City council meeting gets heated

SALYERSVILLE – The Salyersville City Council met in regular session on Monday, November 18, discussing with a community member multiple concerns regarding Salyersville Water Works, as well as the speed limit at the lower end of town.

Mayor Stanley Howard said he had authorized a camera run in sewer lines in two homes where there were blockages in residents’ basements, so they could identify where the blockages were occurring, which were several feet under the floor and/or basement (on those people’s properties, not on the city’s line), noting those are issues he is seeing on social media.

David Gardner, a former superintendent of Salyersville Water Works, addressed the council, commending City Clerk Karen Howard for complying with his recent open records request.
He asked the council if there’s any solution possible to enforce the speed limit on the west end of town where the speed limit is 25 MPH from the bottom of the hill on Ivy Point and into the downtown area of Salyersville, noting there have been many accidents there, but some small children live in that area and he’s seen many wrecks and almost wrecks in that area. Mayor Howard said he would have city police patrol that area. Other council members suggested a caution light there.

Gardner also asked about raises and vacation time, as well as purchases made, without authority at the Salyersville Water Works, and Mayor Howard said those issues have been addressed. He said the personnels’ pay in question were getting paid more than when he was superintendent, though he says the city told him no raises have been approved by the governing body. Howard said the issue is under investigation.

Gardner said on social media last month and in the newspaper article, there was a flurry of talk going around about Water Works’ electric bills, noting that the bills eluding to 2022, which was when he was superintendent. He said that, from what he can remember, they were two months in arrears, and by his calculations, he figures they have paid $350,000-400,000 in electric bills since he resigned. And of those bills paid, he asked if the city had paid any of the 2022 bills, which they affirmed some had. He alleged that the loan they are taking out to pay up the Kentucky Power bill for Water Works then will not be any bills from 2022, but City Clerk Karen Howard said that approximately $50,000-60,000 was due from 2022. Gardner said that means they have been paying current bills, but not the oldest bills, as would be typically paid first.

Gardner also mentioned a statement made in the last meeting, indicating that the previous administration never serviced the grinder pumps, meaning former Mayor James “Pete” Shepherd and Gardner as the superintendent of Water Works, noting, “That’s a bold lie, Stanley.”
About the “extensive debt” left by the previous administration, Gardner said, “Yeah there was debt, but when Pete first became mayor, there was a conversation about the debt that was left over from when you (Mayor Howard) were mayor. Now, my recollection is that Pete had about three or four days to come up with $75,000 before the electric was going to be cut off. My recollection also is we had about $400,000 worth of debt that when I was placed on the commission, there was about $400,000 worth of debt that had to be taken care of and we did it over time. My recollection also is that the water commission at that time was being paid between insurance and fees, about $800 a month. I’m going to pass out some snippets from the ordinance in here in a minute, but the ordinance defined how much they could be paid and back in 1960 it was $5 a meeting. When you add cost of living to that, it adds somewhere around $50 a month, and that’s what we were paying our commission. Our commission did not get insurance paid for.”

He also pointed out that Mayor Shepherd had directed them to not look backwards, and chose to not complain about what was, rather than to fix it and go forward.

“One of the ways we had to fix it, by the way, is that the records were in such bad shape I went to RDA, which was a fund source, I went to KIA, which was fund source, I went to Salyersville National Bank, which was a fund source, and talked with them and we all agreed that it was useless to do an audit for those times because an audit would be a wasted effort, and so we actually had to all start, again,” Gardner said. “I’ve been told that prior to Stanley’s first time in office there was something like $500,000 of surplus money at the Water Works. I can’t prove any of this, by the way, because the records disappeared, but if you take that $500,000 and add it to the $400,000-worth of debt that we inherited, so what does that make it? Almost $1 million that Water Works went through without it being covered otherwise.”

Gardner said that prior to his term, there were about 12 years with no rate increases on the water, but since the last raises were put in place, there has been a significant increase in the cost of living, so, “A lot of what’s being blamed on prior administrations should be blamed on cost of living increases.”

He said that on November 18 he received two letters saying his water and sewer was going to be cut off, with the notices dated for November 14 and the cutoff dates set also for November 14. He asked that his water not be cut off the next day.

“I’m in arrears, I admit it, but I’ve got my bills here that I can probably prove to you that’s what it says,” Gardner said. “So, you’re disconnecting it three days before I get my statement?”

“After Jim and I left, and everyone needs to know the reason why Jim and I retired was the commissioner you all appointed came across the table to fight Jim Hoskins,” Gardner said. “Jim’s a pretty cool guy, but Tommy Bailey came across the table to fight Jim Hoskins. I resigned that day. Jim resigned that day, because it seemed apparent that the commissioner you all appointed was not there to work on the problems of the Water Works. There was no commission in place from that point forward. There were no meetings from that point forward.”

Mayor Howard retorted that there was a commission after that because he appointed Jim Arnett and a meeting had been held, but Gardner said there were no minutes from that meeting.

“If there was no meeting, how is it that a fee can be amassed on everybody,” Gardner said about a $7 fee added to each bill. He said it was listed as “On/Off,” which is when he quit paying it, asking for a description of what that fee was, finally learning it was a maintenance fee.

Through an open records request, he said Don McFarland, who had been the attorney for Water Works, which stated that fee was decided while the water commission was in a transitional period and Tommy Bailey was the only commissioner, according to Gardner.

He reiterated there were no meetings since there were no minutes and no quorum could be met (meaning two commissioners) during the time the fee was instituted. He suggested that none of the business done during that “transitional” period with no quorum could be considered legal, asking that his water not be shut off until the $7 fee’s legality is resolved.

“It’s my intent to seek an opinion of the Attorney General to determine as to whether or not this fee is legitimate. Now, you’ve raised about $36,000 using this fee, which I suggest is only about two-thirds the people that have been paying, so in the long run, if that should happen, either you refund that to the customers that have been paying it or you apply what they’ve paid to the current and future bills and if the council wants to move forward with the $7 fee that this council votes to implement that $7 fee. Otherwise, it’s my opinion that you’re continuing to fraud your customers and your customers all have a grievance against you.”

Howard said they would get something back in writing from the state when that investigation is complete.

“I will pay for the water and sewer that is legitimate, but I’m going to tell you right now I’m not going to pay the $7 fee,” Gardner said when asking if they will shut off his water. “I’m telling you right now, the late fees and the current balance in arrear comes from that fee. On the one account where I don’t have sewer, I’m being charged for sewer, I’m not paying that, but I am paying on a regular basis for those services I receive and I pay them in a timely fashion. I’m comfortable with if I don’t pay that, yeah, cut me off, but those in arrear are for those fees I think I’ve proved to you that are fraudulent, I would hope you would not do anything until this is all resolved.”

Mayor Howard only said, “Keep your water bill paid.”

The meeting ended after an executive session that was marked on the agenda as for discussing personnel.

The next regularly scheduled Salyersville City Council meeting is tentatively slated for December 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Salyersville City Hall.