By Brenda Erdahl
The City of Maple Lake is getting closer to hiring a new, permanent city administrator.
On Tuesday, June 18 at their regular meeting, councilors disclosed they had interviewed three candidates the week prior and unanimously agreed to offer the position to Scott Hildebrand.
City officials are currently in negotiations with Hildebrand and they hope to come to an agreement soon. Councilors were optimistic enough to suggest a special council meeting could be called to finalize matters before the next regular meeting scheduled for July 2, “because it is so important that we move this forward,” Mayor Lynn Kissock said.
Watch the Messenger or www.maplelakemessenger.com for updates in the coming weeks.
The job of city administrator is currently being filled by Interim City Administrator Shirley Slater-Schulte who was hired in February to help the city get back on track after the resignation of Renee Eckerly until a permanent replacement could be found.
On Tuesday night, councilors also accepted a $10,000 donation from the Ramsey Lake Property Owners Association for the construction of two pickleball courts at the Maple Lake Community Park and approved a purchase of 30 four-foot cement barriers at a cost of $4,780 to improve the beach on Maple Lake. The barriers will replace the wooden posts between the parking lot and the beach to keep cars from parking so close to the beach. The barriers will also be part of a pathway the City intends to create to make the walk from the beach to the picnic area safer for pedestrians.
In other news, councilors: