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WEIMAR — A full docket for City Council meant there was plenty to discuss at their Feb. 8 regular meeting. The Council held discussions over the initiatives to improve water quality, recognized different events around town and heard from a former employee seeking longevity pay following his time as a city employee.
The Council was not able to make any action on a claim by former police officer Steven Krhovjak that he has not received longevity pay following his retirement in 2023. Krhovjak retired from the WPD after 22 years of service, and he cited the city policy on longevity pay for employees that have completed at least one full year from their latest hiring date. Those receiving longevity pay are given a lump sum payment of $1,078 every December.
City Attorney Carl Dawson cited the same policy to dispute Krhovjak’s claim, saying that the code states that only current employees can benefit from longevity pay from the city. Councilmembers agreed that allowing for longevity pay at that time would set a precedent that other former employees may take advantage of and force the city into difficult decisions with their funds. However, Council could not find a conclusion to fairly create a policy and pushed the item to a future meeting.
Krhovjak expressed his disappointment and indicated that he would be furthering his claim with legal proceedings against the city.
“It’s sad that after all these years, this is how I’m being treated,” Krhovjak said.
Public Works executive Jason Mahan gave his report regarding the water systems in town and explained that it had been over a month since the department received a call about ‘black water’ coming from the pipes of residences and businesses. Mahan also expressed the importance of residents calling in their issues so the Public Works department can keep a record of complaints.
The department decided to terminate use of Water Plant 1 as much of the contaminated water was housed in the underground tank of the plant founding in the 1950s. The city has been running on well 4 and well 8, both of which feed into Water Plant 3.
Mahan explained that many cities of similar size function perfectly fine with just two wells, and that Weimar should be able to make it through the summer if the two functioning wells are maintained.
The City Council also deliberated on an issue with the city pool that has rendered it unusable for now. Public Works and Mary’s Pool Service will take the lead in replacing the necessary pipe parts to get the pool up and running.
Chief Mark Jameson gave another commendation during the police report, this time to Officer Robin Allen. Allen received the recognition for her quick action in supplying a life-saving medicine to an overdose patient that sustained the patient’s life until the paramedics arrived.
Chief Jameson also gave a presentation on a program the police department is hoping to solely use for their records management. The same program is used countywide, so WPD is hoping to streamline the process of uploading records from the city and the county by using the programs automatic upload capabilities. Not only would this remove the labor cost of manually uploading documents following a police report, but it would also save the city money on the other programs currently used by the department.
Moving to the single program would allow police to issue citations using phone and email services, track patrol cars and present cases to the County Attorney electronically.
In other news, several events were confirmed and recognized at the meeting. Black History Month for 2024 was officially recognized by the city with a declaration. Weimar will host its Spring Clean-Up Day on Saturday, April 20 from 8 a.m. to noon. The Community Shred-It event will be on April 27 from 9 a.m. to noon, and the annual Gedenke! event will be hosted on May 11.
