Latest news with #CityAdministrator
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fennville sets sights on revising city charter, assuming residents approve
Fennville residents will soon decide on whether to revise the city's charter, following a commissioner vote July 7. Officials passed a resolution that calls for a yes-or-no ballot question on Nov. 5. The question is: 'Shall there be a general revision of the charter of (Fennville)?' If the measure passes, the charter would be revised by a committee — also elected Nov. 5 — and the revised document would then be subject to another public election before being implemented. Revising the charter is the next step in a multi-year plan to update the city's guiding documents, according to City Administrator Katie Beemer. 'As we look at how we do things, we recognized that a lot of our laws and governing documents were out of date,' Beemer said. Updating documents began with a review of the city's zoning ordinance, which the Fennville Planning Commission ended up rewriting essentially from scratch, Beemer said, before adoption in April 2024. The next step was updating and codifying the city's ordinances, expected to wrap up in August. 'We went through our general ordinances and re-edited them,' Beemer said. 'We made some changes, adjusted things, made things more streamlined.' Now, attention turns to the city's charter, originally written in 1961 and last revised in the 1990s. A general revision would 'bring our charter into the modern age,' Beemer said. 'By the end of it, we're going to have a really good set of laws and governing documents,' she said. Beemer said there are some areas officials have in mind for edits, including revising a purchasing policy that requires staff to get commission approval for anything over $1,000, as well as clarifying city positions and organizational charts. 'When you're running a water utility or a sewer utility, sometimes when you need a part, you're not going to find one for less than $1,000,' Beemer said. 'We'd (also) like to formally add (the city administrator) position into the charter." The resolution approved July 7 calls for the conditional election of a nine-member "Charter Commission." Those positions will also be elected Nov. 5, but will be voided if the revision question is voted down. Members of the commission must be residents who aren't officers or employees of the city. According to a memo in the packet July 7, they also can't be directly related to current city commissioners. Residents have until 4 p.m. July 22 to file a nominating petition for the non-partisan position. If fewer than nine people are elected, the remaining positions will be filled by appointment. Support Local News: Receive unlimited digital access to your local news coverage Beemer said serving on the commission won't be a 'huge time commitment,' with members only meeting for a few months, rather than multiple years. If the vote to revise the charter passes, the new commission will first convene the second Tuesday after the election. Members will frame a draft of the charter within 90 days, which will be sent to the Michigan Attorney General's Office for approval. If the document were approved at the state level, it would return to the ballot for approval in a city-wide election. — Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@ This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Fennville sets sights on city charter in reorganization effort
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ephrata installs new sewer liner
Jun. 11—EPHRATA — After more than 70 years, the Ephrata sewer line has gotten a brand-new sewer liner. The project impacted about 14,000 feet of sewer line and cost a bit under $1 million. "We have a history of some sewer lines that were installed in the 50s. Over the past several years, there seems to be one that collapses every year," City Administrator Ray Towry said. "This project was specifically to hit those lines. It was common practice to use concrete piping back many, many years ago, and what we've learned is that the gases that are emitted by the sewer actually eat away at that concrete, so the tops of those pipes actually just erode from that." Towry said there were several parts to the sewer line where there was no top and the ground just formed around where the concrete had been. "We were just fortunate that as the ground and the rock had settled, it kind of settled into a natural arch. The roof was falling off slowly and being carried down with all of the sewer," Towry said. The project started with the sewer lines being filmed to assess the conditions throughout the city. The video showed that there were several areas that needed repair, according to Towry. The city ended up adding a new sewer liner to around 14,000 feet of sewer line, which cost the city around $998,000. The process also included cleaning out the entire sewer line, videos of before and after, and the actual liner itself. "We had a company come in, and they are able to run a pliable material from one manhole to the other, pressurize it and heat it with steam, which causes it to then harden into a PVC-like material," Towry said. "That lines the inside of the pipe, so you don't have to do any of the excavation, you don't have to shut down traffic. You're not cutting into your roads or your streets. It's just a really slick process, just much quicker, much easier, much faster, a lot less disruption." Towry said this should cut down on any issues with the sewer. "People in the Northeast section, it seems like annually there was a street or a road that we'd have to close off for a few days while we dug up a line and put in a new pipe," Towry said. "So, this should alleviate that. That's our hope. Unless there's some issues out there that we weren't able to see on the camera. But we don't think that's the case. We think that we have got everything. We think this is a much, much less expensive and much less intrusive, proactive approach to taking care of this."