Fayetteville Slow To Replace Utilites Director

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city has been without a utilities director for nearly six months.

David Jurgens left for a job in Chesapeake, Va., on Jan. 10 after 21 years in Fayetteville.

His departure has left a vacancy at the top of the city's largest enterprise fund.

The utilities director is responsible for water and sewer operations -- not only in Fayetteville, but Greenland, Farmington, Elkins and south Johnson.

"It's something that touches every one of our residents and businesses," said Don Marr, Mayor Lioneld Jordan's chief of staff.

The new hire will manage a staff of more than 80 city employees and about 37 contract employees at two wastewater treatment plants. That includes Parking Management staff. He'll have to coordinate a sewer connection with West Fork, and must be able to work with regulatory agencies, such as the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

After a national search, city administrators offered the job to someone who lives in South Carolina in early May. Marr said the applicant turned down the offer because it didn't pay enough. A second applicant was about to receive an offer but decided he didn't want to move to Fayetteville, Marr said.

Marr said the city's Human Resources Division reposted the position in June, and it has been advertised through various national public works associations.

A hired recruiter will screen applicants in the next couple weeks, and a second round of interviews will begin shortly after that, Marr said. The city will continue to accept applications until the position is filled.

"We want to make sure we make the right hire, because it is such a big division," Marr said.

"I don't think there's ever a point for a position like this that you can put the speed of hiring over hiring the right person," he added.

The advertised salary range for the position is $75,962 to $115,752 annually. Jurgens' ending salary was $113,734, according to Missy Leflar, human resources director.

Marr said city officials won't consider adjusting the position's pay range unless they aren't able to hire someone after this second round of applications.

Marr and Tim Nyander, Water and Sewer operations manager, have taken on the utilities director's responsibilities in Jurgens' absence. Jeremy Pate, Development Services director, has been the point man for a municipal parking deck project.

Nyander said the Water and Sewer Division has continued moving forward with planned projects, such as upgrades along Maple Street.

"It's a struggle, but we're managing," Nyander said. "We are looking forward to getting a new director."

Shannon Jones, former design team engineer in the Water and Sewer Division, left the city in February. Jones works for the private engineering firm, RJN Group. Jones' departure left the Utilities Department without a licensed engineer to stamp plans and complete drawings.

As a result, the City Council on May 6 approved a $56,000 engineering contract with RJN for projects that began before Jurgens and Jones left. At the same meeting, aldermen approved an $81,000 amendment to CH2M Hill's $7.4 million contract for 2014, adding additional engineering services to the scope of the company's work for 12 to 18 months. CH2M Hill is the company that operates the city's two wastewater treatment plants.

It will be up to the new utilities director to decide whether to hire an in-house engineer to replace Jones.

"The new utility director should have the opportunity of hiring such an important member of their staff," Marr said in an April 22 memo to the City Council.