City Council Update

Monday night, the city council received an update on several issues. Among them:

• Police: The mayor has imposed a hiring freeze on the department. The Evidence Technician is retiring this month and cannot be replaced. Officers will process evidence, keeping officers in the office rather than on patrol. 
• The hiring freeze was enacted while the department was in the process of filling a vacancy. A second officer is in the hiring process elsewhere and may be leaving. That means two officers lost with no replacement, placing even more strain on the department as well as the budget impacts from overtime.
• Streets: The Stewart Road/Valentine project is out of compliance with the grant requirements. The only way to get back on track involves extensive engineering time. Without a city engineer, consultants will have to do the work at $100 to $240 per hour. The Valentine/136th project that Sumner administers is doing well now that Sumner is running the project.