To select a new St. Ignace police chief, Mayor Paul Grondin and council members will each choose their three top candidates from the pool of 34 applications, and all those chosen will go through an interview process at a public meeting. At its meeting Monday, December 7, Council also set a public hearing for the 2010 city budget, approved its annual appropriation resolution, discussed soon-to-expire solid waste and health insurance agreements, and went into executive session to discuss progress on its employee contracts.

Mayor Grondin suggested the method of choosing interview candidates, which he said would assure that any applicant that a council member wants to look at will get an interview.

"I believe that this will give us a pretty broad look at the applicants," Mr. Grondin said.

He also asked that the three city police officers who have applied receive interviews. These are Sergeant Mark Wilk, Officer Merlin Doran, and Officer Richard Cullen.

Council members are free to choose fewer than three candidates, City Manager Eric Dodson said.

Selections will be reported to Mr. Dodson before the Monday, December 21, Council meeting and he will arrange the interviews.

Council has yet to determine the interview questions or how the candidates will be scored or qualified and has not ruled out the possibility of multiple interviews for some candidates. The interviews will begin in early January.

Mr. Dodson said references will only be checked for the final two or three candidates.

Councilman Paul Fullerton said at least an hour should be allotted for each interview.

"A half hour I don't think is enough," he said. "It's an important position to fill. We should allow ample time so we're not rushing this process at all."

Mr. Wilk, who was present at the meeting, pointed out that if current Police Chief Tim Matelski retires January 1, 2010, some changes to the current police schedule and organization will need to be made. Mr. Dodson agreed, saying he planned to discuss those changes with Mr. Matelski, and Councilman Don Gustafson asked for a report on the discussion at the next scheduled City Council meeting.

Budget Hearing

Public comments will be solicited during an 8 p.m. hearing Monday, December 21, regarding the proposed 2010 city budget, available at the city clerk's office.

The $7,365,513 budget requires 16.16 mills, the same as in 2009, which will generate $1,423,520 from an estimated $87.8 million in taxable value.

Council members unanimously approved the appropriations Monday, December 7. Some changes may need to be made to the budget before it is passed, most notably from ongoing union contract negotiations with city employees and the replacement of the city's health insurance plan.

The city's charter requires that a public hearing be held to receive comments on the budget before City Council passes the budget and appropriations during its last meeting of the year, which will be the December 21 meeting.

Health Insurance,

Solid Waste Bids

The city must find a new health insurance provider by the end of the year because the Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan (MERS) has stopped offering health insurance to municipalities. Its contract expires December 31.

"We are sifting through many proposals," Mr. Dodson told Council, "but details have not yet been ironed out."

The city is focusing on a "Blue Cross-style" plan, he said, hopefully similar to the plan currently offered employees. One possibiliwww. ty is buying insurance through Michigan Employee Benefits System (MEBS), which offers a high-deductible plan. With high deductible plans, premiums are often lower. The city could pay all or some of the higher deductible from the savings in the lower premiums.

"There is a bit of risk involved" in covering the deductible, Mr. Dodson said. "It really depends on what your utilization is."

The contract with Waste Management will expire February 1, 2010, and Council has requested proposals from area waste haulers to set up a new garbage contract. The basic necessities the city has asked be included in these proposals are a 3-can or 1-can weekly option, twice-amonth curbside recycling, a oncea year bulk trash pickup, availability of a transfer station at least two days/week, and free dumpsters during special events.

Council member Willie La- Londe said he would like a transfer station to be open longer hours, especially during summer months.

The deadline for bids is 5 p.m. Monday, December 21.

Council members voted to enter a closed session to discuss the collective bargaining of city employees in the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union. These negotiations, Mr. Dodson said, are going well and will hopefully draw to a close in time for the final Council meeting December 21. If an agreement is not reached before the end of the year, he said union employees would continue working on the old contract until a new one is adopted.

St. Ignace City Council meetings are open to the public, and are regularly scheduled for the first and third Monday of each month. The next scheduled meeting is 8 p.m. Monday, December 21, when Council will hear public comment on and consider the budget and proposed tax levy for 2010.