Harris changes to one monthly meeting

By Danielle Strenke
In an effort to save money, the Harris City Council approved changing its meeting schedule from two meetings to month to only one.
At its regular meeting Dec. 19, the council discussed the option after City Attorney Kevin Shoeberg recommended cutting back on meetings to reduce costs in 2003.
The recently adopted budget for Harris will add up to an increase of 100 percent on the tax bills of some of its residents. Shoeberg said cutting back to only one council meeting a month would help.
He also recommended the council approve cutting planning commission meetings to once a month as well to save money.
ìWe usually donít have a full agenda that would mandate two meetings a month,î he said. ìWeíve already cut your salaries in half so this would be better in line with that,î he said.
Shoeberg said cutting back to one council meeting a month would save on per diems paid per meeting, and would also make the one meeting a month a more productive one.
ìIt sounds good to me,î councilor Don Cardinal said.
The council discussed what the best week would be to have the monthly council meetings. Mayor Richard Hanson said the first Thursday of the month would probably work.
Shoeberg said he would check with the city clerk and treasurer to make sure the meeting is held on a date when the council can ensure the timely payment of monthly bills, and confer with the council and mayor before the January meeting is set.
Shoeberg also has been working on a new personnel policy for the city. He told the council that there was one item that he found in the old policy that should be eliminated. ìIt states that the clerk is tested for drug testing, and thatís fairly expensive,î he said.
He recommended that the council eliminate the mandatory drug testing for the city clerk, because the procedures are costly and there is really not a need for an office employee to submit to drug testing.
ìI think it makes sense for a maintenance worker to be tested, someone who is operating machinery for the city or driving a lot. It doesnít make sense for the clerk or treasurer to be subject to it,î Shoeberg said.
The council approved eliminating the testing from the clerkís job policy description. Shoeberg said final adjustments to the policy would be made and a final draft brought before the council for review and adoption in January.

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