NEW ULM — Christopher Dalton will officially take over as New Ulm’s new city manager.

The council came to a quick decision in selecting Dalton, who was originally hired as New Ulm’s assistant city manager in April 2018. Dalton took over city manager responsibilities after Brian Gramentz left the position on Nov. 15, 2018.

The city hired David Drown Associates to help recruit a new city manager. Dalton was one of 30 candidates who applied for the position and was selected as one of five final candidates. All five candidates went through an interview process with the city council over the last two days.

During the council meeting, the personnel committee recommended Dalton and Erin Reinders be considered for the position. The council had the option of adding another name to consider, but they agreed by consensus Dalton and Reinders were the top candidates.

Council President Charlie Schmitz said his preference was to hire Dalton to the position. He said Dalton had done a great job for the city and he only heard positive comments.

“He has earned it, he deserves it,” Schmitz said.

Councilor Les Schultz said he liked both candidates, but Dalton was able to step up into the city manager position when needed.

Councilor Larry Mack said all the feedback he received on Dalton was positive and Mack appreciates Dalton’s ability to answer council questions.

Councilor Lisa Fischer believes Dalton is in the position for the long haul and any experience he needs could be learned in the position.

Mayor Robert Beussman said even though he did not have a vote, he would support Dalton.

Schultz made the official motion to select Dalton as the city manager. The motion passed unanimously.

Next the council passed a motion to authorize the Personnel Committee to negotiate the terms of the city manager contract to be brought back to a future city council meeting.

Before joining the City of New Ulm, Dalton worked for the City of Santa Ana, California, for nearly 12 years as an economic development aide, economic development specialist, enterprise zone manager and a neighborhood initiatives project specialist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing.

Since Dalton was originally hired as an assistant city manager, the city expects to begin a search to fill this former position in the near future.

RENU Updates

The council awarded a RENU Recreation Center construction manager bid to RJM Construction.

For the recreation center projects, the city chose to hire a construction manager under the at-risk method. Requests for proposals were submitted on March 4, and nine proposals were received.

The proposals were reviewed and ranked by the city manager, building official, parks and recreation facility maintenance supervisor and JLG Architects. The proposals were ranked, with price representing 25 percent of the total ranking.

RJM received the highest point score with an estimated fee of $547,338. RJM’s fee came in $51,000 higher than second-ranked firm Knutson Construction.

Dalton said RJM was ranked higher because of their experience with the various types of projects building constructed at the Recreation Center compared to Knutson. In addition, RJM had worked under the at-risk method for multiple government entities.

RJM’s fee is an estimated cost. Their total fee is 1.65 percent of the project value. At an estimated value of $8.2 million this fee was $547,338. If the project value went to $10 million, their fee would be over $600,000.

The council selected RJM Construction for the construction manager on the project and set a budget of $9.5 million for the Recreation Center project.

The council also voted to discontinue planning of the RENU dome project. The RENU committee recently recommended the project be discontinued to allow the $3.5 million earmarked for this project to be allocated to other RENU projects.

The RENU committee had recently found a budget shortfall in the Recreation Center project

Schultz said the dome was not the top-voted of the RENU projects, but it would have been nice to have during long winters. He said even though it was a great project, no one wanted it in their back yard.

The Park and Recreation Department struggled to find a location for the dome from the beginning. Originally it was thought the dome could be place at the high school, but this proved unworkable. The Brown County Fairgrounds were not interested in the dome. No agreement could be reached with Martin Luther College.

Mack made the motion to discontinue the RENU dome and designate the funds for the project at another time.

Downtown Action Team

The Downtown Action Team recommended the council rename downtown city parking lots in preparation for new signage, which was approved. The nine downtown lots were renamed for the nearest intersection to help visitors locate the lots.

Roundabout

A public hearing was held on the proposed 2019 North Highland Avenue improvement project. In August, the city council accepted a recommendation from the safety commission to construct a mini-roundabout on North Highland Avenue at Oak Street.

A public open house for the proposed roundabout was held on March 6. The majority of comments received from the attendees were supportive of the improvement.

City Engineer Steve Koehler said the city received a letter about pedestrian signage at the intersection.

The council and mayor each received a letter from a citizen concerned the roundabout would push the traffic buildup to other intersections.

Koehler said the roundabout would not alleviate the traffic at Fifth North and Highland, but did not believe it would increase the problem.

The council unanimously approved the roundabout.

Variances

Two variance requests were approved by the council. The first was a variance for a zero-foot front-yard setback for the Dairy Queen at 150 N. Broadway. The variance would allow the construction of a 20 foot by 20 foot addition on the front north side of the building. This addition would be in line with other buildings at this section of Broadway.

The second variance was a parking reduction for the proposed distillery at 201 1st St. N. Based on the proposed usage of the property, the city code requires 49 parking spaces. Staff estimated 22 possible parking spaces were available on the property and recommended the variance required 20.

Building Inspector Ellwood Zabel said staff recommended 20 because the cocktail lounge usage required 16 spaces and the office usage required four.

Schultz said the four usages for the building, cocktail lounge, manufacturing, warehouse and office space would not all overlap. In addition, there was public street parking available.

The council unanimously approved the variance with staff conditions.

Mack said it was a unique opportunity to repurpose an unused building.

Permit Amendment Recommendation

The first review of the proposed interim-use permit (IUP) amendment to the city code came before the council. The planning commission recommended adding IUPs to the city code during the previous commission meeting.

Minnesota defines an IUP as a temporary use of property: until a particular date, until the occurrence of a particular event, or until zoning regulations no longer permit it. An IUP has a maximum five-year limit from the time of approval, but applicants may reapply for another IUP.

City Attorney Roger Hippert encouraged the council to approve this amendment after the final review because it would give them an additional tool to use. He said it would allow them to take appropriate action without tying a permit to a property.

German Park

Outstanding

Volunteers

Herb Schaper, Denis Warta and Tom Schmitz were acknowledged for their outstanding volunteering and promoting of German Park.

Recently, there has been a push to complete the amphitheater in German Park, which has resulted in significant donations thanks in part to the work of Schaper, Warta and Schmitz.

Warta offered further thanks to all those who donated over the years. Schaper said New Ulm is a unique community and the five blocks of city land dedicated to the public which include German Park show it is a fine community.