By JONATHAN SNYDER
A black, weather-resistant, locking mailbox will be installed on the sidewalk near the entryway offices of Sprunger and Sprunger Attorneys at Law at 105 North Main St.
Sprunger’s Director of IT and Facilities Grant Meyer requested to put the mailbox in the city’s right-of-way because of previous struggles with mounting a mailbox on the glass panes of their building, which nearly extend to the ground. Meyer also stated that the narrow entry leaves no room to place the box, which will be secured into the concrete sidewalk.
The sensitive documents in the mailbox disqualifies a traditional post office box from being installed. Board of Public Works and Safety member Josh Hunt stated that the style of business justifies Sprunger’s request, which was unanimously approved. Meyer and Street Commissioner Tim Simpson will ensure the mailbox is still ADA compliant.
Additionally, the Board of Works did not approve a request from Bluffton NOW! to use downtown maintenance funds to repair the sidewalk on the south side of Perry street. While the board admitted that the sidewalk is in poor condition, previous decisions have seen that money used for residences, not for-profit entities according to Board member Scott Mentzer.
“We’ve been pretty consistent that we weren’t going to use sidewalk replacement funds for for-profit entities,” Mentzer said. “Even though this is a different fund, it would run a little bit afoul with where we’ve landed on that. Here we would be paying for the full repair out of a budgeted item that wasn’t originally defined for this purpose.”
Bluffton NOW! President Mike Lautzenheiser originally made the request due to the sidewalk connecting to one of the newly renovated alleys. Lautzenheiser admitted that the sidewalk replacement should have been a part of the project itself, with Hunt agreeing that partnership between the city and Bluffton NOW! for sidewalk issues as part of larger projects is much more palatable.
Clerk Treasurer Bri Lautzenheiser also presented an amendment for wages in the Utility Department. Bri Lautzenheiser is adding a utility office manager position, which is yet to be filled, to the ordinance. The position minimum is advertised at $30 an hour.
Additionally, the board approved raises for Wastewater Treatment Plant Lab Technician Chuck Michael, Chief Utility Clerk Kim Okey and Sewer Collections Operator Mike Gillespie. The board also paid SRF claims totaling $763,094 to James S. Jackson for work on the wastewater treatment plant, $105,656 to Inliner Solutions for work on lining sewers and $7,350 to Kleinpeter Consulting for ensuring project payroll meets federal and state criteria.
jonathan@news-banner.com
