Sophie Bunn/Jefferson Jimplecute
Tensions between the City and Public Works Department Director Alan Whatley were back on display during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Whatley stated he felt there was a target on his back during the meeting as Council heard updates on three public works matters.
It began as, Lisa Crossman, a Project Manager at Schaumburg and Polk, Inc. (SPI), reported on the city’s lead service line inventory project. TCEQ requires that all service lines be categorized as lead, non-lead, galvanized and requiring replacements or lead status unknown. The City has received a grant from TCEQ for the required replacements.
“After that inspection which took about six weeks, we were able to identify that of the 1,396 total service lines, there were 1,049 service lines that were definitively not lead,” Crossman said. “There were three service lines that were lead. There were 131 service lines that were identified as galvanized steel… and then there were 203 locations that for whatever reason our staff was not able to locate the meter to be able to inspect the service line.”
When Mayor Patricia Finstrom asked Crossman about the 203 not-located meters and what the plan was to get them located in the future, Whatley stepped in. He stated that the matter could have been easily resolved “if someone had talked to me.” He told Council the meters all have GPS locations and can easily be found by putting the info into ones phone. Whatley indicated he and and an SPI supervisor quickly located several of the meters using GPS and the supervisor went to discuss the matter with the field staff.
Whatley also said there were no meters being missed during the monthly reading process so the City is not losing any money by not billing people for water usage.
Crossman said SPI is continuing to work with city staff to locate the remaining service lines and plans to send an updated inventory to the TCEQ in the coming weeks.
Later in the meeting Council discussed a drainage and possible damage to a duplex being built by Hamid Habibelahian on River Oaks drive, Whatley again spoke indicated the issue was not a City problem and that a city employee cleaned the culverts on the property as there were some building supplies blocking it.
Jamie Parsons, across the street neighbor to the property said, during public comment, “the lot, or lots, that those duplexes are located on are below the street grade. It’s below all the adjoining properties–the residential property to the South side as well as the residential property on the West side.”
“My kids used to refer to it as Story Swamp when David Story used to live next door because there was always standing water on the property.”
“When they started construction, they did zero site preparation,” said Parsons. He also said a previous building project next to this lot brought in multiple dump trucks of dirt and sand to level the grade.”
Parsons and Whatley encouraged Council to go to a visual inspection, see what they think
“This is a good argument for hiring or retaining a firm to do inspection services for the city,” said Parsons. “Those duplexes don’t even have a back door. It only has one exterior door.”
The third item Whatley said he felt targeted over was the City’s fix for the water leak at the old police department building which was causing flooding underneath the Jefferson General Store.
“We got the problem at the General Store fixed, and we’re thrilled about that,” said Finstrom. “But I also want you to know that it cost us $25,750 to cap off two ends of a water line.”
Whatley has previously told Council that due to staffing shortages he does not have an additional certified heavy equipment operator and that this job would have to be outsourced. Lawler Construction, who did the large water/sewer replacement project was used for this job as he was familiar with the locations of the water lines.
Whatley said he didn’t know why this was even on the agenda other than to try and cast him in a bad light.
Finstrom reminded Whatley that she is not allowed to talk to him due to a cease-and-desist order associated with Whatley’s hostile working conditions complaint to Texas Workforce Commission.
Some of the staff shortages in Whatley’s department were helped Tuesday night as Council approved the hiring of Damian Guffey in the Street Department and Chance Robertson in the Water/Sewer Department.
Building issues dominated the bulk of the meeting as Council heard a proposal for third-party building inspection and plan review services as Frank Smith, with Willdan Engineering, discussed his review of City processes and recent building permit projects. Smith also presented a proposal for addressing the city’s building inspection needs. Smith, who has worked in over 30 municipalities, emphasized the importance of ensuring that building projects and commercial properties meet code standards.
“Right now the City of Jefferson is not providing building inspection or plan review in a conventional manner as the rest of the cities in Texas and a lot of neighboring states,” Smith Said. “By no means is this an anomaly, but that being said there are still state laws and local ordinances… that need to be adhered to.”
Smith inspected 12 building projects and studied local ordinances and building requirements prior to speaking at the meeting. He identified inconsistent fee schedules for services, problems with the permitting process for single family residential projects and a lack of clarity in permit descriptions. He noted that some residential and commercial buildings in the city might not have been properly inspected or up to code.
“The city needs to provide consistent guidance according to its own ordinances,” Smith said. “And it has to be regulated throughout.”
Smith recommended several easy changes to the current processes and proposed his firm be evaluated to help the City improve on a cost effective manner.
“The city of Jefferson is not far off from having a compliant modern building department,” Smith Said. “You have all the pieces in place, you just need to implement.
Council chose not to accept any of the bids submitted to complete playground repairs at the City’s two parks due to available funds. Two bids had been previously submitted with large differences in cost. Council tabled any action last month to get additional information on why the costs were so different, and one bid was withdrawn. The remaining bid was for $40,000.
Instead, Council indicated they would work to see how to hire a contractor to repair the highest safety issues at the parks and then go out for bids for the remainder of the work – which they said would will greatly reduce the costs for the replacement of the borders and mulch underneath the equipment.
In other business, three building permits for sheds were considered and approved. One of the building projects was already completed before the permit was approved by the Council. Tracey Graham, member of the Planning and Zoning committee, stated this is further reason to look into permit consulting.
Council approved a new resolution creating the office of City Administrator Office and the job description for the position. Salary for the position was approved at $80,000, effective November 20.
Council approved budget transfers of $10,000, and $2,000 from administration payroll and overtime to travel and education. City Administrator Melissa Boyd said she wanted these transfers so that newly elected Council members, and herself and administrative assistant Kami Rosser could attend TML training following the May elections.
Lastly, The Planning and Zoning Commission updated Council on four public hearings so citizens can hear and discuss proposed Zoning Regulations Articles I, II, III, IV, V and a map with boundaries and descriptions. A hearing in Ward 1 will be held Thursday, January 9 at the Transportation Center, 305 E. Austin Street. A hearing for Ward 2 will be held Thursday, January 16 at Jefferson Community Center, 501 Haywood Street. A hearing for Ward 3 will be held January 23 at Jefferson Junior High School Auditorium, 804 N Alley Street. And a hearing for all wards will be held January 30 at the Transportation Center. All meetings are set to begin at 6p.
A full video of the meeting is available on the Jimplecute’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/live/IMSYCqFWjKI