Palmer council narrows city manager field

PALMER — The Palmer City Council has narrowed its potential field of city manager candidates from about 30 to just eight, according to a council agenda.

The remaining candidates are Christian Crane, James Dinley, Patrick Jordan, David Martinson, Greg Moyer, Kristen Vesel and Nathan Wallace, according to a notice of an executive session and candidate profiles at city call. An additional candidate, Jeffrey Trinker, was also on the list, but withdrew from the process. The remaining candidates will face a questionnaire before being reduced to a finalist list. Finalists will be called in for interviews with the city council, according to Deputy City Clerk Summer Rife.

Discussion of the candidates will be limited to a closed-door executive session slated for the end of the regular city council meeting.

The candidates are vying to replace outgoing manager Joe Hannan, who announced his resignation this spring over concerns about his “fit,” city officials had said.

The city council will also have a special meeting starting at 6 p.m. to discuss senior center public use and the medical clinic with Hannan.

The council will also consider enacting several fee changes, from repealing a fee for massage therapist licensing, establishing an administrative fee for credit card purchases over $5,000, trimming the MTA Events Center ice arena rental fee from $3,000 to $2,500 per day, and increasing the dry floor rental for the Event Center from nothing to $1,500 for events longer than eight hours per day.

The same resolution would also establish a $1 chair rental fee and an $8 table rental fee at the MTA center.

An additional fee change would set flat fees for unmetered wastewater service. That amount would be $23.52 for unmetered four-inch service up to 5,000 gallons and $34.29 for six-inch service up to 7,500 gallons, according to supporting documents.

The special meeting on the senior center begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers, at 231 W. Evergreen Ave., while the regular meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.