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Attorney: Pullman city administrator was fired, did not resign as city claims
May 8—An attorney for former Pullman City Administrator Mike Urban disputed the city's announcement this week that Urban resigned and instead claimed the city fired him. A statement from Urban's legal team , Dunn & Black of Spokane, said they are "deeply disturbed" by the city's misrepresentation that Urban resigned. "To be clear, this is categorically false," the statement said. "In reality, in the course of discussions regarding Mr. Urban's return to work, it became apparent that the obviously false and ludicrous accusations against Mr. Urban had severely damaged his reputation and his trust in and working relationship with the Mayor and the City." The city announced in a news release Tuesday that Urban, who has served as city administrator since 2021, resigned from the city's top administrative role after he was "erroneously implicated" in a Washington State Patrol investigation involving former Pullman Police Chief Jake Opgenorth. Opgenorth, who resigned in March, was placed on administrative leave in December over domestic violence and sexual assault allegations. The Whitman County Prosecutor's Office declined to file charges against Opgenorth, who had a yearslong affair with a woman in Pullman. WSP reviewed text messages between Opgenorth and the woman, and the state patrol attributed three screenshots of text messages to Urban, so the city conducted an independent investigation. Urban was placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation, which determined the text messages did not come from Urban. "Subsequently, those allegations were definitively determined to be false, and Mike was fully exonerated of any wrongdoing," according to the city news release. Pullman Communications Coordinator Meghan Ferrin said Urban has been out of the office since the last week of March, but the city was "pleased to welcome" Urban back to work, according to an April 17 city news release that said Urban was cleared of wrongdoing. The statement from Urban's representation indicated a "simple phone call or conversation" with Urban or anyone else involved would have exonerated him of the "ridiculous allegations" weeks before the city announced Urban did nothing wrong. Alexandria Drake, Urban's attorney with Dunn & Black, told The Spokesman-Review that Urban and the city negotiated the terms of Urban's exit, but never came to an agreement. When Urban wanted to return to work, the city refused to have him back, Drake said. She said they found the city's comments from Tuesday's news release "shocking" and "misleading," saying they "misrepresented" what happened. "It's really unfortunate the way the city's approached this and the damage done to a committed public servant," Drake said. Ferrin said the city stands by its statement that Urban resigned. When asked if Urban submitted a letter of resignation, Ferrin said "everything went through the proper channels" and that Urban's attorney has been speaking with the city's attorney. "At this time, the city believes that everything was done correctly and we stand behind the press release that was released May 5," she said. Mayor Francis Benjamin and City Attorney Thaddeus O'Sullivan could not be reached for comment. Megan Vining, recreation manager for Pullman Parks and Recreation, served as the acting city administrator while Urban was out. Ferrin said Vining will continue to serve in that position until the city names an interim city administrator, which will be "soon," according to the release. Benjamin said in the release Urban's commitment earned the trust and confidence of city staff, elected officials and peers. "I have worked with Mike both as a City Councilmember and as the Mayor of the City of Pullman," Benjamin wrote. "Mike is principled, ethical, caring, and dependable. He consistently managed the competing interests of the organization, staff, and community with dignity, grace, and the utmost regard. Through Mike's accomplishments and hard work, he leaves the City better than he found it." Despite Benjamin's high praise of Urban, the city refused to allow him to return to work, according to Drake's statement. "Instead, the City unilaterally and summarily terminated Mr. Urban's employment, in material breach of his contract and in violation of applicable law," the statement said. "Mr. Urban intends to pursue all rights and remedies available to him to address the City's misconduct."
