PERRYSBURG — Temporary adjustments are being made to the city administration as a job search is starting for the replacement of City Administrator Bridgette Kabat.
Kabat was not at Tuesday’s council meeting. Friday was her last day.
Kabat resigned last month after 10 years as administrator, after accepting another job.
In an interview outside the meeting, Council President Jonathan Smith said that a firm will be hired to do a search.
Mayor Tom Mackin said that the search for a new law director is in the second round of interviews, which began this week. Kathryn Sandretto resigned as city law director in December.
Smith asked Mackin if there is a plan in place to find a substitute for Kabat, as a representative of the administration during committee meetings.
Mackin reported that there is a plan in the works, and a meeting was held this past week to cover the subject.
“I have not received that answer yet. The only thing we have received is who is going to be writing agenda or legislation, but nothing about a specific person at a specific committee,” Smith said in a followup interview on Thursday.
An internal email from Kabat detailed plans for working around the lack of both a city administrator and a law director, as pertains to writing legislation.
Until a new law director is hired, Mackin, who is a lawyer, will be writing legislation. That legislation will be drafted by several department heads for the council committees and council meetings.
Finance Director Amber Rathburn will be drafting finance and income tax legislation. City Engineer Brian Thomas will draft public utilities, public service and engineering legislation. Safety Director and Police Chief Patrick Jones will draft police, fire, human resources, planning and zoning, information technology and administration legislation.
Also Tuesday, four resolutions that came out of the safety committee were passed together, totalling more than $200,000 in spending.
Funds totaling $47,071 were authorized for the replacement of the engine on the fire division medic unit by Selking International Trucks. The vehicle is one of three units used by the division and it is currently out of service.
Renewal of a police division software maintenance agreement was authorized with Pro-Phoenix for $34,958. The software covers computer aided dispatch, mobile terminal software and the records management system.
Renewal of a police division radio maintenance agreement was authorized with P & R Communications Service Inc. for a total of $33,165.
Tom Granata, interim fire chief, reported that three new thermal imagers, needed for locating hot spots, needed to be purchased, as the current ones can no longer be serviced because the technology is out of date. Council authorized a purchase of the units with Atlantic Emergency Solutions for $43,950.
An agreement with Atlas Cleaning Services of Northwest Ohio LLC was approved to provide regular cleaning services for the police building for $42,900. Safety Director Patrick Jones said that he is not satisfied with the current company; Atlas provides certified biohazard cleanup.
Finance andA bid was awarded to Kyle J Sherman Excavating LLC for $300,993, with a 10% contingency, for sanitary sewer repairs on Elm and Seventh streets.
These are two projects that have been grouped together. Elm Street has a clog and is failing. It needs to be dug up and replaced. Seventh Street has a collapsed section that a camera cannot go through.
Council has approved appointments for Sundeep Gopagoni and Kristina Patterson to serve on the litter prevention and recycling board, for terms which expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
