Mayor's Public Claim a City Employee Lied Will Cost Lakeville $1,225

’ public, council meeting will cost Lakeville $1,225 in attorney’s fees.

That’s the settlement amount agreed to by the city and Coordinator Linda Walter, who Bellows publicly outed during the Sept. 19 City Council meeting when he said, "I feel like we’ve been lied to by a staff member,” and then named Walter. The settlement puts an end to the .

Bellows was speaking in reference to what has been a controversial and made the comments after voting against entering into an architectural services contract with Wold Architects, which passed 3-2.

Bellows claimed at the time that “new information has come to light” with regard to the project, and he called for an executive session to look into the situation. Bellows was procedurally required to name Walter in order to call the session.

The , which turned into a closed meeting and performance review for Walter, was a statement from the city, which exonerated Walter.

City officials were tight-lipped when talking about the case, as recommended by the city’s attorney, Roger Knutson, but Lakeville City Administrator Steve Mielke told Thisweek Newspapers the city was satisfied with the result.

Walter’s attorney, Christopher Heinze, said Walter most wanted a formal apology from Bellows, but it didn’t seem like he was willing to offer one.

“The city indicated the mayor wasn’t willing to give (an apology),” Heinze said. “They just said they couldn’t force him. Now she just wants to get back to the good work she’s been doing for the senior center for the last 15 years.”

Heinze said Walter wasn’t interested in belaboring the situation any longer, nor did she want to have the taxpayers of Lakeville pay for the mayor’s statements.

“Now she just wants to get on with her life,” he said.