The Staples City Council last week voted to okay a revised set of bylaws for the city's volunteer firemen's retirement group.

The bylaws of the old Staples Firefighters Relief Association had become outdated with changes in state laws, according to fireman Jeff Kobliska, who attended the meeting.

The revised bylaws have been worked out over the past two years by firefighters and city officials. Much of the rules and regulations remain the same as before. The action by the city last week did not change the current service pension amount. That amount is $1,400 for each year of service as an active member of the fire department. A volunteer must serve for ten years before becoming vested in the retirement program. After ten years they become eligible for 60 percent of their retirement level, with that percentage increasing to 100 percent after 20 years of active service.

Firemen can retire prior to their 50th birthday but cannot begin receiving retirement benefits until they turn 50 and have 20 years of service.

Another change to the relief association bylaws is the addition of the city mayor and city administrator to the Fire Relief Association board of trustees. The city council, in a separate motion, voted to name Mayor Chris Etzler and City Administrator Nate Mathews to the relief group's board.

The city council also voted to okay a set of modifi cations to an earlier ordinance (Ordinance No. 481) which granted Minnesota Power a franchise to operate and maintain an electric distribution system within the city of Staples. The changes include a statement that MP shall pay a franchise fee based on gross revenue at least monthly to the city with the first payment starting Dec. 1, 2009.

In other matters, the city council:

o OKAYED two requests from charitable groups to conduct raffles in February.

o LEARNED that a final public hearing on the old Highway 10 turnback project is now planned for the second week in January. A November public meeting was postponed to allow consulting engineers more time to finalize details. The construction dates are still planned for early in the 2010 construction season.

o LEARNED that the labor negotiations with the police department's Teamsters group is going from mediation to arbitration. The city has an agreement in place with the other two city unions for wage freeze in 2010, with the police the only group to not agree to that measure. An arbitration award granting police a 2010 wage increase could jeopardize the other agreements, Mathews told the city council.

o LEARNED that plans are to move city offices from the existing Government Center to the new city hall the third week of January, beginning on the Martin Luther King holiday. Mathews told the council the city hall's phones will be out of service for at least a day to make the move. "We hope to be open to the public by Jan. 22," he said. The city library will make the move the following week. Surplus items will likely be available for sale sometime after the move.