During the Village of Crossville board meeting, all but two agreed to increase the Mayor’s emergency spending for the Village.
Mayor Kuykendall explained that the water department’s telemetry computer, which monitors the tower levels and pump activity, had crashed. That discussion prompted the Mayor to revisit the existing $750 mayoral spending limit and the difficulty of convening a special meeting quickly for urgent operational needs. Derek Spicer agreed and gave an example: if a pump needed to be replaced, which costs roughly $8,000-$9,000, a special meeting to approve that spending would be costly. Mayor Kuykendall shared his thoughts,
“It’s for emergency situations that I’m gonna put in the hands of the employees to tell me that this is something that we have to have for the people of Crossville to continue to have service. I can call each one (board member) individually and get the consensus, you know, or have a special meeting sometimes. And I tried to do that last time, but I couldn’t get everybody here to have a special meeting.”
Board member Smith moved to increase the emergency spending limit to $10,000. The motion was approved, even with board members Nikki Jacobs and Miranda Kuykendall voting no.
The board tabled the possibility of new Crossville signs again. Last month, the board received a quote from Misfit Fab’s proposal to replace the two signs for $13,500. This month, the board reviewed other options, including Glass Enterprise for $2,500-$3,500 and Signarama for $4,963.49 (without installation). The Boy Scouts made the original signs 15 years ago, and they’ve held up well.
Next, the board agreed to fund six Crossville Fire Department members to take a grain bin extrication class in February and March for $300 per person. Moses Scott introduced the idea and said that once each member is certified, they can help locally and in surrounding areas with grain bin accidents. With member approval, the board will pay $1,800 total for the class.
Another item approved pertained to Christmas bonuses and parties. Mayor Kuykendall explained who and how much for the bonus,
“For the full-time employees, it’s been past practice, and it has been for a long time, and this is what we’re proposing now, is a bonus of $2,000. The police chief $1,000; fire chief, assistant fire chief, and animal control officer more than one year $750. Employees with under one year, $500.”
All board members approved the bonuses except member Jacob.
The rest of the agenda included approval of a cell phone reimbursement to Hannah Walker for $45; the idea of a deputy clerk will be discussed at the December meeting; and bulk water rates will remain the same. The only thing not approved at the November meeting was the process of updating the complaint policy.
The next Village of Crossville meeting will be on December 8 at 6:30 pm.