By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Olive Hill councilman Justin Dixon, serving as presiding officer in the mayor’s absence last Tuesday, rearranged the agenda to bring updates on the water treatment plant to the front of the meeting. The representative from Trane was there to give an update and request disbursement of the company’s next payment on the project. And while council heard that update, and approved the disbursement, they didn’t approve the payment until after asking for more and better feedback and response from the company.
The Trane rep started the meeting by explaining to council that they had just poured the first section of the filter, and were building the forms for the other sections.
“In a month, we should see the clarifier up,” he said.
But he couldn’t tell council when exactly the project would be complete. They were originally supposed to be complete by the end of this year, he said. But soil conditions have set them back about three months, he said.
“We’ll see if we can catch up,” he added.
Councilman Chris Bledsoe asked if those delays were leading to any projected cost overruns, as the price of materials continued to grow as the project was delayed.
“That’s hard to say,” the representative responded, prompting Bledsoe to request an update on projected costs, including any changes related to materials, for the next meeting.
City clerk Chimila Hargett noted that there were some concerns with city staff about the interface of the computer system that controls and monitors the water distribution now, as well as the data that is being pulled by the system for reports.
The rep said they could work on changes to the dash interface, as well as the data points presented to be more relevant to the city’s needs. In the meantime, he said, he had pulled the specific data points required into an Excel spreadsheet at Hargett’s request.
Hargett said she understood there would be some issues as they tweaked the interface and program to meet the city’s needs, because the company had never configured a system in this way before. Councilman Eric Rayburn was less forgiving, however.
“I don’t care if they haven’t done it (this way before),” he said. “We paid for it, and it needs to work.”
Following the discussion, Dixon called for a vote on the disbursement, which council approved unanimously.
During public comments, Dixon and Bledsoe related their experience walking the reservoir lake with Trail Town members and discussed strategies for making the area more recreation friendly.
Max Hammond discussed his new role with FIVCO, and various grants and other funding opportunities that might be available to the city and local non-governmental organizations working with the city.
Chamber of Commerce president Lisa Messer-Conley noted that Windstream representatives would be at the next Chamber meeting, to discuss strategies for bringing broadband to local businesses.
Tammy Moore gave an update on Homecoming planning, including a date for the parade – July 2, and plans for a kickball tournament, among other activities. The next organizational meeting for Homecoming will be May 5, at the Depot.
Then, before moving on to the department reports, councilperson Shannon Shutte told council she thought it was time for city hall to reopen.
Shutte started by saying she would probably get some kickback over what she was about to say, before continuing, “We need to reopen city hall.”
Shutte related complaints from city residents who said they haven’t been able to purchase required permits, pay bills, or otherwise ask questions of or request services from the city. They complain they can see people inside when they go to the building, but they can’t get inside themselves, and they can’t get anyone on the telephone.
Hargett said before city hall could reopen, however, the city would need to rescind the state of emergency. She said there was also some renovation work going on inside the building that would need to be completed.
City solicitor Derrick Willis, however, said all that was needed was an executive order from the mayor rescinding the state of emergency. Then city hall could reopen.
Regarding the telephones, Hargett said they were always there in the office – and answering phones – until 4:30. She said there were times when the lines “are all lit up,” but there were also times when no one was calling. She acknowledged that they need to fill some open positions as well, which could help with the contact bottle-neck.
Council then accepted department reports from the treasurer, fire department, police department, and code enforcement, before entering into executive session to discuss employee issues.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
