Norris sets second meeting on reorganizing utilities to become a city department
A second Norris City Council workshop on possible changes to the management of the city’s water and sewer operations will be held tonight (Wednesday, March 1) at 5:30 p.m. in the Norris Community Building.
Council members will again discuss among themselves and take comments from the public on whether the Norris water and sewer systems should be placed under control of the city manager as a regular city department.
That move would end the embattled Norris Water Commission’s tight control over the utilities, and would shift longtime water and sewer Superintendent Tony Wilkerson from answering only to the five-member Water Commission.
Instead, Wilkerson would report directly to City Manager Adam Ledford, much like the other city department heads do, including fire, police and public works.
Mayor Chris Mitchell called for the meeting – which will be a follow-up to a similar workshop Jan. 23 -- saying he believes more detail about the proposal should be discussed.
“I suggest we have another workshop [to] put more substance to what we mean when we say it would be a department,” he said during the Feb. 13 City Council meeting.
But, he said, “I want to be very clear: the [Norris] Water Commission would still report to the City Council.”
The mayor also said he would like more participation by the water commissioners.
“I’m open to the Norris Water Commission bringing ideas,” he said.
Councilman Will Grinder said during the January council meeting that he supports having a second workshop, adding: “I would desire Adam’s and Tony’s input. He was referring to Adam Ledford and Tony Wilkerson.
During the first workshop, a two-hour informational meeting on making the changes in the management structure of utilities, the City Council ended the session divided on the issue.
The special session was called for by a unanimous vote of the council during its December meeting.
Councilwoman Loretta Painter made a motion near the end of the Dec. 12 council meeting to schedule the workshop. She said later that she would like to consider the changes to create more efficiencies in city operations and create a clear chain of command under the city manager.
The move came as Norris continues to struggle with state mandates to correct environmental violations with the sewage-treatment system, which eventually could cost the city in excess of $7 million, and might even require construction of a new sewage treatment plant, which would cost even more.
Before the Jan. 23 workshop began, Mayor Mitchell handed out copies of letters from former councilmen Larry Beeman and Robert Sain in favor of the shift of the utilities to a city department.
The mayor also gave out copies of an email from Angie Carrier of the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service, which advises cities in Tennessee on legal and structural issues, that recommended the move.
“I would recommend [the utilities] be a department of the city to be treated and structured as the other departments and report to the city manager,” Carrier wrote. She added that the city’s current structure is unique “as it pertains to the day-to-day operation of the department.
“Operationally, you have a water superintendent that reports to the Water Commission,” she said. “Because the city of Norris has a city manager form of government, I do find this to be a unique situation. In the city manager form, with a few exceptions in private act charters, all department heads report to the city manager.
“Essentially, the city of Norris has two supervisors applying an interpreting the policies of the city. This could cause culture or morale issues for employees, if the same policies are not being applied fairly throughout the organization.
“Further, staffing supports all departments and this could also result in certain inefficiencies in providing support for budget, financial oversight and human resource needs if policy implementation is not streamlined.”
Painter, who is the City Council’s appointed representative on the Water Commission, expressed support for the change, saying, “I believe the city needs a clear chain of command, and a city manager that is the head of city operations.”
Norris is under pressure from the Tennessee Division of Water Resources to fix the issue of storm water overwhelming the sanitary sewer system during periods of heavy rain, or end up paying $23,460 in fines – or more -- for violations of state regulations regarding discharge of polluted water Buffalo Creek.
The city already has paid $4,692 of that fine to the state, and would be on the hook for the rest unless its remediation plan is carried out as scheduled.
Under state law, the city cannot use property taxes to fund the repairs, and also may not add any of those expenses to water bills.
Instead, the city must get grants and/or borrow money to pay for the upgrades, and then pay off the loans using higher sewer rates for customers.