KINGSLAND - The Kingsland City Council unanimously approved hiring interim water and wastewater operators during its regular monthly meeting Monday night after the previous operators stepped down from their positions after Mayor Sharon Crosby informed them the city was bringing on one person to handle both positions in June.
Meanwhile, the council also approved a motion to spend $2,500 on a survey that will transfer ownership of the playground property behind Kingsland School from the Cleveland County School District to the City of Kingsland to serve as a city park.
The city council's actions on the operator positions came in the wake of a specially called meeting held last Friday night when the council voted to accept the resignations of water operator Lloyd Purifoy and wastewater operator Mark Garrett. Both operators were handling the Kingsland operations on a part-time basis since both were employed by other water and wastewater operations.
In a separate interview, Crosby said she met with Purifoy last Thursday about the city's intention to hire Stan Miller to oversee both positions beginning June 1. She said her plan was to have Purifoy and Garrett stay on with city until Miller officially takes over in June.
During Monday night's meeting, Crosby said that Miller will need to renew his Arkansas certifications for both water and wastewater before he can officially take over. She said Miller's most recent jobs have been with systems located out of state.
Miller told the had worked several years as a licensed water and wastewater operator in Arkansas before becoming a consultant. He said that job led him to troubleshooting water and wastewater systems around the country before he decided to essentially retire from that line of work and settle in at his home outside of Kingsland. He said he is currently renewing both certifications with the state.
With the previous operators stepping down, the council ap...
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