By Brenda Erdahl
Maple Lake City Hall is taking steps to get back on track after another resignation and the audit deadline looming.
At the Tuesday, April 16 regular City Council meeting, council members approved hiring Civic Systems LLC at a cost not to exceed $2,400 to balance the check book so they can move forward preparing for the audit. They also approved hiring local resident Kristin Helwig, with her background in accounting, to work part time alongside Civic and Interim City Administrator Shirley Slater-Schulte to prepare the books.
Councilors said their efforts likely won’t be enough to meet the audit deadline and they expect they will still have to request an extension.
They said the additional hires are necessary because current City staff don’t have the knowledge to complete the tasks.
“The present staff, even though their title says accounting, keeps saying they are not the accountant, so I think we are missing something here,” said Interim City Administrator Shirley Slater-Schulte.
She advised further training is necessary, something councilors have said at past meetings staff have repeatedly balked at. Hindering their efforts further was the recent, unexpected resignation of the deputy clerk who, according to Mayor Lynn Kissock was unhappy with the level of responsibility of the job and pay.
The council accepted the resignation, Tuesday night and directed the Interim City Administrator to post for the position.
In other news, councilors:
• Heard a complaint from Maple Lake resident John Rivers regarding certain properties in the city that are, in his words, a “blight that needs to be dealt with.” He stated the city has been dealing with this for nine years, going back to 2015 when a cleanup ordinance was put in place for the flea market and museum on First Street. He cited several other newspaper articles over the years that documented the City’s unsuccessful efforts to clean up the properties including a 2023 court decision. “This has been going on for too long,” he stated. Mayor Kissock thanked Rivers for his comments and said the issue will be placed at the top of the agenda for the next city council meeting, which is Tuesday, May 7.