Marble Hill fires entire sewer department

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — Marble Hill city administrator Don James acknowledged Friday he fired the city’s entire sewer department and replaced them.

In recent weeks, the board of aldermen discussed personnel matters with James and other city officials in closed session. James said Friday the firings came in the wake of these meetings.

“Everything seems to be good now,” he said.

The aldermen did not vote to fire the sewer department; James said the decision was his.

Supervisor Scott Jenkins was the first to be let go. James said Jenkins is licensed to conduct tests and fill out paperwork in the sewer department but instead would call an outside technician, Mike Johnson. James said the city now is contracting directly with Johnson to do the needed work as an independent contractor.

“Johnson would come in one day a month and fill out the paperwork” Jenkins could have done, James said.

James said Johnson works in that capacity for several Southeast Missouri communities and will work for Marble Hill until one of the replacements in the sewer department can be trained to do the job and receive the required certification.

He acknowledged other city employees and some aldermen were not satisfied with work the sewer department was doing. James said he replaced the other employees with JR Davis, Terry Massa and Josh Gale.

Those three earlier had been hired to do special city projects, such as overseeing construction of the new maintenance building.

“The special project now is the sewer,” James said. “These guys probably know more about the sewer than the other guys did. They (the former employees) were not doing their job; they cost us a lot of money. All they did was call Dutch Enterprises to come fix (the sewer). These new boys can fix it themselves.”

James also said Davis, Massa and Gale are willing to do whatever he needs them to do. He said as sewer repairs progress, he might assign them to working half-time as sewer-department employees and half-time doing other special projects, such as the new maintenance building.

“I like to get things done,” James said. “When I get a job, I like to get it done, but you have to have men who will do it. I think I have a great crew right now. Everybody seems to be on the same page.”