Cadiz receives more than 300 applications for village administrator position

As Brandon Ludwig continues serving as acting village administrator after announcing his retirement March 30, village officials apparently will not have trouble finding applicants to fill the position.

Councilmember Sal Deluca announced during the May 14 meeting that the village received more than 300 applications for the administrator’s position. Deluca asked council if members wanted to form a small committee to review the applications before narrowing the field for interviews.

“But that’s a lot of applicants, and I don’t know how we’re going to manage it otherwise,” Deluca said.

Councilmember Amy Ossman questioned why the village required only a high school diploma instead of at least an associate degree for the position. Deluca said while the concern was valid, officials also did not want to discourage applicants with extensive experience but no degree.

“Because I would value 30 years of experience versus one year out of college,” Deluca said.

Councilmember Alice Barr volunteered to chair the committee.

“Because I have in my mind some criteria that we could look at to kind of filter them down to get to a smaller number,” Barr said.

Barr suggested using a combination of education and years of experience as factors while first agreeing on the criteria. Ossman also volunteered for the committee.

Village Solicitor Chuck Kidder said the mayor would need to appoint committee members after formally creating the committee.

Mayor R. Kevin Jones said the matter did not need to be completed during the current meeting and agreed to address it at the next meeting.

Under water and sewer discussion, Deluca said several projects are underway before turning the floor over to Councilmember Albert Peters for an update.

Peters said a new pipe was installed and a pump test completed. He also reported a meter and pop-off release valve were installed.

He said the absence of a release valve likely contributed to damaged pipes.

“Because the truckers probably never shut off the valve in the well first,” Peters said. “They probably shut it off at the truck and then they went back to the well, which created the pressure.”

Peters said the system is now pumping 360 gallons per minute.

He added officials were advised to submit applications to the EPA concerning the age of another well, even though new equipment is being installed.

“Just to say down the road if we did want to try and bring them to the village,” Peters said. “We’ll put the application in and see what they say about it.”

Peters said two estimates have been received for installing credit card systems to begin charging for water from the wells. He suggested obtaining another pop-off valve and resuming water sales.

“Start selling water again instead of giving it away,” Peters said.

Peters also reported recent water testing produced good results, with iron content at .2 and chlorine at .0, below the .3 limit.

“So, that’s very good,” he told council.

Deluca also informed council that a new mower had been purchased, while the existing mower would be transferred to the street department. He said the older mower had experienced issues but is back to a “semi-functional state.”

Deluca said the finance committee approved spending $12,029 for the new mower and noted appropriations would need to be increased during the current meeting.