At the end of the Williamston City Council meeting on Nov. 8, council members thanked City Manager Corey Schmidt.
The meeting was the last for Schmidt as city manager, as he announced his resignation during the previous meeting.
“We were able to accomplish a lot, and it’s because of his dedication,” said Mayor Tammy Gilroy. “He just doesn’t leave it as an 8 to 5 job.”
While the council expressed their well wishes to Schmidt, the interview process for the next city manager had to begin.
Gilroy said that their goal with hiring a new City Manager is to build on Schmidt’s accomplishments.
“As we start interviewing candidates, to bring in someone who can take everything Corey has done and take that even farther down the field,” said Gilroy.
Council approves Professional Services Agreement extension
In the first action item, the council members unanimously agreed to extend the Professional Services Agreement with Hydrocorp.
Hydrocorp, which has been the city’s provider since 2010, received an extension for two years with the option for a third year.
“Hydrocorp’s program is primarily focused with our commercial and industrial clients,” said Director of Public Works Scott DeVries. “They have a very good, put together program with a database we have access to, and help me with the reporting we have to do with the State of Michigan.”
Remote Work Policy sets guidelines for working from home due to pandemic
For the last 18 months, the pandemic has made working from home a new normal for many and the guidelines to work at home are grey.
For the second action item, a policy is brought up to set expectations for those who continue to work from home for the city.
“If you are going to continue to a remote work environment, you should really have a policy on the books so that there are guidelines and expectations for those staff members,” said City Treasurer Rachel Piner. “I took a look at a couple of different samples from other communities and kind of meshed them together to fit what we are currently doing.”
Police reported multiple serious investigations
Police Chief Jim Wolf said that it’s been a long week for many police officers serious because of issues that included a suspect being arrested due to a threat at Williamston High School.
“As you may know, we have been involved in multiple serious investigations this past week,” said Wolf. “Fifteen-hour days for the guys, they really were working hard on it.”
In more positive news, the announcement is made that the Fill A Cop Car event will be returning to the downtown area December 4.
Food and monetary donations will be collected to go to the Williamston Food Bank.
Williamston City Council meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month. For more information, visit http://new.williamston-mi.us. Agendas and minutes for every meeting are posted on the website as well.