October

CITY OF GILLETT UTILITY COMMITTEE MEETING October 27, 2015 6:00 pm Alderperson Mohr called the meeting to order. Present were Alderpersons Nanette Mohr, Deb Erickson, Marilyn Mueller, William Pecha, and Marie Blaser, committee member Ruth Spang, Mayor Irene Drake, Utility employee Robert Schroeder, Public Works employee Shane Rank, and Clerk Beth Rank. Roll was taken and the open meeting law had been complied with. Public Input: None Discussion was had on the operations of the Utility Department. Mohr stated that no one knows the operations. Anderson left a note for Mohr of things that needed to be done on Mondays and Tuesdays. Drake stated that if there are any issues that Sarah Nunn with GAI Consultants and the DNR are available for questions. Drake stated Schroeder needs to get Anderson’s phone on Friday. Schroeder asked if Drake was telling him he is acting as what. Drake stated he is just a Utility worker. Erickson stated he needs to do whatever needs to be done. Schroeder asked who is going to train him to do the reports as he has never looked at the reports. Drake stated she would help with the reports. He asked if the committee had any idea how much responsibility this is. Schroeder asked who was going to be his backup. He stated he has been asking to learn the Utility Department since he started. Drake stated we will get through this. She stated he is licensed in water. Drake stated that they were under the impression that Schroeder was working in Utility. Drake stated we will muddle through this. Schroeder stated he is licensed but not trained. He has only been working in Utility since February and has not been properly trained. Schroeder asked if he was going to be on call 24/7. He asked what he will be responsible for. He asked if the committee/council had any plan. Drake answered no. Schroeder has two pages of things that need to be done. He stated that B.Rank has pages of things that need to be done. B.Rank stated that the employees have taken a lot of responsibility on by talking to Anderson and figuring out what needs to be done. B.Rank asked if any council member has sat down with Anderson and asked what needs to be done. B.Rank asked who is going to help the employees. All of the departments are cut down on employees. B.Rank stated that it was not her job to figure out what needed to get done but she is going to be because it needs to get done. Drake stated that we are going to have to prioritize. B.Rank asked if everyone in the room was going to help. Drake stated she would help. It was suggested to get the DNR here to help with training. B.Rank stated she called Suring and Oconto Falls to ask for help. Oconto Falls is willing to help. B.Rank asked who was going to do all the daily office work. It was determined that B.Rank will do all the daily office work. Schroeder stated he will do all he can but there is a lot that he has not done. B.Rank stated that the employees are worried and they are not getting any information from the Council. B.Rank stated that the response she got from Mayor Drake earlier was that they have no clue as to what is going on and when they have a clue they will inform the employees. B.Rank stated the council needs to sit down with the employees and talk to them. S.Rank stated that the City can hire certified people to help. S.Rank asked if part-time employees are going to be able to put in more hours to help. Pecha asked if Schroeder can handle this on his own. Schroeder replied that he could not, especially if there is a water main break, problems with the SCADA, or with weekend on call. Spang asked if part-time employees could help. S.Rank reminded the committee that if you give part-time employees to Utility, it will affect Public Works. S.Rank stated that any free time the part-time employees have they can work for Utility. Schroeder and Rank went through lists of items that need to be completed. Drake stated she will talk to Sarah Nunn about obtaining a certified operator to help and will have a joint meeting with Sarah Nunn and the DNR. Drake stated that they realize there is going to be overtime. Schroeder asked who is going to approve the overtime. Drake stated she will. Drake will approve timecards every other Monday at 7:30 am. Schroeder asked if it would be approve to rollover his vacation and personal days. Erickson told him to draft a letter and she would approve it. Drake asked what is going to be done with Anderson’s cellphone. S.Rank would like some numbers as would Schroeder. Schroeder will handle the cellphone. Schroeder told the committee that this is a lot of responsibility to take all of this on. He asked if there was some sort of compensation. This is a lot of stress. The committee could not answer at this time. Schroeder asked if S.Rank is going to stay on Weekend Utility. Anderson had signed off on S.Rank to be off of Weekend Utility. Drake stated S.Rank needs to stay on Weekend Utility. S.Rank stated they will have to wait until the Public Works meeting to discuss that. Pecha stated that the City is laying a lot on the employees they have left. This situation has brought to light how much work the employees do. Spang suggested Schroeder create a calendar to help Schroeder and Mueller suggested a checklist. It was discussed that anything that can be outsourced needs to be. Schroeder asked for a meeting next week to discuss what has happened during the week. A meeting was set for November 4, 2015 at 6:00 pm. Drake stated that Anderson did not give the City a two week notice so he should help the City out. S.Rank stated he would take call while Schroeder was gone on November 5th or November 6th. Schroeder will ask Chelsea Henkel if she could take Weekend Utility. Nelson suggested to Mohr that the City ask former employee Jon Simpson for help. It was determined that too much has changed since Simpson’s employment that he would not be able to help. It was discussed that Finance and Personnel increase the number of hours a part-time employee can work; committee chair Erickson said she would look into it. The committee decided they will meet the next week to discuss how things are going. Discussion was had on the Utility Department Head job description. B.Rank will get more job descriptions to look at for the next meeting. The next meeting is set for November 4, 2015 at 6:00 pm. Meeting adjourned at 7:38 pm. Beth Rank, Clerk