Thursday, March 11, 2010

No resolution as residency issue deadline nears in VF

by Clarke Davis   

Appointment time for city officials is less than 60 days away and there is no consensus among Valley Falls city council members concerning the status of Administrator Terry Urban’s residency.

The ordinance requires the administrator to reside within the city limits and Urban was given several months to relocate when he was hired in September 2008 by the Grey administration.

Urban, who lives in Topeka, said he found the housing market too volatile in recent times and has chosen not to move here. He likes his job, however, and will stay on if the council chooses to accommodate him in some way.

Mayor Charles Stutesman is not looking for a change in administrators, but wants the city to follow the law.

“It’s tough to ask the public to obey our ordinances if we don’t do it,” Stutesman said, noting that the city is trying to enforce everything from rules about animals to cleaning up debris.

The mayor said he would support a change in the residency requirement but doubts if there are sufficient votes at the table.

“I’ve got two for changing it, two against it, and one wishy-washy,” he said.

The mayor indicated that residency is the only problem, that Urban has received good evaluations and no one appears unhappy with his work.

The mayor has received four calls from the public, all stating that the ordinance should not be changed.

The annual appointments are made at the first meeting in May and Stutesman said the council has some alternatives. It can suspend the requirement without changing the ordinance, change or amend the ordinance, or follow it.

The mayor has a fourth alternative.

“I could simply not make any appointment for that position,” he said.

In that case, there would be no council vote and Urban would continue to fill the administrator’s role without an official appointment.

The mayor brought the matter to the forefront but is now going to sit on the sidelines and see what the council does. He said he would not twist arms one way or the other, but he does encourage the public to let their representatives on the council know how they feel on this issue.

The mayor added as a sidelight that the city in recent years has not followed the residency requirement for the chief of police. Tammy Gross resides on the edge of the city, but is not a qualified elector in the city, which Stutesman said is required by state statute.

Four members of the council met March 3 with Tony Trower absent. The council approved hiring Shirley Allen to manage the swimming pool and addressed the city’s insurance coming up for renewal.

The insurance policy premium, purchased through Jepson and Associates, is increasing by about $2,000 to about $26,500. Urban told the council they could look at the auto coverage and property values to see if they were in line with what the council wanted.

A 10-minute executive session was held to discuss a complaint against the police department by the District 11 fire and rescue department.