving forward. The second meeting was a Special CHEDA meeting to elect new officers to replace the former roles of President of CHEDA and vice president, treasurer, secretary, and Assistant Treasurer.
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The Special City Council meeting was merely a formality to proceed forward in the night, giving the board the necessary powers to elect officers and make decisions moving forward as the CHEDA Board.
There was a brief discussion held to open the night regarding the emergency CHEDA meeting that was held last Friday morning to approve the items discussed at that meeting, including the approval of Amy Finch as Interim Executive Director, as well as the decision to place former Executive Director Craig Hoiseth on Administrative leave.
The first of two agenda items that passed by the board gave them the power to exercise the electing of officers in the following meeting, while the second that passed authorized them to act on all agenda items that will be discussed tomorrow morning at the CHEDA board meeting held at Valley Technology Park at 7:00 a.m.
SPECIAL CHEDA MEETING
The Special CHEDA Meeting included the appointing of new officers and board direction to staff about the transition. Mayor Dale Stainbrook gave recommendations for who he thought would be best for each role, and the positions were voted on one by one starting with President. Below is who was elected for each role.
- PRESIDENT: Wayne Melbye
- VICE PRESIDENT: Dylane Klatt
- TREASURER: Clayton Briggs
- SECRETARY: Theresa Tahran
- ASSISTANT TREASURER: Ryan Lindtwed
Wayne Melbye spoke on what his goals and aspirations are now that he will be the CHEDA president. “We’re going to try and have a little more presence at City Hall, as well as working towards the betterment of Crookston,” said Melbye. “I think we have a board here that is going to try and work toward the betterment and hopefully will get some things moving around and carry on.”
The board will now act on all CHEDA agenda items moving forward, including the CHEDA meeting tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Interim Executive Director of CHEDA Amy Finch gave more insight into the logistics and moving pieces in the transition. “At the last City Council meeting, a requirement was put in place for the CHEDA board to get approval from City Council,” said Finch. “That was put in place because we anticipate sometime in the future that the CHEDA board will be turned back over into a citizen board.”
Thus, by accepting the agenda items, the City Council Board approved the CHEDA board to act on all items that will take place moving forward. It is unsure if this is the same method that will be used moving forward.
There was also a closed session during the meeting to review the performance of former Executive Director Craig Hoiseth. In the closed meeting, a discussion was held on the Executive Director’s unprofessional behavior and the unprofessional inability to communicate with City Council members. A motion was made for the termination of Hoiseth, and the motion passed.
Following that, the board then gave direction to the staff about the transition taking place. “The by-laws state that the Treasurer is one of the signers on the bank account, and historically the President and Treasurer along with the staff have been signers on the account as well,” said Finch. “Mr. Melbye and Mr. Briggs along with Theresa Tahran and Tiffany Jones as CHEDA staff will be signers on the account. It was not my recommendation that I as Interim Executive Director have my name on the account, and by doing so, this still leaves an adequate number of people to sign even if someone is unavailable.”
Other items discussed included new times to meet as CHEDA board members and staff members, along with locations of the meetings. Some members believe it is better to work separately and keep the meetings out at Valley Technology Park, while others believe having City Council meetings and CHEDA meetings on the same night could be the proper way to do it. No decision has been reached at this time.
The next CHEDA meeting will take place tomorrow morning, Tuesday, July 20, at 7:00 a.m. in the conference room at Valley Technology Park. The next City Council meeting will be next week on Monday night, July 26, inside the City Council Chambers in City Hall.
