By DAVE SCHULTZ
Two men who hold leadership positions in Bluffton’s city government urged that the Board of Works and Public Safety make changes in how it does its business.
The first one to express his concerns was Chandler Gerber, who has been a member of the Bluffton Common Council since the end of November. He strongly recommended that two additional people be added to the city payroll to ease the burden that has been placed upon two individuals — Utilities Superintendent Jon Oman and City Engineer Kelly White.
Moments later, Josh Hunt, who has been a member of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety since the end of November and is also a member of the Bluffton Common Council, wants more regular reporting from department heads and White on where things stand when it comes to the city’s several and various projects that are now underway or will be underway in the future.
Gerber — who routinely attends the Board of Works meetings, even though he is not a member — pointed out that the city has 100 employees but that it doesn’t have a dedicated human resources person. Instead, a member of the clerk-treasurer’s office handles those matters.
Also, Gerber said, the sheer number of city projects cries out for someone to assume primary responsibility for the projects that White is involved with.
The goal, Gerber said, would be to ease the burden on Oman and White going forward. He said the those two individuals are doing “commendable” work, but he said he was “concerned they’re going to get burned out.”
Gerber was chosen by a Republican caucus to serve out the term of Roger Thornton, who was elected in 2019 to the 1st District seat on the council. Mayor John Whicker appointed Thornton to the Board of Works.
Hunt was appointed to replace Thornton on the Board of Works and Gerber succeeded Thornton on the council. He made note that Thornton had said an individual to provide business leadership when it came to city projects — “some kind of a business manager” was the way he put it — would be beneficial.
He said that when White was hired as the city’s first-ever engineer, she was plugged into a very busy situation with several projects demanding a share of her time. Gerber said that White was being forced “to drink water out of a fire hose.”
Adding the two positions he mentioned could save the city money because those tasks would not require the city to hire consultants to do the work. “I think that would be best for the taxpayers of Bluffton,” Gerber said.
Hunt agreed with Gerber on the need for a dedicated HR person. “I don’t know too many 100-employee businesses that do not have an HR person,” he said.
Hunt also agreed with Gerber about the need for a business manager, noting that Oman has been handling much of that responsibility.
Hunt spoke of the difficulty of serving on the Board of Works with events swirling around him. “The city is in a rebuild of aging infrastructure,” he said. He wants to be provided with more information from White and the city’s department heads about what’s going on — both on a day-to-day basis and what could require the attention of city leaders in the future.
“These complex public works projects require planning, design, execution, and punch lists to be completed,” Hunt said. “I propose that the Board of Works is kept up to speed on all projects no matter what phase the project is in.”
Hunt requested weekly updates from White and from the department heads on the week’s operations.
Scott Mentzer, who — like Hunt — serves on both the Board of Works and the Common Council, agreed with Hunt. “Let’s have Kelly as a standing agenda item,” he said, referring to the Board of Works agenda. “Let’s have her give us a rundown.”
No action was taken regarding adding two employees, but all agreed more reporting to the Board of Works would be helpful.
“In the end, I want to make sure we are putting our best foot forward and executing to the best of our ability,” Hunt said.
In other business before the Board of Works Tuesday:
• The board members — Whicker, Mentzer, and Hunt — formally approved Street Commissioner Tim Simpson’s recommendation that the contract for the city’s Community Crossings grant project be awarded to 1st Brooks Construction of Fort Wayne. The company had the lowest bid of $321, 977.56.
• A handicapped parking space was approved for a family in the 200 block of East Central Avenue.
• A water adjustment was approved for a resident in the 1300 block of West Cherry Street. A pipe had broken, but the water flowed into the yard and not into the city’s sanitary sewer system. As per protocol, the city split the cost of the water bill with the property owner and also erased the sewer bill.
daves@news-banner.com
