By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Henning City Council is turning to a familiar face to fill a vacancy in the utility department.

During a special city council meeting on Friday night, the Henning City Council approved the hiring of Tim Angell as a new utility/maintenance worker. Angell previously worked as a maintenance supervisor for Willow Creek and Countryview Apartments, before the position was eliminated several years ago, due to budget concerns.

Several city council members spoke highly of Angell’s past work and what he can bring to the City of Henning.

In addition to hiring Angell, the city council discussed a number of items during the special meeting.

Councilwoman Tammy Fosse suggested the city provide two hour blocks of uninterrupted time to allow deputy clerk Joseph Miller to complete work without needing to answer the phone or help residents who stop into the office. 

As a result, the city council approved closing the city office two hours early from Monday through Friday, on a temporary basis, until a new city clerk/treasurer is hired. At that time the council said it will revisit the decrease in the amount of office time. 

The city office will now be open from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, as opposed to 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

City clerk/treasurer Kim Schroeder also reminded the city council that it does not have individual authority to direct city staff to complete work without council approval.

While council members can inform staff of things that need to be repaired, or of a water leak for example, they cannot direct them to make the repair without prior city council approval. That would include calling a contractor to fix an issue if a department head or city staff was unavailable and there was an immediate repair that was needed. 

Schroeder also informed the city council of the need to have an employee evaluation plan in place for both staff members and department heads.