Huntingburg Common Council meeting notes

The Huntingburg City Council Meeting met Thursday night and continued to make modifications to improve the Utility Department of the City.

Since last year the council has worked with Utility Superintendent, now Water Superintendent, Tony Traylor in approving the addition of a Utility Assistant Superintendent position to help with the handling of regulations and paper work.

When the city was unable to find a candidate, officials determined that a better direction would be to split the department into two separate departments; an Energy Department to handle the Gas and Electric Utilities and a Water Department to focus solely on the Water Utility.

The split was passed by the Council, but not unanimously, and Traylor was made Superintendent of the Water Utility while John Reutepohler was made Energy Superintendent.

Thursday night’s request from Traylor and Reutepohler was to create two separate positions in their respective departments for meter and safety technicians.

Mayor Spinner spoke briefly about the new positions.

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The Council approved the request to create the two new positions.

In other actions by the council, they passed a request from City Clerk-Treasurer Tom Dippel to move excess earnings from the Electric and Gas Utilities over to the general fund. The amount was $175,000.00 for each utility that was moved.

The Council passed a proposal to run fiber optic network lines between the City Buildings in preparation for a project that will increase data sharing across the City network.

John Reutepohler requested and was given permission from the Council to purchase a 2013 Ford Fusion from Ruxer Ford for his use as Energy Utility Superintendent.

Tony Traylor was given permission to upgrade the Water SCADA system that is used in monitoring water quality.

Finally, the Council passed a request from City Attorney Phil Schneider amending a City Ordinance that removes three parking spaces in front of the Police Department on First Street. The Board of Public Works made the recommendation based on visibility issues when large vehicles park in those spots. Officers have difficulty seeing traffic on First Street when pulling from the department’s lot.