Lakeville City Council Clarifies Mayor's Comments About Walter

The Lakeville City Council effectively circled the wagons Monday evening under the potential of a by Coordinator Linda Walter. The regularly-scheduled City Council meeting approached a record for brevity in lasting only about 15 minutes and was highlighted by a brief statement concerning a closed executive session held on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

The closed executive session was called by Mayor Mark Bellows after claiming "I feel like we’ve been lied to by a staff member” Bellows was speaking in reference to what has been a controversial Heritage Center project and made the comments after voting against entering into an architectural services contract with Wold Architects. That measure had just passed 3-2.

Bellows claimed at the time that “new information has come to light” with regard to the project and the Sept. 28 executive session was presented as a performance evaluation of Walter whom Bellows was procedurally required to name in order to call the session.

Walter has not commented on the Mayor’s statements but did retain a lawyer in advance of the Sept. 28 session in which she was allowed to be an observer. Walter’s attorney, Christopher Heinze, told Lakeville Patch previously that he was “exploring the potential of a lawsuit against the city for statements made by the mayor.”

Heinze also said after the Sept. 28 meeting that a defamation suit was “still ongoing as it relates to the central issue” but that Walter was “happy with the outcome” of the closed session.

That outcome resulted in a brief statement read into public record during Monday night’s council meeting by council member Laurie Rieb.

The statement read:

“The city council met on September 28 to conduct a performance review of senior center coordinator Linda Walter. The council concluded that:

1. The Mayor’s reference to a lie at the Sept. 19 council meeting was intended to reflect a perception in the community that he is opposed to the senior center and was not (emphasis) attributable to Ms. Walter and…
2. The council acknowledged Ms. Walter’s good performance as the senior center coordinator and directed staff to complete a performance evaluation at the regular year-end time frame.”

That statement was immediately followed by city attorney Roger Knutson essentially suggesting a gag order on the issue.

“Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices act, almost all data on city employees is private and for that reason the City Council along with city staff should not make any comments about the statement” read by Rieb, Knutson said in his statement.

Bellows has made his opposition to the Heritage Center project clear from the beginning and saying that Lakeville seniors "deserve better”.  He has stated that while he supports seniors, he has felt the former police station would be inadequate for a growing Lakeville senior demographic in the future and has urged residents and the council to be more visionary about a solution to senior center needs.

In what may be a symbolic white flag, the council voted unanimously to approve a $94,150 construction services management contract with Contegrity Group, Inc. for the Heritage Center project. Contegrity Group, Inc. was among three firms that bid on the project. Bossardt Corporation and Krause-Anderson Construction were the other firms.

The Contegrity Group’s bid of $94,150 was the lowest bid of the three and less than the $115,000 budgeted for construction management services for the project.

The contract was considered a routine consent agenda item as was the Wold Architect contract approved 3-2 during the Sept. 19 city council meeting. That contract was the impetus for another debate surrounding the progress of the project. The item was pulled from the consent agenda for further discussion and concluded with Bellows saying after the vote that he was deviating from the council tradition of coming together in support of a project once it was approved. In clarifying his ‘no’ vote, the issue surrounding Walter arose.

Also as part of Monday’s consent agenda was an acknowledgement of $32,004 in donations from individuals and business to the Parks and Recreation department earmarked for the Heritage Center project. The $1.1 million project is being funded in part with approximately $275,000 in needed donations to make up a budget gap from the sale of the existing senior center and other funds. Total donation figures already raised for the project were not immediately available.