Mayor to be elected, rather than appointed
By Cheryl McCormack
Editor
A special election will take place in Washburn on Tuesday, August 25 to determine who will become the city's new mayor. This comes after former mayor Duane Bauer's resignation in April and Ray Hager's filing of a resident petition with the city last week, with the legal amount of signatures required.
The Washburn City Commission approved the special election at Monday night's meeting. The filing deadline for candidates interested in running for mayor is Monday, June 22.
Load restrictions were also discussed. Due to the recent wet weather, Commissioner Larry Thomas said the city's load restrictions must remain in place at least through June 1. "And that date is just a shooting point," he said. "It's not necessarily set in stone."
Auditor Joan Zimmerman noted the lumberyard is "no longer," referring to the recent demolition of the dilapidated structure. Flying T Construction has until the end of the first week of June to finish cleaning up the lot, which includes reseeding the lawn. An extension will be given, if needed, due to the wet weather. Zimmerman said Flying T is doing a "very, very nice job" and many positive comments have been received from residents of the city.
Commissioners reviewed the preliminary 2016 Police Contract, which saw an increase of approximately $16,000 in Washburn from the previous year. Chief Deputy Richard Johnson said the increase is due, in part, to a higher base salary for starting deputies.
The N.D. Game and Fish agreed to help transfer wild turkeys outside of Washburn city limits, but said they'd prefer to do it during the winter months when the birds are easier to trap. No action was taken at this time.
