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Covington council approves IMEA contract services instead of hiring electric superintendent
Summary
At its March 3 meeting, the Covington City Council approved IMEA option 3 — a $2,191 annual membership and $41,661 in 2025 contract services — to provide electric‑department support in lieu of hiring a new electric superintendent. The motion passed 5‑0.
At its March 3 meeting, the Covington City Council voted unanimously to accept a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMEA) and to pursue IMEA option 3 for electric‑department support.
Gene Fye of the Electric Department presented the IMEA memorandum of understanding and cost options. Mayor Crain said the council should choose option 3 because “since we don't have an electric superintendent” the contract services would provide training and project management instead of hiring another employee. The council approved option 3 on a 5‑0 vote after a motion from Councilmember Copenhaver and a second from Councilmember Martin.
The adopted option includes a 2025 annual IMEA membership fee of $2,191 and 2025 contract services priced at $41,661, which the council said would cover two eight‑hour days per month of training, work or project management. Council members framed the decision as a staffing and budget tradeoff: they accepted outside contract support to cover operational gaps rather than adding a salaried position.
Next steps discussed included formalizing the MOU and arranging the schedule for the contract‑service days; the transcript indicates implementation details will be handled by department staff and the mayor's office. No additional fiscal authorizations beyond the figures listed in the MOU were recorded in the meeting minutes.
The council took the vote during the regular meeting; the board of works later handled routine claims and wastewater adjustments as recorded in the minutes.
