The Stanley Council approved new staffing for the Water Department, with Alderpersons Jacob Huff, Mark Fitzsimmons, Ben Wald, Josh Seidl, and Aaron Dickson voting in favor, while Alderperson Laurie Foster voted against the motion during the Oct. 21 evening meeting. Public Works Operator in Charge John Hoel has been assigned full time to the Water Department at the Northwest Plant, alongside City employee Jeriame Czubakowski.
In a previous report to the council, Hoel expressed serious concerns that there is a “major issue with the water department.” With water department employee Dean Schneider resigning on Oct. 18, Hoel highlighted that there is currently no staff member qualified to fully operate the water plant.
“All four of the current employees have basic knowledge of running the plants (weekend work), none of us know any of the maintenance for the water plants. Also, none of us have ever been trained to fully run the plants,” Hoel explained. He pointed out that they lack the expertise to respond effectively to call-outs and “there will be a lot of call outs.”
Hoel shared that during the last employee meeting, he was informed that he would need to run the water department for the next three months, despite not having worked full-time in that role for over six years. He also mentioned the challenge of training two new employees, stating, “I will only be able to train them for the basic weekend work that we all currently do because that is all I know.”
Hoel added that the other critical issue is that no one on staff knows what the maintenance schedule is or even the processes to complete the maintenance for both water plants.
“I will not give up my position as the head of the street department nor should I be forced to head up two departments when all of the current employees have the same amount of knowledge in the water department,” said Hoel. Hoel expressed concern that with the winter season approaching stating it would be “very difficult” to balance training with the ongoing demands of his own department.
During the public comment section of the meeting, Firefighter Andy Koepl questioned the Stanley Council regarding the fire officer positions. He began by informing Mayor Mike Henke that he violated State Statute 19.85(b) when he wouldn’t allow Koepl’s request for open session for the closed session meeting regarding fire department officers at the Council as a Whole meeting. “I got demoted from my officers’ position and any time someone gets demoted, that person has to be allowed to sit in on that meeting,” he said.
“Thanks Andy,” answered Henke as he called on Firefighter Amanda Samplawski to speak next. Samplawski echoed Koepl’s concerns stating, “I’ll mention the same state statute as Andy because I was demoted from my position too as assistant service director.” She said,“You guys should have held that in open session and you also have no reasoning for demoting either one of us. You have to have a liable reason to demote anybody from their position and you can’t just remove someone from their position. You have to have liable reason and disciplinary actions following that and you can’t just demote anybody, and you can’t just fire a firefighter including a fire chief actually. You have to have proof and reasoning and actions following that before you fire anybody. And I know that for a fact and there’s state statutes following that.”
She emphasized that city ordinances do not supersede state statutes. “So in regards to Korey Hagenson getting fired, you held that all wrong and illegally. So Korey should be reinstated because the way that you handled that in closed session also is illegal because you did not hold that in open session either.” She mentioned that it was unacceptable that current Stanley and Boyd-Edson-Delmar Fire Chief Ron Patten was allowed to sit in the closed session while Samplawski and Koepl were not allowed to be there during their demotions.
Koepl joined in, “I was basically told just to stop talking because I was out of order.”
“Andy, you’re out of order again,” interjected Henke.
Samplawski continued, “We have the right to request that (meeting) being held in open session because you’re trying to demote two of us when there is no reason to demote us. Absolutely no reason.” She added, “And the people that you are trying to select as officers are not legally able to be officers. And I know that you were told that by two people that are state.” She stated that a State Fire Chief and a DSPS employee told him that.
“And you still did it anyways. So, you will be hearing from the state,” she concluded.
The Stanley Council continued the meeting to approving the following Fire Officer Positions with Alderpersons Jason Meyer, Laurie Foster and Aaron Dickson abstaining.
As he looked to City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim for the final count of four to three, Henke said, “The motion passes then.”
The newly appointed Stanley Fire Department officers include Jody Halterman as Assistant Fire Chief, Jeff Ryba as First Fire Captain, Nathan Samplawski as Second Fire Captain, Charlotte Meyer as Health & Safety Officer, and the position of EMS Captain is unfilled. Travis Alger, Hunter Brandt, and Jacob Carroll were appointed as Lieutenants, with Jeff Ryba serving as the Assistant Service Director.

In Other News
The City Council approved Diamond Maps GIS systems for City use. Alderperson Fitzsimmons asked what happens to all the data that is entered if service with Diamond Mapping is discontinued. City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim explained that it’s basically a hosting site and that there is a thirty-day free trial.
“I would ask for six months,” said Fitzsimmons.
“Good luck with that,” Pilgrim replied.
“I think it’s a good product from what I’ve seen of the video. The only thing that I don’t see is where there is any proprietary to our input data that we put into it,” commented Fitzsimmons.
“I think it’s a good resource. I think it’s a good start for our underground.”
Alderperson Meyer asked how much it will cost. Pilgrim said that it’s $48 dollars a month for enterprise for unlimited users.
The council approved ABE Concrete’s proposal for an apron in front of Goettl Excavating on Maple Street in the amount of $3,600. The City of Stanley will contribute $1,800, with Goettl Excavating covering the remaining half under a six-month repayment plan with the city.
The council also voted to approve the BS&A Customer Order form for the ERP system to begin in 2025.