Mayville to vote on recall, funds for fire truck

Voters in Mayville, N.D., will go to the polls Wednesday to decide whether two City Council members should be recalled and to vote on a 7-mill property tax increase to fund a new truck for the Mayville Fire and Rescue Department.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with voting at the National Guard Armory in Mayville.

Seven candidates are on the ballot for the two at-large positions. They are current councilmen Mike Carr and Larry O’Brien, along with challengers Danny Hefta, Joseph Henning, Brian Pederson, Randal Stennes and Jeanette Zimprich. The terms expire in June 2014.

Carr and O’Brien are two of four council members who voted in June to eliminate the position of city public works director, which resulted in the removal of longtime director Byron Kleven. The vote was 4-2.

The other two council members who voted for abolishing the position, Larry Young and Steve Hastings, did not seek re-election in the June city election. Kim Meshefski and Bill Bohnsack were elected to take their seats.

Petitions later were circulated to force a recall election for Carr and O’Brien. The petitions were approved in October, with each containing the necessary 104 valid signatures, according to City Auditor Gail Olstad.

Mayville Fire and Rescue is seeking to increase the mill levy it receives from 5 to 12 mills for a period of five years. The money would be used to replace a 1962 pumper truck, at a cost of about $250,000.

A 7-mill increase would raise local property taxes by about $31 annually for the owner of a $100,000 house.

A 60 percent majority is necessary for passage.

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