Human resource manager position suggested to city council

Shelbyville will begin to look at hiring a human resource manager in anticipation of the city recorder's impending retirement.

Recorder Betty Lamb has worked for the city for over 23 years and with 170 city employees to keep track of, city manager Ed Craig said that her work "is critical and complicated."

Craig suggested to the council that they seek and hire a qualified person to initially take the human resource position, "who could be trained under Betty and learn eventually to become the recorder." He said the hiring should be done "to ensure a good transition."

Lamb said Wednesday that no current city employees know how to do her job and training someone to take over her job would take a year.

She began working for the city as an administrative assistant before moving up to city recorder. Lamb has served twice as interim city manager.

In other business, council members were given copies of design guidelines recently recommended by the city's planning commission for study.

Craig explained that the commission has finished reviewing the guidelines drawn up by the design firm of Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon and would like the council to adopt them.

The guidelines would create a design review committee, made up of the planning commission, Craig said.

"These are guidelines. They are not rules," the city manager said, and would be used by the design review committee in looking at new developments.

It will not be on next Thursday's agenda, since Craig said it would take some time for the council to review the document and ask questions.

Craig referred to a meeting that took place several months ago as an example of some of the issues the guidelines address. The council held an extensive debate over Shelbyville's appearance, focusing on signs displayed on main thoroughfares.

The guidelines addresses the appearance of things like parking areas, lighting and landscaping, Craig explained.

Members of the planning commission agreed in previous meetings that the guidelines should not have too many restrictions but should encourage more green space.

Concern had also been expressed about how the guidelines were to be worded, with commission members pointing out that the difference between "should" and "will" could be a big issue with some who might want to build here.

Craig also reported to the council that only one bid proposal was received for the city's annual audit, from Winnett Associates of Shelbyville at a fee of $15,850 with an additional $2,100 for an A-133, an audit required by local and state governments and non-profit organizations that spend more than $500,000 per year in federal funding.

The city's bid committee will continue to look at specifications for a 16-channel digital video recorder needed for Shelbyville Recreation Center. Parks and Recreation director Sylvia Pinson said that the current recorder is video tape-based and does not work.

Some discussion also took place over maintenance for trees on the public square. A bid for $1,125 was turned in by Chad Collins, but councilman Lee Roy Cunningham said that Shelbyville Power would do the job for free.

However, other council members said that the trees on the square have to be properly pruned and shaped while the city's utility system only trims trees and brush.