Robert Allen
Daily Press Writer
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“That’s really nice to see something other than a resignation letter,” Mayor Woody Palmer said, prompting laughter.
Foechterle is filling in for former Town Clerk Cheryl Suppes, recording the meeting minutes as well as other responsibilities. Suppes resigned as of Monday and the town is searching to fill the position.
Public works employee Delmer Vigil resigned last week after more than seven years, striking another blow to the town’s workforce. Finance Director Pam Woods said his departure comes after accepting a job he’s been seeking the past couple years.
Although the board planned to decide on a parks director at the meeting, the decision has been postponed.
“The conclusion couldn’t come to agreement so we’re interviewing three more (parks director applicants) Wednesday,” Woods said.
She said she intends to have two or three candidates come before the board in the near future.
The town is also in the process of contracting with Michael Corano to run the sewer plant, and expects to have him in place by May 1, Woods said.
Olathe is also seeking to fill vacancies of town administrator and trustee.
In other news, volunteer firefighter Kirby Cannell voiced a question to the board regarding whether town employees could leave their posts to respond to emergencies during the day.
Woods said the decision is at the discretion of the employee’s department head or the board when the situation arises.
“In the past, the town has not let city employees of any kind respond or join fire departments emergency services and leave during the day,” Cannell said.
Board members said that it wouldn’t seem to be a problem, depending on the context of the situation.
“Most of the contractors and employers around here pay their guys while they’re gone, believe it or not,” Cannell said. “So out of the 340 calls we had last year — we even had some fires — that’s a lot of money these businesses are donating for their employees to leave to go to calls, and I just wonder if you guys are on the same boat.”
The board decided not to make any changes to the current policy.
“Right now there are some openings (for town staff) and some of our guys are thinking about applying,” Cannell said. “We wanted to make sure they’d be able to leave during the day.”
During board comments, Trustee Linda Steele mentioned several areas she felt needed the board’s attention, including the town Web site.
The site has not been updated since four recent resignations have occurred. In addition, it doesn’t display meeting minutes or agendas offered by neighboring municipalities such as Delta, Montrose, Ouray and Ridgway.
Woods said Stephanie Suppes, who formerly worked on the site, is “no longer comfortable” managing it.
Board suggestions included having a student volunteer to take over the site.
Steele also pointed out that the board needed to select someone to represent Olathe in the Region 10 League for Economic Assistance and Planning. Region 10 is a group of six counties and 24 municipalities, representing governments and businesses, that cooperate to keep the localities on the same page.
The board voted Steele into the position.
Contact Robert Allen via e-mail at roberta@montrosepress.com
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