During Monday night’s meeting, the council went into executive session for about 30 minutes to discuss possible litigation. When they reconvened, the body unanimously passed a resolution adopting a $200,000 change order to expand the project onto Long Street in order to meet the target number of residents served.
According to a memo from city manager Michael Stampfler, “…The Coleman Circle sewer project has encountered some issues pertaining to the overcounting of beneficiaries with the project area. The grant application submitted to the Alabama Department of Economic and Commercial Affairs, prepared by EARPC, indicated that 54 houses would be served by the project. It was discovered by the city administration during construction that this number is in error and that only 32 houses would be served under the original plans submitted to ADECA.”
“I’m concerned about the slamming of the professional reputations of myself and this agency,” Austin said. “We don’t define the project area. We’re not engineers. We worked with the water and sewer department on that. The information comes from the applicant, and if it’s wrong, there’s nothing I can do about it. I didn’t make up any information, I didn’t lie, and no one here would ever send false information to ADECA. I resent anyone implying that we did.”
The original project, which goes back to early 2008, included portions of Long and Chandler Streets. “Chandler Street actually already had sewer service, but not everyone was hooked up. But the estimates did not include the hook-ups, which were required. We counted 54 occupied units, we got 54 income surveys, and one or two people who said they didn’t want to hook on. Then a month, month and a half ago, all the sudden we’re down to 35.”
The estimated cost of the hook-ups was $500 per household.
Austin said she a meeting scheduled with city leaders scheduled for Jan. 7, but found that she was unable to leave the office. “I offered to set up a conference call, but I was refused,” she said. “I don’t know anything that went on at that meeting.”
If she had been, she added, she might have been able to suggest at least two remedies that would not have cost the city any money, but Stampfler was not interested.
“You could allow people that didn’t want to tap on to file a Refusal of Service form, which means they would still count. You could have added Long Street on that way, or you could have done a formal amendment request to ADEM, which would require only two weeks of advertising in the paper and a public hearing. That would allow you to delete Long Street and install the gravity flow line in the future.”
I agree with you 100 per cent.
It is incredible to me to read that ANY of the current administration in Talladega has the nerve to criticize a person of Ms. Austin's good character when the skeletons in their closets are bleeding all over the city.
Ellen is not a politician; she is a hard-working, honest, dependable and forthright Talladegan working for the betterment of the city.
Can the same be said for ANY one of the councilmembers, the mayor or Michael Stampfler?
No. Not at all. Their 'good' characters can be described in other words--grasping, self-serving, arrogant, out-of-touch, and some words I can't print here. Just look at their accomplishments. Oh, sorry. There aren't any.
If the city administrators, especially Stampfler, want to point fingers, why not look in a mirror, or at each other, to do it? Prime example--
When city employees go to the payroll department and ask simple questions about their paychecks--
(true story, folks) "Ma'am, I have my last 3 paystubs here, and I got the same number of hours on each one. But I was cut $50 more on the second than I was the first one, and even more on the third one. Why? Nothing has changed. It doesn't make sense."
Her answer? "Sorry, but I don't know, either. I just do what Mr. Stampfler tells me to do."
No one can explain it, or perhaps are afraid to. Stampfler was graded by the council at a C- or D . But he's still here, working with our money, directing the council on purchases.
The old textile mill downtown still sits there empty, except for its thriving population of rats--$140K of Talladega Tax Money (now called Stampfler's Folly). Perhaps he had something in mind (bingo hall, apartments, flea market?). Whatever it was, it still remains a mystery to most folks. I'm sure his political hangers-on know, but we don't. All we did was finance it, and the building just sits there. This town may never recover from his 'guidance', or the current administration's blind obedience to his will. Golly, gee. It's almost as if in Talladega politics, it's not WHO you know, or WHAT you know; it's WHAT you know about WHO you know that allows some folks to get away with a lot.
And as I said, Ms. Austin is not a politician. So when the administrators can't accomplish anything of note themselves, they're just more than happy to jump all over her and the grant she secured to HELP THIS CITY.
A little professional jealousy, maybe?? The do-nothings criticizing the achievers? Nothing new in that.
Oh, yes, indeed. Business as usual.
Until the next election.
Have a good one.