Fergus Votes meets signature goal

Published 6:59am Thursday, December 24, 2009
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The group of Fergus Falls residents behind a spending ordinance for major city projects has gathered enough petition signatures to get the ordinance a first reading.

Daryl Synstelien, a member of the Fergus Votes Committee, delivered a stack of petitions to City Administrator Mark Sievert Wednesday morning after the group collected 922 signatures in about three weeks. The final count is about 100 signatures over the number required to bring the ordinance to the city council.

Following Chapter 6 of city code, the office of the City Administrator will have 10 days to confirm that signatures come from city residents registered in the last election. Assuming the signatures are valid, the proposed ordinance will receive a first reading at the first council meeting in January. The council is required to hold a public hearing on the measure before enacting it, amending it or putting it on a ballot for voter approval.

The proposed ordinance would require the council to classify any project worth more than 25 percent of the city’s levy into one of three categories: public service, proprietary or elective. The proposed ordinance defines elective projects as those which are not basic municipal services and do not have the potential to pay for themselves. Elective projects would require voter approval before the council could make a significant financial commitment.

A group of many people are responsible for the success of the petition effort, Synstelien said Wednesday.

“I told everyone, ‘You just need to have a nice Christmas,’” he said. “‘You don’t need to worry about signatures anymore.’”

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