Girard council appoints Eric Bailey as interim public works director, approves job descriptions and funding items

The Girard City Council on June 1 approved an interim public works director job description, a project manager job description and appointed Eric Bailey as interim public works director at an annual salary of $54,000. The appointment followed an executive session on nonelected personnel and was moved by Lucas Stansbury and seconded by Morgan Johnson; the transcript records the motion carried but does not include a roll-call tally.

The action came during routine business that also included approval of the consent agenda, which incorporated Appropriations Ordinance 2026-11 totaling $173,298.03 and multiple personnel actions. The ordinance lists purchases over $10,000, including insurance premiums to BCBS for $37,255.59, payments to KMEA/GRDA for $37,132.00, water purchased from PWWSD #11 for $24,576.00 and GN Bank credit card charges totaling $43,765.42. The consent agenda also approved several seasonal hires for the pool—lifeguards and head lifeguards—and personnel changes including reclassification of Scottie Thomas to Clubhouse Manager and acceptance of Michael Clark’s resignation. The motion to accept the consent agenda was made by Darrell Westhoff and seconded by Morgan Johnson; the record shows the motion carried but does not report vote counts.

Council members also approved an agreement from Earles for a State Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF) technical memorandum. Darrell Westhoff moved and Morgan Johnson seconded the motion to approve the Earles proposal; the transcript records the motion carried and does not include a vote tally.

On project updates, staff reported limited progress so far on the water plant rebuild and said engineering will be required. Water-distribution locates are scheduled for the following week with excavation expected thereafter; staff said materials and pipe deliveries are arriving and aimed to have active construction by the third week of June. The council was also told the proposed interconnect with Bone Creek remains pending Midwest Engineering and that Bone Creek representatives reported a lack of recent contact with that firm, leaving the interconnect unresolved.

Other infrastructure updates included a redesign of the golf course pumphouse, elevation of a bar screen removal to high priority because of repeated failures, completion of the Hwy 7 project, a solar project set to start in June and a Cat generator project slated to begin in October. Staff reported utilities work underway: culvert replacements, patching of street utility cuts, 19 electric call-outs since the last meeting, replacement of 13 utility poles and five transformers, and that a gas line for the Cat generator has been run.

In governance remarks, Council Member Morgan Johnson thanked city employees and congratulated the local baseball team; Council Member Lucas Stansbury urged patience from residents during construction, reminding citizens that amenities are open; Council President Darrell Westhoff noted county road crews are scheduled to assist with city streets after the July 4 holiday and cautioned about scooter and bike safety; Mayor Nick Cheney reported the front office remodel is nearly finished, thanked a person named Jackie for downtown cleanup, previewed landscaping and south-side plans with Girard Main Street’s new leadership, and said the city website will temporarily move to a holding page while a full site is completed.

The meeting included two executive sessions on nonelected personnel—one on job reorganization and wages (15 minutes) and one on employee discipline (5 minutes, including Captain McAtee on-call). The transcript records that the council entered those sessions and returned; no formal discipline motion was recorded after the second session. The council adjourned at the end of the meeting; the clerk attested to the minutes.