Council bristles over brush fees

An unexpected bill for grinding brush has uncovered unapproved charges being paid by the city that weren’t included in its original contract with Republic Services.
Mike Reeves, municipal services manager with Republic, was at the March 3 Edna City Council meeting to provide options to get the $23,169 bill from Jackson County paid.
He told Mayor Joe Hermes and the rest of the council that he was unaware the city was being charged for the grinding, although in a email to current city manager Don Doering, he said “Mr. Knight [the previous city manager] would budget around $4k per month to cover the cost of grinding each year so that when the annual bill came in the city would have the funds to pay it.”
According to city records, the city has paid about $30,808 to the county for grinding since Knight verbally agreed to allow Republic services to take the brush debris to the transfer station, all without Council knowledge or approval.
Reeves has given the city three options, to share the cost and increase residents’ bills by $.50 per month, pay the full bill and increase the residents’ bills by $1 per month, or allow the City to choose another contractor with 120 day notice in writing or rebid the current contract with Republic.