By JONATHAN SNYDER
The usual chatter and camaraderie that follows Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety meetings was exchanged for a quiet and somber atmosphere as a significant piece for Bluffton’s city development resigned.
Bluffton Mayor John Whicker announced former city engineer Kelly White’s letter of resignation Tuesday, much to the shock of Whicker’s fellow Board of Works members Josh Hunt and Scott Mentzer. In the letter, White thanked the city for the knowledge and experienced she has gained while in the position.
White was hired Oct. 24, 2022, as the first-ever city engineer. Since then, she has helped rework Bluffton’s standards for sewer and water pipes alongside road construction, overseen updates to the wastewater treatment plant and helped get the electric substation project on Cherry Street off the ground.
“Bummer,” was the word from Whicker after he read White’s resignation letter. Whicker then thanked White for all that she has done for the city, a sentiment echoed by both the board and the Bluffton Common Council, who met later on Tuesday. White’s last day will be on Feb. 2.
There was still some excitement for the board, however, as they approved a bid from E&B paving for road improvements via the Community Crossings Matching Grant. E&B had the low bid, totalling out to $1,966,039.64 for about six miles of paving. These include updates to Wiley Avenue, Johnson Street, West and East Wabash Street, and North and South Oak Street among other roads.
“Let’s pave some roads,” said Mentzer with excitement.
The board also discussed two issues surrounding clean up issues. One for a property on 80 Sunset Lot, as the Building Department’s junk violation notification letters have gone unanswered since April of last year. There is a delinquent tax bill currently on the property, which leads Hunt to wonder if there is anybody still on the property. No official action was taken by the board.
The other clean-up issue involves the demolition of two houses on Hale Street and the 200 block of East Market Street. Bids were put out for the project in November of last year, but there have been no offers. Interest was shown by Grant Frauhiger of Frauhiger Excavating, but he stated that he needed a time frame within which to work. While May 31 was a suggested date, no official action was taken by the board.
Additionally, the board gave a $1 hourly raise to Supervisor Dick Green of the Electric Department. The board also approved an SRF payment request totalling $134,508 for Inliner Solutions LLC for work on inlining the water lines for drainage. The tabled raise for Jonathan Templin of the Fire Department was given an official decision as well. After looking at the salary ordinance in detail, the board saw that Templin’s time as a part-time firefighter does not count towards his one year raise as a paid on-call
firefighter.
The board also announced that the case of the missing water on West Wabash Street has been resolved. The new meters are working as intended so far.
jonathan@news-banner.com
