Silver Lake Moves Deputy Clerk To 'Town Receptionist'
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SILVER LAKE - Soon Silver Lake will no longer have a deputy clerk.
Tuesday night, despite opposition from Town Clerk Angie Glass, the Silver Lake Town Council approved a motion to create a new position for Tonya Conley, making her the town receptionist.As town receptionist, Conley will no longer be the deputy clerk, and according to Glass, will not have access to town funds to make deposits and do other town business at the bank. That also means that Glass will be the only person with access to town funds unless a new deputy clerk is hired.
Glass said she does not have a problem with extending Conley's hours to full time, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, but if Conley's job title is changed, she will no longer be the town clerk's employee.
"I don't want to be undermined," Glass said in the meeting. "I think this is a clash on issues of power and I don't want to do that. I see you guys (the council) once a month. I see you half an hour before the meeting every month. There are issues in the office you don't understand because you don't come in."
As deputy clerk, Conley is in charge of billing for the water and sewer. Once she becomes the receptionist, Glass will take over billing once again and Conley's name will be removed from town accounts.
"This is an issue to me because you are taking away my help," Glass said.
The council said the deputy clerk position was created years ago as a temporary position. Through the years, the position was left alone. Now the council members say they want someone to be in the office full time, and that's why they created the receptionist position.
Since the receptionist position was not included in this year's budget, Glass must research and find appropriations for funds to pay for the position.
Conley will remain the deputy clerk until the appropriations are approved.
Glass said she was unaware of the council's intentions to create the new position until they proposed it at the April meeting. Tuesday night, the council unanimously approved a motion to create the position despite Glass's questions and concerns.
In other business, the council:
n Held a public hearing for a grant application. The town is in the process of applying for a $1 million grant to install storm sewers in the town. Residents who have experienced any trouble with flooding should submit letters and photos, if they have them, to document damage.
There will be a public meeting Monday to open the qualifications of engineers interested in doing the work on the project. There will be another public meeting Tuesday to rate the engineers' qualifications.
On May 27, the top-rated engineers will be interviewed about the project.
n Heard complaints from a resident about several issues, including neighbors, unsupervised children, and ham radio operators affecting his cable and telephone reception.
n Approved an unsafe building law ordinance. Basically, the town adopted state law regarding unsafe buildings into a town ordinance.
n Approved a motion to move a part-time utility worker to full time.
n Approved a motion to hire WCA LLC for computer services. The town will purchase a server for $7,063.48, a computer for $593, and pay $40 per hour for the first 20 hours of service.
n Heard the new town trucks are ready for pickup. However, funds from the grant used to purchase the trucks have not been received yet. Glass said she would look into creating a home-rule ordinance to borrow from sewer funds until the grant arrives.
n Heard there will be fireworks for Silver Lake Days June 19 (rain date is June 20) at Gospel Hill Church. The church funded the insurance for the fireworks, making the event possible. Those who want to watch the fireworks, which are scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m., should park at Metzger's Trucking and carry chairs to the old school grounds.
n Heard Boy Scout Troop 715 did an excellent job painting fire hydrants and staining the gazebo in the park. Town Manager Jasun Blocher thanked the troop for all their hard work.
n Heard the water tower will be touched up by the company that painted it. However, the under layer of paint is peeling and the touch-up may not last long. In order to fix the problem, the tank must be stripped and repainted, which will cost about $30,000 because of lead paint underneath other layers. The touch-up will not cost the town anything.
n Heard the Office of Community and Rural Affairs wants to do a walk-through of the town May 21 at 2 p.m. to talk about the possible storm sewer project.
