.gif)
WEIMAR CITY COUNCIL
Two emergency leaks were approved for immediate repair by Weimar city council members at their latest meeting August 8th after City Manager Richard Whitten emphasized the looming threat of a sinkhole.
The two leaks, located on South Mechanic St. under the railroad tracks and 700 South Eagle St., were identified by Whitten as hazardous and a threat to the safety of those crossing over the areas.
Whitten highlighted how the leaks were especially a major concern to those crossing over FM 155 and the state highway, indicating how a sinkhole was likely to happen if not repaired immediately.
“Both of them have been leaking for at least a year,” said Whitten. “And not getting any better, so that is why they need to be fixed. As soon as possible. The leak on 700 South Eagle St. is underneath FM 155. It is leaking underneath the state highways so it is a significant issue, but we have no idea what this is going to cost it would just get into it to find out exactly what is involved. But it must be done because it is a major hazard and as long as it is leaking, we can have a big sinkhole, it would just be a total disaster. We have to get it addressed.”
The easiest way to fix the leak on South Mechanic St. according to Whitten is to cut it off at the source and redirect the supply back underneath Main Street and Highway 90, to the other side and up next to the hill bank to connect back. He says to do all that work however, it will cost the city a hefty price.
“The engineering cost to do that could be up to about $15,000,” said Whitten. “And then getting an estimate from the plumber could cost as much as $50,000. But the material we are going to pay for will cover the cost, reducing that amount. It will take a while for that to dry and stabilize because of the railroad tracks saturation point, there is a significant saturation pattern.”
City council members were also concerned about ensuring that all severance pay proceedings were followed accordingly with former City Manager Mike Barrow after numerous calls came in asking if he received anything outside of that package.
Carlton Tucker, Councilman, Place 4, made the inquiry to whether or not there were any payments made in the calendar year for 2024 and clarified the payments that were made for the package.
“I asked David, checking that to me and first question whether we made any payments in calendar year 2024,” said Tucker “And there were none. I did, but we did make some payments in July, August and September, for $7,500 each.”
Tucker questioned whether there would be a conflict of interest with the city and Barrow if the former City Manager were hired at another state entity.
“If a former city manager was working at another state entity down the road,” said Tucker. “And he was being paid by the city there in August and September, for example, then I would think there would be a conflict if we paid him in a situation in August and September.”
City attorney Carl ‘Bo’ Dawson clarified to council the terms of Barrow’s package and how the city were not in any binding legal predicaments, indicating how they followed procedure accordingly.
“He would have been paid after termination, or after whatever the agreement was for him to leave would be that,” said Dawson. “That is not payroll, that is severance, that is money that the city paid to negotiate getting him to go away and, into sort of white wall display everyone, release everything, etc. So, it would be classified differently.”
Dawson eased council’s concerns by firmly stating the city had nothing to worry about. If Barrow were to be hired by another entity, the city at that point would be unrelated to the hiring and have nothing to worry about.
“I am confident that there is no legal exposure from the process we have done,” said Dawson. “But if anyone is concerned, they should feel free to call wherever you are working now and ask them if you know, was it appropriate for them to hire them or pay them? That is not our problem. We solved our problem by signing the severance agreement.”
Council members also had a difficult time delegating over changing key ordinances that would give the city manager the authority to appoint an entity, instead of individuals, to oversee Fire Marshal, Code Enforcement and Building Services.
Questions arose whether council members wanted to amend ordinances regarding handing the appointment power for the Fire Marshal and assistant, Code Enforcement Official and City Health Authority over to the city manager.
The agenda item handing the appointment power strictly to Whitten had councilmembers in a bind, ultimately being tabled, whilst the item to appoint a temporary entity to fulfill certain city roles, for 60 days, was approved.
Mayor Milton R. Koller highlighted the key issue in the language provided by the suggested ordinance change to shift the hiring power, given the city’s recent history with the previous city manager.
“It really is just changing the selection procedure to give to give it to Richard as a city manager,” said Koller. “To give the city manager the ability and authority to make the hires and he is obviously subject to city council saying, “we don’t like what you do.” Just because we have run into times when city council does not mean enough to be in the weeds of hiring a building inspector or something like that.”
The temporary entity, Safe Bill, would provide all the required services the city needs for a 60day period given that the city does not have any foreseeable roles filled for those positions.
Ian Knox, representative for Safe Bill, listed all the services the company would provide for the city during this trial run.
“We are a national company that provides building inspections, plumbing, all of those we do like you were mentioning,” said Knox. “All our employees are certified to handle any of this including building officials, certified building officials, floodplain, etc. Fire Marshal services as you are already using fire inspections. Health Department. I think that was a recent addition to this. The entire building department essentially is what we would assist with.”
The next city council meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 12.
