City Clerk Nicole Thiel is going back to school. The decision taken at the September 6 Common Council meeting down at the Stanley Fire Hall was one of just many the Council deliberated on.

The online classes to be undertaken soon will allow Thiel to gain the credits she needs to be a city administrator.

Following the retirement of long-serving city clerk Diane Zais the position has undergone change and upheaval much of the last half decade, with the online schooling for Thiel looking to change that moving forward.

Taking place online it will see the city clerk earn 45 credits for a bachelors degree from UW-Green Bay, with the contract stipulating that she has to stay for at least five years. Thiel started with her duties as of December 28 last year, following approval by the Council. The aim of the schooling is for Thiel to be a stable figure amidst periodic changes on the council come election time.

Shifting gears somewhat, area you or is someone you know a city employee looking for some paid time off? If that’s you, we have good news: starting October 2, employees for the City of Stanley will get two paid days of personal time to spend until the end of this year, with six days each year beginning in 2022. The non-bankable nor refundable time off was officially approved with a motion by Jacob Huff, seconded by Laurie Foster—and then the expensive stuff began!

“It feels like a $2,500 switch that turns the light on,” Fire Chief Korey Hagenson shared of an issue with Engine 2.

In addition, there were leaky seals that needed to be fixed for being over the allowable six drips per minute, while the fire department rating was currently low “because of what hap- pened” he said, but also due to be reevaluated soon. The FDC was in the wrong place on the community building per NFPA Fire Code 912.2, and Hagenson had been in touch with Cedar Corp on the issue. The wooden fire department sign propped up with metal brace outside the fire hall had finally gone down in a storm this summer and the Fire Chief had talked to the Truck Pull about it. Hagenson hadn’t been able to get into the five-year plan all that much “due to family stuff,” while an upcoming training date of note was due to take place in regards to Life Link helicopter training and result in shutting down First Avenue “for safety of the helicopter,” Hagenson wrote in his report to the Council.

In Water Department updates, meanwhile, Don Goettl reported “normal plant operation and maintenance,” along with compliance testing and Diggers Hotline locates. Water Well Solutions had come back and installed the new stainless steel pipe in Well 10, Goettl wrote, along with having “super chlorinated the well” due to being “unable to get safe samples to put it back online.” Following chlorination, safety was restored and the well back in action.

For the next two weeks Goettl wrote the Council that quarterly meter readings needed to be done for water and sewer biling, while Ozone pump No. 2 needed to be cleaned. With a note to work on any meter issues that come up with reading, there would also be a need to flush at least the dead ends of city pipes, given “good well statics.” Last but not least, Goettl wrote that he had received two bids for fiveyear Maintenance it would seem, is never done.

Shifting from Water into Wastewater, Operator Nick Martin and Dean Schneider reported “Normal Plant Operations” along with TSS testing on industries, both for influent (inflow) and effluent (outflow).

Sludge pumping to the reed beds had also taken place, while they sought to continue optimization to consistently meet a new phosphorous limit of 0.075. Martin and Schneider had previously appeared before the Council to discuss a DNR program that allows for balancing levels that are in the same watershed if one is higher than the other.

In addition, the last two weeks prior to their written report of September 2 had seen adjustments to wasting levels to maintain Biological Phosphorous Removal, while they had pulled a pump on the 8th Avenue lift station, and completed the DMR (Discharge Monitoring Report) for the DNR. Among work planned for the next two weeks at Stanley Wastewater was Sludge Pumping, continued maintenance, industrial billing, and daily plant operations. No upcoming training was reported.

Mentioned in the Fire Chief’s report, a helicopter landed for firefighter training with Life Link on Monday night. Submitted photo.