A special meeting of the Devils Lake Jobs Authority was held at noon on Tuesday, June 30 in the City Offices.
Present at the meeting were members of the Devils Lake City Commission that comprise the Authority, Mayor Jim Moe and commissioners Jason Pierce, Rob Hach and Joseph Knowski. Also present at this meeting were Brady Ash, Forward Devils Lake; City Attorney Jason Sayler of the Traynor Law Firm; Rob Johnson the interim City Manager/Auditor plus a number of concerned citizens were in the audience.
The sudden closing of the Sunnyside Child Care Center was the topic of discussion for this meeting.
The mayor and commissioners wanted more information about the private day care business that had been occupying a building owned by the city. The owner of the day care gave five days notice to both their employees and the families they served that the center was closing its doors on June 30.
That sent 50 – 60 children and their families scrambling to find alternative child care. Plus, the employees of the daycare had that same five day notice to find alternative employment, which some have, but many are left on wait lists for their children and without employment.
Now the city has some decisions to make regarding the terms of the lease they had with the owner of the business, any outstanding bills incurred by the daycare, damages to the premesis and where the city needs or can legally go from here.
The City Attorney gave his advice recommending that some of the discussion that should perhaps be done in executive session rather than this public forum.
Ash stated that the owner would be returning to Devils Lake in July and it would be important to have a conversation with her regarding the situation. She had asked for patience from Forward Devils Lake and the Jobs Authority.
Meanwhile the parents of the 50 to 60 children are left without childcare now that the business has closed its doors and a number of people from the audience asked the city to act quickly to try to remedy the situation.
The mayor assured the residents that they would do whatever they could do as quickly as they were able to, however, it is not a situation easily or quickly fixed, even temporarily. Monday, July 6 will be the soonest the City Commission meets and the Forward Devils Lake board will meet on July 8 both to discuss or potentially act on this situation. “It takes time,” Mayor Moe explained, “we will do what we can as soon as we can, but this starts the process.”
Each speaker who stepped up to the podium emphasized how critical an issue daycare is to Devils Lake and the families involved.
Commissioner Pierce stated he had some information about potentially interested parties inquiring about the daycare once the word got out it was closing.
Meanwhile the City needs to move on whether they need to transfer the utilities into the city’s name, what they need to do to mitigate (lessen the harm) of any damages, transfer the insurance policies for the building and what it is appropriate to do in the present circumstances.