Just in time for an artic blast of cold air, the City of Geary is without a public works director.
Tommy Lewis, who had been serving in that position, was restructured at the January city council meeting to become the gas department foreman and his pay set at $18 per hour. At the same meeting and during the same executive session, Devin Pratt was restructured to the water department, with his pay rate remaining the same as it was previously.
The public works department has come under fire in recent months by city council members, notably Rita Allen, who asked why scheduling and work protocols were not being followed and why the employees were making multiple stops daily at area convenience stores while on the clock for the city. Allen often expressed her ire by voting nay on the acceptance of the reports from the department and on pay raises or longevity bonuses, formerly known as holiday bonuses.
Allen wasn’t alone in her observations, though. Council member Sandra Cleveland had questioned why members of the public works department took multiple vehicles to the same job site and were spotted driving around town, seemingly without purpose.
The city suffered water shutdowns over the long MLK holiday weekend and the Geary Schools closed early Tuesday, in part because of water issues. The city water system was returned to use by Monday, but areas of Greenfield, which Geary supplies with water, remained out of service later.
The city water system had been discussed earlier as well. Geary had a water main break on Christmas Day, and discovered the quarter-milelong section of line would need to be replaced.
“How are we going to fix this now instead of when it breaks again,” wondered Mayor Waylon Upchego. “Do we take out a loan to fix it?”
The section of line passes under the Canadian River and it is believed there is no sleeve around the pipe at that point, meaning if the line bursts, the water is contaminated with river water and the break could go unnoticed.
“I don’t see where we have any options,” council member Rocky Coleman answered. He did say, though, that the city ought to look for grant money for the replacement line first. “I think we should go ahead and bid the job, but none of those bids that expire in 30 days,” Coleman added. It was the consensus of the council that handling the repairs in-house wasn’t feasible and the agreement was to contact the engineering firm the city had used previously for water projects to conduct the engineering on this line and create a bid packet for the job.
The contract between the Geary and Greenfield concerning water was also a topic of discussion at the meeting. Kim Spady, city attorney for Greenfield, was in attendance with Shannon Wickware, the city clerk.
Both sides want an updated contract, as the last one was negotiated in 2005.
“It needs to be updated and the rates match what our citizens pay,” Upchego said. “To me that’s just fair.”
Spady noted the meter that measures the water sent to Greenfield needed work and the city of Geary was obligated to do that. “We can’t calibrate your meter,” she said. If Geary wanted assistance to pay for the recalibration, it could ask Greenfield for that financial help, but had not.
Allen said the water was only supposed to cover the town proper of Greenfield, per the contract, to which Spady explained that was not in the existing 2005 contract.
“We need these discrepancies cleared up,” Cleveland said. “We need to continue to look for documentation.”
There were some questions as to whether the 2005 contract was the most recent. Also in question was what Greenfield had been charged for water over the years, and whether those charges were at municipality rates or consumer rates. Spady noted she had requested the records two months ago, but had heard nothing.
“We don’t even know if we have them,” Upchego said. “We are only obligated to keep utility records for two years.”
He suggested the two municipalities get together and discuss the proposed rate and contract changes. At issue is the need to notify Greenfield of the new rate by February 1. That requires a special meeting set for 6 p.m. January 22, and for the Geary city employees to conduct research as to what rate structure should be offered to Greenfield at that meeting.