TRUMAN — Truman Mayor Lynn Browlee wants to know why there has been a delay in meter readings the past few months in the city.

On Monday, she asked utility foreman Taylor Varpness about the situation. Brownlee explained that the last few days of a month are traditionally set aside for meter reading, but it had been done late recently.

Varpness said other issues have been coming up that prevent the meter readings. He pointed out that the utility department is short on workers and may need to pay overtime to get it done.

“Why are we paying lineman wages to go out and collect data that could be done by anyone?” asked council member Brandon Mosloski.

Brownlee asked if other local communities hire out for reading meters. She said that if Truman must pay linemen overtime wages, it will get expensive.

Varpness said he does not remember anyone ever getting overtime for reading meters.

Moving along to other matters, the council reviewed a letter of understanding between the city of Truman/Truman Public Utilities and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local union 160. The letter dealt with a wage change for the water/wastewater operator position.

Mosloski said he knows Truman needs to pay the workers well enough so there is not a lot of employee turnover, but the city needs to be fair as well. Brownlee said the council needs to be conscious of the budget.

Varpness said it is difficult to judge whether Truman’s wages are in line with other area communities because many cities split the position, with one worker specializing in water and another in wastewater. It’s rare for someone to be responsible for both.

The council decided that the wage rate agreement needs to specify wages for those who are certified and those who are not.

Council member Kathy Hendricksen said she would like to move the process along because there are only two workers who have a lot to do, and several applicants waiting to hear back.

Ultimately, the council decided to wait until the end of the week so the city can compile a list of wages of other area communities, in order to set a wage that is comparable to a community the size of Truman.

Moving to other matters, city administrator Bethanie Ekstrom updated the council on what happened in the last two weeks after an employee of Federated Rural Electric made a presentation to the council at its last meeting. Federated made an offer to take over electric service for the city.

The council subsequently made a motion to allow Federated to contact the city’s current power distributor, Heartland Consumers Power District.

Ekstrom said Federated has reached out to Heartland but has not received any response. Brownlee said it is concerning that Heartland will not even respond to Federated’s request to talk. The council expressed dissatisfaction with Heartland and its services.

Ekstrom said the City Attorney has drafted a letter of intent to give Federated permission to talk to Heartland, without legally binding the city to make a decision.

“To me, it’s just pursuing all of the avenues that we can to bring our rates down for the people of Truman,” Brownlee said.

In other business, the council:

o Heard a utility report from Varpness, who said there is a broken water valve near the elevator but no current employee has experience replacing one. Varpness got a quote for the repair from Beemer Companies of Fairmont. It is $6,000 to $7,000. Both Varpness and street superintendent John Bosshart said they could be present when the repair is made so they will know how to do it in the future. The council made a motion to have the valve replaced.

o Heard from Varpness, who asked when the council would like Christmas lights to be put up around the city. Officials said the week of Thanksgiving will be fine.

o Discussed the open administration assistant position. Ekstrom said they made one job offer but it was turned down because the position is part-time. The council discussed setting up another round of interviews for later this week with additional applicants.