Alto reviews TCEQ water violations
Former mayor blasts utilities director's 'negligence'
BY LELAND ACKER

The Alto City Council grilled Utilities Director Charlie Luse over violations in the city's water department which resulted in citations by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) during their regular meeting held Monday. The meeting saw some turbulence as former mayor Debbie White called for Mr. Luse's resignation.

"I am calling for Mr. Luse's resignation because he is definitely trying to cause the City of Alto to receive numerous fines," Mrs. White said. "He doesn't care about the welfare of our citizens as pointed out in the chlorine samples and the flushing data."

Mrs. White referred to the inspection by the TCEQ in June. According to documents obtained by the Cherokeean Herald, the City

of Alto was written up on July 26 for failing to maintain an adequate chlorine level at the stand pipe and in the pressure plane served by the new booster plant on FM 752 West. Mayor Carey Palmer said the only residents affected by the low chlorine level are those who live on FM 752 West.

"We have never been written up on this before, so this is negligence on Mr. Luse's part," Mrs. White said. She then addressed the other violations the TCEQ found on June 26. She said Mr. Luse is a Class C water license holder and knows the procedures have to be followed.

One of the violations, failure to provide flushing records, is due to the fact Mr. Luse has not been flushing the system, Mrs. White said.

"Mill Street has not been flushed since he took over," she said. "I lost three water purifiers and an ice maker. When I told him, he laughed about it."

Mayor Palmer said the low chlorine level was found by TCEQ during the June 26 inspection. He said the chlorine level in the stand pipe was below the required .20 mg./I. Mr. Luse was given 24 hours to bring it to compliance, which he did, Mayor Palmer said.

Mayor Palmer said he wrote-up Mr. Luse for the violation, saying he was placing the citizens' health at risk.

"It was not a catastrophic type situation," Mayor Palmer added. "I wrote him up to prompt him to pay more attention to the citizens of Alto."

However, during the meeting, Mayor Palmer noted the level was back down to .11 mg./I in the stand pipe.

Mayor Palmer said there is no immediate risk as long as the chlorine level does not stay too low. If it does, the city has to issue a boil water notice.

Mr. Luse, who missed much of the meeting attending to a water leak in the city, defended himself by saying the low chlorine levels in the stand pipe are due to a design flaw, which he is currently working to fix.

He also stated that the violations the city was written up for were in place since 2005.

"This inspector has been coming here for years," Mr. Luse said. "He knows exactly where to go to see what was not fixed. Most violations were for record keeping."

Councilman Bob Pearman asked Mr. Luse how long he has worked for the city, to which Mr. Luse said nine months.

Councilman Pearman asked Mr. Luse if nine months was enough time to fix the problems, to which Mr. Luse replied, "It would have been if that were all we had to worry about."

Mayor Palmer said Mr. Luse is ordering the parts to fix the stand pipe and the problem will soon be corrected.

Until then, utilities personnel are injecting chlorine into the water as needed as it comes out of the stand pipe.

Mayor Palmer said the city has not received any notice of the fines, or how much they will cost.

Council grills Luse

Councilwoman Annie Walker questioned Mr. Luse about his conduct on the job. This portion of the meeting was expected to be done in executive session, but was held in open session at Mr. Luse's request.

Councilwoman Walker questioned Mr. Luse about procedure for reporting vehicle mileage, utilities employees taking city vehicles home and overtime pay.

"Regarding extra hours, your workday is 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., right?" she asked.

"I'm usually here 10 hours per day," Mr. Luse said.

Councilwoman Walker asked how Mr. Luse's overtime was being turned in. City Administrator Debbie Dannelly said Mr. Luse gets paid time and a half after working 50 hours.

"You are to be paid $13.50 for overtime, not time and a half," Councilwoman Walker told Mr. Luse.

"I don't do the checks. I have been telling you the bookkeeping is messed up in the front office," Mr. Luse said. "It's not my fault. You can't tell me how much money the city has. In May, we're in dire straits. Now, we're busting out with $50,000."

Mr. Luse said he had reported the discrepancy in overtime pay to the front office, but quit doing so after the second instance. When asked if he notifies the council of the problem, he said "no."

Mrs. Dannelly said the problem with Mr. Luse's overtime has been corrected.

Councilwoman Walker then grilled Mr. Luse concerning a broken window on a city truck, cell phone usage and a charge on the Wal-Mart credit card labeled "desktop music."

She then criticized repairs to Smith Street.

"You've turned a two-lane street into a one lane spot with drop-offs on either end. The new culvert is not as long as the old one. There will be an accident," she said.

Mr. Luse said he is trying to locate a suitable replacement.

Councilwoman Walker then asked if Mr. Luse is a supervisor or working supervisor.

"I was hired as a supervisor but am a working supervisor," Mr. Luse said, questioning the integrity of those who accuse him of not working. "I get here at 6 a.m. You get here at 8 a.m. You leave at 4 p.m., I leave at 6 or 7 p.m."

Mr. Luse said his crews work even with temperatures as high as 102. He said his crews worked in different places, but he encouraged them to take breaks in the heat.

He added there has been no excessive spending in the utilities department, saying his department was under budget.

In other business, the council voted to contract with Schaumburg and Polk, Inc., and Grant Works for grant writing purposes for city infrastructure.

New councilman named

The council accepted the resignation of Councilman Michael Sanders, who has accepted a job working evenings and voted to replace him with former mayor pro tem Kenneth Brethouwer.

Attending the meeting were Mayor Palmer, Councilmembers Walker, Pearman, Monty Collins and Earl Clark, Judge R. E. Christiansen, Mr. Brethouwer, Police Chief Charles Barron, Mr. Luse, Molly Brown, Susan Compton of Grant Works, Allen Ross of Schaumburg and Polk, Inc., Debbie White and Don White. Absent was Mr. Sanders.