Tomah City Council to continue SET discussion

The Tomah City Council will continue its discussion regarding the feasibility of a senior executive team (SET) municipal government to replace a city administrator when it convenes Monday, Jan. 17, at the Committee of the Whole meeting and the full council meeting Tuesday night.

The Committee of the Whole and the council meetings are both scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall council chambers.

The SET concept was first floated publicly last month, a decision based on the city’s experience with its two previous city administrators. Brad Hanson resigned due to family issues. Before Hanson, Roger Gorious was terminated after seven years on the job.

The SET would exist to discuss, coordinate and provide organizational decisions. It would be comprised of the city treasurer, city clerk, zoning administrator/building inspector and director of Public Works. A chairperson would be selected from that group to be the “point” person to the mayor and council.

Molly Powell is city treasurer, Becki Weyer is city clerk, Shane Rolf is zoning and building inspector and Kirk Arity is Public Works director.

The SET would replace a city administrator and handle duties previously assigned to that office. The team would meet weekly to discuss city operations. The role would mirror many of the duties of an administrator. Recommendations already vetted at the committee level would come before the SET to be evaluated before going to the council.

The SET would consider impact from any recommendations regarding fiscal, human resources or city infrastructure. That would assure all aspects have been considered prior to council discussion.

For the present, Arity is serving as interim city administrator until a decision is made. In his report to the council this month Arity indicated, “We are all actively working in a SET (Senior Executive Team) approach. Interestingly, our first meeting highlights for me were positive. We did not discuss agenda items nor set an agenda for the meeting. What I saw were all the same issues on each team member’s notes. It was really quite scary to see that much synchronization. Each of us did have one or two specialized items.”

Other agenda items

• The council will consider an ordinance change regarding the number of large items that can be set on the curb for city disposal. Currently, there is no limit. If approved, the ordinance would be revised to limit the number to two large items per month. The items would generally consist of appliances and/or furniture.
• The council will consider a goose management plan for the fowl around Lake Tomah. Members of Tomah’s Parks and Recreation Commission have been working with Lake Committee member Kim Mello and wildlife biologist Mike Jones to come up with a plan to control geese at Winnebago and Butts parks.

The adaptive approach includes at this time permission for the council to apply for a Canada goose nest and egg depredation permit, consider and evaluate use of an approved repellant in the parks, promote early goose hunting on Lake Tomah and collect/evaluate population information on nesting geese.

• The council will consider a sex offender residency restriction ordinance. Presently Tomah does not have any residency restriction on its books if a released sex offender is placed in the city. Last month, Tomah Police Chief Scott Holum pointed out that Sparta recently created a sex offender residency ordinance to limit where they can live if placed in the community.

Holum pointed out his concern that if Tomah does not create a similar ordinance, the state could possibly look at Tomah for placement.

• The council will consider approval of two ice racing events on Lake Tomah, weather and ice permitting.The first is the Central Wisconsin Ice Racing Association event Jan. 29-30. The second event is the Warrens WIKCR Northeast Club youth races on Feb. 26.