The City of Pinehurst will keep their city secretary. The City Council met Tuesday and held the annual evaluation of City Secretary Debbie Cormier in a closed session. When the council reconvened in open session it was quite clear that the work of Cormier was very much appreciated by everyone as she was complemented by council members.
Cormier thanked all the members of the City Council for their confidence in her, and said she looked forward to many more years with Pinehurst as long as the city would have her. She has held the position since 2007.
City Administrator Robbie Hood announced that he was promoting Charles Michael Spain as the replacement for Bryan Green to be the head of the Pinehurst Water Department. Green retired from the position last week after 17 years with Pinehurst. Spain is a licensed water controller and has 10-years-experience dealing with water issues.
A three-member Selection Review Committee was approved by the council. Hood and Cormier will be on the committee because of their roles in administration while T. W. Permenter was approved to be on the committee to represent the elected officials in the city which is a requirement under the guidelines issued by the General Land Office. The committee will develop scopes of work, review proposals, and provide recommendations for awarding contracts to grant administrators and engineering firms associated with current and future Community Development Block Grants.
The citizens in Pinehurst will be held more responsible for replacing or repairing defective sewer lines on their property after the City Council approved amending the waste water ordinance to bring it more in line with state requirements. If a property owner fails to repair a defective sewer line in 30 days after notification by the code enforcement officer, the city may repair the line and charge the property owner the cost on their next bill. If the customer refuses to pay the cost of the repair, Pinehurst could terminate water services to the property.
The City Council approved re-adopting the city’s reinvestment zone. The reinvestment zone associated with Pinehurst’s Tax Abatement Guideline Policy needs to be re-adopted every two years. One change was widening the reinvestment zone along 28th Street.
The city employees’ insurance was re-established as a flexible cafeteria plan for the next fiscal year. The cafeteria plan allows for the Premium Only Plan to be paid by the employees before taxes which is a savings for them. The plan does need to be renewed every five years which the council did Tuesday.
Pinehurst became the latest city to approve the settlement reached with Entergy Texas on a rate increase request. Attorneys representing a coalition of municipalities reached the settlement with the utility company on the rate increase that was initiated on May 15, 2018.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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