Meeting prior to adjournment in a closed session Monday, October 4, the Stanley City Council decided in the end to move roads talk forward to the regular council, the doors opening towards 7 p.m.

Following a motion by Holly Kitchell that was seconded by Kevin Hendrickson, the business from the Committee of the Whole closed session was moved up to the regular meeting for final approval. With a subsequent motion by Hendrickson to adjourn the Committee of the Whole being seconded by Jacob Huff, the meeting was adjourned.

Before long, it was back to business.

“I’m going to call the regular Council meeting to order for October 4,” Mayor Al Haas said as the clock passed 7 p.m. With the pledge and a roll call vote following that showed all members present, before long it was into business: Halloween trick or treat hours and city ward numbers being among them.

“I need to know what you want to do on redistricting,” city clerk/treasurer Nicole Thiel told Council members regarding the fallout from the U.S. Census and reapportionment that goes with it.

Mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. federal constitution, the ‘once in ten’ decennial census results were in, with

Photo by Joseph Back. boundaries adjusted as appropriate to ensure equal representation. Thing is, Stanley’s special—meaning as such that it has territory in two different counties, Clark and Chippewa, to be exact. Whereas wards 4 through 8 would stay the same, the unique situation meant that ward numbers have to coincide with requirements for each county, each county having its own set of boundary divisions. When it came to Stanley that meant streamlining what had become a somewhat muddled mess, with wards 5 and 8 in Clark, the rest in Chippewa.

“They’re confused as to how it got this way,” clerk/treasurer Thiel reported of county officials on the matter. So long as the boundaries matched county guidelines all would be fine—and that’s just where the Council left it in the end. With a motion by Kevin Hendrickson that was seconded by Laurie Foster to recommend going with the county on redistricting boundaries, the issue was back in the county’s lap to decide as they saw fit.

Moving on from census and ward confusion, it was into another thorny issue: Halloween, and whether the city would be recognizing or recommending specific hours as such.

In case you’re wondering, that verdict was negative—no recommendation of specific hours, nor endorsement from the city. If people wanted to participate they could turn on the house light. If not, just leave it off. The lack of recommendation on the city’s part left fire chief Korey Hagenson somewhat confused.

“I’m kind of in the middle here,” he said. “Why are we not recommending hours?”

“Because of COVID,” Mayor Al Haas replied. With Hagenson reporting an uptick in COVID calls over the last couple of weeks and that the move made sense from a medical standpoint, there will be no recommended trick or treat hours from the city. Those who wish to may, while those who do not so wish, can leave off their porch light.

Shifting next to the roads update, the city has identified two in particular that are in need of attention: an upgrade and rebuild of Second Avenue, along with work on Junction down at Sawmill Road. The latter was reported to have “grease problems” with flow to the south, necessitating city attention.

“And 345th was in on that conversation too,” Hendrickson shared of the road west of town leading to the ethanol plant. That road was said to have “outside circumstances.” For those who haul freight, a safer way is available through the city’s industrial park, without the cross traffic.