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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Town Has No Administrator

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
      The Edgewood Town Council is struggling with one aspect of how the town will be run.
    At their July 16 meeting, the council once again shuffled Estefanie Muller's position.
    Her title was deputy administrator clerk/treasurer, but after quite a bit of conversation the council rescinded the ordinance creating that position and returned Muller to her original role of clerk/treasurer.
    "Oh, thank God," Muller whispered.
    As mayor, Robert Stearley has made a few attempts to fill the administrator position.
    In 2005, Stearley helped to bring in an experienced town administrator, Jeff Condrey, who was then Española's city manager. Condrey filled the role for Edgewood until the mayor's first day in office in March of this year, when Stearley dismissed Condrey and told the Telegraph he'd appointed himself as acting town administrator.
    That appointment didn't take and Muller was appointed to fill a dual role. Stearley then brought in Estancia Mayor Martin Hibbs to be the administrator, but that choice was rejected by the council and Muller was reappointed.
    Now that the position is vacant, the question of whether there will be a town administrator has not been resolved.
    Councilor Brad Hill pointed out that there is value in having someone outside of the elected body who can make decisions on policy issues. He also said a manager, who would serve at the will of the governing body and is not subject to the will of voters, could make decisions for the good of the town whether those decisions are popular or not.
    An administrator could take care of some of the hiring and firing of town employees as well.
    "We seem to hire every position in this town. I don't know if we need to do that or not," Hill said.
    Stearley said not having an administrator was appealing because he'd rather have the council make hiring and firing decisions.
    The town did take action on a bid for $381,524, which was awarded to Star Paving for the second phase of the Frost Road paving project. About $150,000 of that money was supplied by a grant from the Department of Transportation.
    Councilor Rita-Loy Simmons noted that the town had problems with past work done by Star Paving but did not request that the council not award the bid to them.
    Hill, who is the executive director of the Foundation for Building, said asphalt is expected to go from $400 to $900 per ton by the end of July.
    "The town of Edgewood would have to come up with any increase," Stearley said.
    A potential project that was discussed but not acted upon was the removal of the medians along Plaza Loop, which is just over a quarter-mile long and passes several businesses and the town offices.
    The estimated cost for removal and repaving was $178,000.
    Stearley pointed out that $6,000 of that cost, listed as "unclassified excavation," was for the removal of the medians and that the primary expense is for new pavement.
    There is another item on the estimate sheet labeled "removal of structures and obstructions" costing $10,000, but the bulk of the money on the list, around $100,000, is for materials, installation and striping. The remaining cost is for other services, taxes and 10 percent for contingencies.
    Simmons said the medians may make it difficult for some businesses on the road to receive deliveries.
    Development Manager Karen Mahalick said she hasn't seen any evidence of a problem and Stearley added that businesses can widen their drives if they have an issue.
   

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