Long Lake council gets committee assignments

That’s because all three seats that were up for election (mayor and two council seats) in November were all won by incumbents. Mayor Charlie Miner and council members Jahn Dyvik and Deirdre Kvale all ran unopposed in the election in the fall of 2022 and were reelected.

That meant that they didn’t have to introduce or swear-in any new members and could get right down to the organization of the council for the 2023 year with committee appointments.

For Long Lake, the organization and committee appointments was easy as all council members and the mayor were happy with the committees they previously were serving on and all elected to stay on those committees, including council member Dyvik being named to the position of Mayor Pro-Tempore, where he would fill in as mayor if current mayor Charlie Miner was unable to do so.

The committee appointments remain the same as 2022 and are as follows: Fire Advisory Committee – Miner, and Dyvik with Mike Feldman as an alternate; Utility Agreements SubCommittee – Miner and Kvale; Park Board Liaison - Gina Joyce; Planning Commission Liaison - Feldman; Chamber of Commerce Liaison - Kvale; Long Lake Waters Association Liaison - Joyce; Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission - Kvale; Highway 12 Safety Coalition – Miner and Feldman; and Wayzata Crime Prevention Coalition Liaison – Miner.

The council also named the Laker Pioneer as the official newspaper for the city.

In other council business, Miner gave an update on the Long Lake Fire Department Fire Chief position that was open after past chief James VanEyll’s last day with the Long Lake Fire Department on Thursday, Dec. 30. VanEyll left to become the new fire chief with the city of Orono.

With the position open, Miner said assistant fire chief Shane Gardner was appointed as interim fire chief and that Battalion Chief Chris Adams would also by assisting with administration duties of the department until they can hire a fulltime chief.

“Between the two of them, they are assisting with the administrative duties that Chief VanEyll formerly did,” Miner said. “City staff is assisting with some duties as well, especially with payroll and time-keeping. It’s good to have that moving along so we are in good shape there. It was a good transition between Chief VanEyll and the other interim leadership.”

Miner also said that the city has received about eight to nine applicants for the fire chief position and that city staff are currently working on a timeline to interview candidates and then to hopefully name a new fire chief.