Council recognizes city employees; residents honor contractor and staff for Forest Heights sinkhole response

At the Jan. 13 meeting the council presented its annual employee awards. Mayor and staff recognized Josh Gibson with the customer-service award for cross-department support and on-site assistance during a Main Street abatement cleanup; Donovan with an innovation award for elevating city communications and reducing vendor costs; Christina with a team-player award for flexibility during the city hall remodel; and Justin North as the 2025 employee of the year for his daily coordination and communication during a lengthy Forest Heights sewer-line failure.

Residents Becky and Bob Justice spoke during a presentation to thank staff and contractors for their work on their property, which was affected by sinkhole-related infrastructure failure. Becky described the repair as "a very trying, and long hundred and 22 days" and presented a plaque thanking Rinn/Wren Engineering and Planning for "care, compassion, and amazing work ethic" while highlighting compaction grouting and underpinning techniques staff and contractors used to stabilize structures.

Wren's representative described compaction grouting, explained that crews installed multiple grout locations and micropiles to refusal to secure foundations, and the contractor and residents praised city coordination through the repair phases.