Sherburn council extends Cornerstone contract for Temperance Lake Ridge amid management dispute; seeks $15,000 reimbursement from Embark and schedules legal, in

The Sherburn City Council on Feb. 2 voted to extend the management contract for Temperance Lake Ridge with Cornerstone through Dec. 31 and approved a separate motion to seek reimbursement of $15,000 from Embark Consulting and Management Services LLC.

Mercy McNeel, speaking on the management-item request, urged the council to favor continuity, saying the extension '2reforces a clear message. Employees and residents are the priority and their well-being comes before organizational turnover.'2 She told the council a recent orientation program, skills fair and an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct had been started and that the extension should be short-term and tied to performance review.

Council members debated transparency and the origins of a local management firm called Embark. Several participants disputed whether the city or the TLR board had asked Lisa Lang to form the company; the discussion included multiple assertions and counter-assertions from council members and others about how the management arrangement began. The record shows the council approved a motion to add a management-company representative to the Temperance Lake Ridge committee and voted to pursue reimbursement of $15,000 the city had provided to Embark, with council direction that any recovery effort include legal guidance.

The city attorney advised that new correspondence alleging potential claims from Embark created a reasonable anticipation of litigation and recommended the council meet in closed session under Minnesota Statute 13D.05 to review a draft termination letter and receive confidential legal advice. The attorney said the draft termination letter outlines factual and contractual bases for termination and that discussion of the draft would involve privileged attorneyclient communications; the council approved scheduling a closed session after its next regular meeting.

The council recorded motions and outcomes on the extension, the request to recover $15,000 and the closed-session recommendation, but did not record a detailed roll-call vote in the public transcript. The extension will remain in place through the end of the year while the council and staff monitor performance and pursue legal guidance on the Embark matter.

What happens next: council members said staff would provide a budget for Temperance Lake Ridge within two weeks and the attorney will be provided a date for the closed-session review of the termination draft.