By DAVE SCHULTZ
The Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety hired a city engineer Tuesday.
Mayor John Whicker said that Kelly White will be the city’s first full-time engineer and will be hired at a salary of $89,000 a year.
Whicker said White lives in Ossian. He said he had interviewed her a number of times and he thought “she was the kind of candidate for which we were looking,” he told his fellow Board of Works members — Scott Mentzer and Roger Thornton — in a letter recommending her employment.
In the letter, Whicker said it was a rather hard sell because she indicated to him that he did not think she was ready to be the “first” city engineer.
“A couple of weeks ago she called and we visited again and she agreed to our offer,” Whicker said.
Additionally, he said, White is familiar with some of the engineering firms the city has used, “which is a plus for us.”
When the vote was taken, Mentzer and Thornton joined Whicker in voting to hire White.
The city’s construction and infrastructure standards have come under question recently as developers have said that Bluffton’s requirements are too stringent and unnecessary. The Butler Fairman Seufert engineering firm has put together a revision of those standards and the Board of Work will hold a work session to go over those recommendations.
Thornton, in particular, has been very forceful in terms of hiring a city engineer to provide leadership in being sure the city has property standards and that they are applied evenly.
The board last month released Doug Sundling, the city’s longtime consultant for planning and infrastructure, from his contract. Sundling had served in that role for more than four decades when the board voted to cancel his contract in mid-September — even as they thanked him for his service.
White was not present for Tuesday’s Board of Works meeting. She will begin working for the city on Monday, Oct. 24.
daves@news-banner.com
