Council Session: Deal or No Deal
After a 90 minute, sometimes volatile Executive Session of the Grove City Council Tuesday night, Mayor Carolyn Nuckolls announced that no decisions had been reached regarding the employment of City Manager Bill Galletly and that the session would be continued at High Noon Friday, City Hall Room 5.
At issue was the termination of Galletly, which had previously been set as Oct. 10 by a 5-0 vote in June. Since then, councilors have been embroiled in severance pay issues and who will oversee the massive $7.5 million utility relocation project on Highway 59 to begin shortly.
Some 14 applications from applicants for the city manager job have not even been opened and a search for Galletly's replacement will take 3-4 months.
One source said Galletly was to have been terminated at midnight Tuesday after the council session, but this deal fell apart and a volatile exchange ensued with one councilor walking out of the Executive Session. Some members of the community want Galletly gone yesterday without any severance pay or consulting fees on the highway project, and are putting pressure on councilors to vote that way. Others want either for Galletly to stay on as city manager for another year to see the projects through, or be hired as a public works consultant, since the city by contract has to pay Galletly anyway. They ask, what is the point in paying Galletly to sit at home when his expertise is needed, paying a new city manager, and a consultant, thus tripling the cost.
The council meeting room was packed, with many against the city manager. Two attorneys who normally work for the Grove Airport Trust Authority, David Jones and Donna Smith, were also present, with Smith carrying a five-inch file of documents.
It was learned that one councilor had, on his own, hired Jones to re-write the consultant agreement for Galletly's services on the utility relocation project, which turned out to be quite different than the original contract proposed earlier. The new contract was written by Attorney Donna Smith, sources said. Smith has previously argued with the city on behalf of the airport authority regarding transfer of property to the city.
At least three councilors are firm on the issue of honoring Galletly's contract and desire for his services for GMSA projects. One observer said the normal consulting fee for such projects is 10% of the cost, which would mean $750,000, but keeping Galletly on in effect would cost the city nothing. But there are other contract issues which are a problem for council.
Friday could be Galletly's last day as City Manager, with Assistant City Manager Debbie Mavity being named interim city manager until a permanent replacement is named.
In other action Tuesday night, Council:
-- presented a certificate of appreciation to Ron "Doc" Fries, traffic control technician, as Employee of the Month.
--tabled a vote on site selection for a new cemetery (see separate story)
--approved a seal bid for a new super cab truck for Buildings and Grounds for $18,022 to be assigned to the cemetery sexton; and a bid for $9,750 for a new Kubota mower from Anderson Car and Tractor, Joplin. The only bid for the truck was from Joe Cooper Government Sales in Midwest City.
--voted to waive competitive bidding for the storm drainage project at 3rd and O'Daniel for $13,600.
--tabled a vote on an amendment to the current garbage contract with Allied Services LLC. Allied wants to raise the price of collection from $8.76 per house per week to $9.02 and go to once a week pickup. To continue with twice weekly pickup would cost $15.00 per house per week. Councilors suggested they should be asking for a 25% increase rather than a 50% increase. The company said increased fuel and tire costs were the reason, with fuel costs increasing $3,000 a month more than last year.
--Councilman Bishop questioned the tree clearing on city property at 68th street, and Councilman Parham confirmed that real estate agent Chuck Perry had indeed donated his $6,000 commission to the city on the purchase of 33 acres of land for future airport use.
At issue was the termination of Galletly, which had previously been set as Oct. 10 by a 5-0 vote in June. Since then, councilors have been embroiled in severance pay issues and who will oversee the massive $7.5 million utility relocation project on Highway 59 to begin shortly.
Some 14 applications from applicants for the city manager job have not even been opened and a search for Galletly's replacement will take 3-4 months.
One source said Galletly was to have been terminated at midnight Tuesday after the council session, but this deal fell apart and a volatile exchange ensued with one councilor walking out of the Executive Session. Some members of the community want Galletly gone yesterday without any severance pay or consulting fees on the highway project, and are putting pressure on councilors to vote that way. Others want either for Galletly to stay on as city manager for another year to see the projects through, or be hired as a public works consultant, since the city by contract has to pay Galletly anyway. They ask, what is the point in paying Galletly to sit at home when his expertise is needed, paying a new city manager, and a consultant, thus tripling the cost.
The council meeting room was packed, with many against the city manager. Two attorneys who normally work for the Grove Airport Trust Authority, David Jones and Donna Smith, were also present, with Smith carrying a five-inch file of documents.
It was learned that one councilor had, on his own, hired Jones to re-write the consultant agreement for Galletly's services on the utility relocation project, which turned out to be quite different than the original contract proposed earlier. The new contract was written by Attorney Donna Smith, sources said. Smith has previously argued with the city on behalf of the airport authority regarding transfer of property to the city.
At least three councilors are firm on the issue of honoring Galletly's contract and desire for his services for GMSA projects. One observer said the normal consulting fee for such projects is 10% of the cost, which would mean $750,000, but keeping Galletly on in effect would cost the city nothing. But there are other contract issues which are a problem for council.
Friday could be Galletly's last day as City Manager, with Assistant City Manager Debbie Mavity being named interim city manager until a permanent replacement is named.
In other action Tuesday night, Council:
-- presented a certificate of appreciation to Ron "Doc" Fries, traffic control technician, as Employee of the Month.
--tabled a vote on site selection for a new cemetery (see separate story)
--approved a seal bid for a new super cab truck for Buildings and Grounds for $18,022 to be assigned to the cemetery sexton; and a bid for $9,750 for a new Kubota mower from Anderson Car and Tractor, Joplin. The only bid for the truck was from Joe Cooper Government Sales in Midwest City.
--voted to waive competitive bidding for the storm drainage project at 3rd and O'Daniel for $13,600.
--tabled a vote on an amendment to the current garbage contract with Allied Services LLC. Allied wants to raise the price of collection from $8.76 per house per week to $9.02 and go to once a week pickup. To continue with twice weekly pickup would cost $15.00 per house per week. Councilors suggested they should be asking for a 25% increase rather than a 50% increase. The company said increased fuel and tire costs were the reason, with fuel costs increasing $3,000 a month more than last year.
--Councilman Bishop questioned the tree clearing on city property at 68th street, and Councilman Parham confirmed that real estate agent Chuck Perry had indeed donated his $6,000 commission to the city on the purchase of 33 acres of land for future airport use.
posted by Editor | 1:10 AM
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