Kelli Truver
In a special council meeting held Wednesday at noon (4/24), the Sleepy Eye City Council voted unanimously to place city manager Kelli Truver on administrative leave as a result of a disciplinary action.
Following a one hour and twenty minute closed meeting, the council opened the chambers back up to the public. At which time a motion was read by Mayor Wayne Pelzel stating, “City Manager Kelli Truver be placed on administrative leave effective immediately until otherwise determined by city council.”
The motion also stated Public Works director Bob Elston will be assigned the responsibilities of city manager in addition to his duties as public works director, effective immediately.
A meeting involving this agenda item will continue on April 29th at 9 a.m.
Truver began her duties as the community’s new city manager in February.
The Sleepy Eye Ambulance crew members along with police officers and firemen were present at the Open Forum prior to the start of the regular Sleepy Eye City Council meeting Tuesday night to deliver a very powerful message. In a statement read by Ambulance Coordinator and Emergency Manager Shari Hittesdorf, it was indicated Sleepy Eye may be without EMS coverage at times beginning in May due to a labor law impacting how staff is paid.
Below is what was read to the council by Shari:
In November my husband suffered a stroke. He was able to make a full recovery because of quick actions from start to finish. The Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service played a vital role in getting him to the Emergency Room on that day, within minutes of onset. Abbott Northwestern Hospital was so impressed with the way things played out, they made it a case study.
If he would have another stroke next month or anytime beyond, that prompt ambulance service response may now not be possible.
You may think this impending interruption of 24/7 ambulance service in Sleepy Eye might be because we are short staff. Well, we do desperately need emergency responders to join our team and we will give everything we have in the next few weeks to recruitment…but the lack of a response in this case is NOT being caused because of a staff shortage…it is because of an overtime labor law recently brought to light.
The Sleepy Eye Ambulance Crew members want to cover all shifts, we want to respond to all 911 pages, it’s making many of us, literally sick to our stomachs to think we won’t be able to.
But we can’t, because of this law…no one is allowed to work over 40 hours per week without overtime being paid, and according to the Dept. of Labor, our call time counts as “Engaged to Work”.
And to complicate this situation, if someone is employed by the City of Sleepy Eye including the Sleepy Eye Medical Center, Ambulance call time would need to be added to OUR work hours…making it nearly impossible to take call time… or face the consequences of the employer paying overtime.
Yes, this affects me. As the Ambulance Coordinator and Emergency Manager for this community, as the person with the most experience, the person who trains our EMTS, not to mention teaches the doctors, nurses, firemen, police officers, lifeguards and so many others with emergency response courses…I will be very limited in how often I can respond to emergencies. VERY LIMITED!
There are some tremendous implications because this situation…for our local police officers, county deputies, firemen and our local hospital…but mostly the ones that will suffer will be our would-be patients.
At this time, I do not have a plan in place to cover all the time slots in May that I otherwise would have been able to place our current staff in. I do not know who will respond to immediate life-threatening emergencies. And, I don’t know if our lack of response will prompt legal consequences.
What I do know is myself and our five boys were so incredibly blessed that our husband and father had the prompt care he got that fateful day in November. Not lucky, blessed…because luck would imply it happened by chance…he received proper treatment because of the training, hard work and dedication of a lot of people including my teammates on the Sleepy Eye Ambulance.
We got home from an Abbott checkup a few hours ago with basically a clean bill of health.
There are several people in this room right now who too have had positive outcomes to their medical emergency, in part because of the quick response of our local EMS agency
But come May…Well, I can’t help but wonder….
Which families will be blessed and which will have to rely on luck?
I am begging you, the council, to HELP your community in any feasible way, resolve this pending catastrophe.
The Sleepy Eye Police Department showed off their new station at an open house held Monday afternoon. They won’t officially make the move to the new location at 200 Main St. East (old Liquor Store) until late next month but have been slowly getting things ready.
The day came a couple of months later than expected, but just the same, it came. MNDOT arrived in Sleepy Eye Monday morning (8/7) to remove the stoplights at the intersection of First Avenue / Main St. The equipment will be replaced with First Avenue stop signs and a pedestrian crossing. Vehicles on Main Street will now only be required to stop if people are crossing the street. The project was scheduled to be completed in May but was delayed due to the arrival of necessary equipment.
Former Sleepy Eye resident, Javier Olvera, 22, was stabbed to death in Donna, Texas January 15.
According to authorities Javier was found found stabbed around 10 p.m., He later died from his injuries. Three of the four suspects have been apprehended.
Javier’s parents, Viviana Rivera and Javier Olvera Sr., still reside in Sleepy Eye.
Sleepy Eye ONLINE is pleased to announce we will be sponsoring Sleepy Eye City Wide Garage Sales Events including the upcoming August 15th & 16th Sales.
Those participating in the upcoming City Wide Garage Sales are invited to submit your sale information at news@sleepyeyeonline.com (digital submission only). There is no word limit. Please submit your information EXACTLY as you would like it to appear on the final print out.
Please use the following format
ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE FREE!!!!!! Deadline is August 11th.
We will create a PRINTABLE copy of all submissions (available August 12th.) These copies can be found at www.sleepyeyeonline.com/citywide
And for those hosting sales, we have created SIGNAGE templates for use on site which can also be downloaded at www.sleepyeyeonline.com/citywide
