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Employees of Soil and Water District to see wage increase |
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While Pine County is in the early stages of 2010 budget talks, at least four employees of the county's Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will see a wage increase beginning next month. At its June 23 meeting in Hinckley, supervisors of the SWCD approved for a 2-3 percent pay raise for the three full-time and one part-time employees, effective July 1. “I think they deserve it,” said Doug Odegard, District 1 in Pine City. “It falls in line with the cost of living increase.”
The wage increase came on recommendation from personnel committee members Odegard and Kelly Osterdyk, District 2 in Pine City, who voted in favor of the motion from Paul Olesen, District 5 in Askov. The roll call approval met with two nay votes from supervisors Skip Thomson, District 3 in Sandstone, and J.J. Waldhalm, District 4 in Sturgeon Lake.
“We’re not opposed to the raises, but it’s the timing,” said Thomson. “It’s fiscally irresponsible to give a raise before you know what the budget for 2010 will be.”
The 2-3 percent increase amounts to 40-51 cents more per hour for the three full-time employees (district manager, wetland specialist, and water management specialist) and the part-time office assistant. This year’s budget for employee salaries and benefits totals $85,671.
District manager Jill Carlier explained that funding for the SWCD comes from three sources: approximately 44 percent from county taxpayers, 35-40 percent from the state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources (BOWSR), and the remaining portion from SWCD fund-raisers like plat book sales, the tree program, and aerial photo services.
As far as the county portion, says Odegard, “I think we can afford a pay raise for employees.” He expects that budget talks will focus on other ways for the SWCD to save money, possibly in the areas of health insurance, computer services, and more affordable housing space. Department supervisors recently suggested that the county move the SWCD office from its rental space in Hinckley to the Sandstone Land Building, which could result in an annual savings of $25,000. The county board is expected to discuss this notion in its ongoing 2010 budget talks that will wrap up in mid-December.
Waldhalm and Thomson urged supervisors to hold off on any employee pay increase until the county has finalized the budget. They figured that if warranted, the employees could have received retro pay increases. “We’re not trying to take money away from the employees, but you don’t spend money you don’t have,” said Waldhalm.
Odegard sympathizes with the employees, who were not given a pay increase last year. He anticipates that the county will allot adequate funding for the SWCD operating budget. “I think we should be able to afford them a raise,” he said.
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Dave Talbot Jr. to be grand marshal of the Fourth of July parade |
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by Lois E. Johnson
Dave Talbot Jr. was intrigued by Moose Lake every time he passed through during the years that he was growing up and as a young man. Little did he realize that he would be playing a pivotal role in its history later in his life. Nor how the people in the town would embrace him and support him when he faced major surgery - a lung transplant.
“I grew up in Proctor,” he said in a recent interview. “It was a railroad town, similar to Moose Lake. That was part of the reason that I was attracted to Moose Lake.
“We camped here a few times and went to the city park for picnics with family and friends.” Dave’s career began in Duluth, and he later worked in Hibbing.
When that job ended, Dave found himself unemployed.
“I saw an ad in the Duluth News - Tribune that the City of Moose Lake wanted to hire a city administrator.
“I liked the town so that ad peaked my interest.”
However, Dave did not get a good impression when he came into the city offices in the old hospital building.
“I saw Jean vacuuming before the interview,” he recalled. “The ceiling tiles were hanging in a vee shape, ready to fall. I was wearning a three-piece suit.
“I asked myself, ‘Do I really want to be here?”’
Dave was about to leave when was stopped by a city councilor.
“I ran into Jon Brown,” he said.“ Jon said ‘Don’t even look at this place. What we really need is a community center.”
Dave stayed for the interview, heard the vision of Mayor Clayton Hartman and the council, and listened as they described the framework that they had set for the future.
“After that, I couldn’t wait to get here,” said Dave.
That was 14 years ago.
“Those 14 years have been the busiest and most tumultuous years of my life, he said.
The highest priority at the time that he was hired was arranging a financial package for the emergency response center and the community and civic center.
“The city council and the fire department had a clearly defined vision of what they wanted,” he said. “We considered several sites but chose to keep the city hall downtown to keep the downtown viable.”
Dave said that he pulled a creative financing package together, including funding from the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Program.
“They don’t allow anyone to do it the same way I did anymore,” he said. “Both of the facilities got done but no other will ever be done that way again.
“It’s the tenth anniversary of both of those buildings.”
“It’s Dave vision that resulted in the chamber building and visitors information center.
The building was purchased for $1 from the DNR when the department started construction on a geologic interpretive center at the state park, and most of the remainder of the amenities on the ground were donated.
At its location at the intersection of Highway 73 and 61 near the south entrance to the city, it’s one of the most visible parks in the community.
“It was one of those projects that was fun to do,” said Dave. “And there was minimal investment.”
The list of projects goes on: the water tower and water lines, two sewer projects, two housing subdivisions (one with a street bearing his name), the streetscape project, securing three Mighty Ducks grants for additional to Riverside Arena and artificial ice- making equipment, a new apartment building, single-family housing, commercial development, the municipal liquor store and Veterans Park.
As a veteran of the war in Vietnam, Dave has a soft heart for veterans.
“That was probably my favorite project,” he said.
Dave continues to live in Duluth to be close to family and physicians. But he spends the Fourth of July in Moose Lake, and has appeared in every parade except the one following his lung transplant three years ago.
This year, instead of chauffeuring the grand marshals in former Mayor Hartman’s 1946 Ford convertible, he will ride in the back and receive the honors himself from the throngs of people along the parade route.
As he reflects on his years in Moose Lake, he said: “It goes without saying that it has been a privilege to have been selected as the first city administrator for the City of Moose Lake,” he said. “Each issue that comes or arises is a major project.
“I can’t come up with the words to express my appreciation to all of the people that I have met and have been involved with over these 14 years. This really is like being home.”
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