At Monday’s Lampasas City Council meeting, members went into executive session to start the meeting, and after about an hour City Manager Troy Hill was called into the room with the council. He subsequently returned to council chambers, grabbed his business items and left.
When the council reconvened after executive session, Mayor Herb Pearce announced the council had accepted the resignation of Hill. He had been in the city manager position a little over a month.
According to a copy of the resignation letter Hill signed and submitted to the council, he said, “I thank you all for the opportunity that you gave me when you chose me to fill this position, but I have decided, over the past few weeks, that the position of Lampasas City Manager is just not the right professional fit for me at this time.”
Pearce told the Dispatch Record on Wednesday there were some disagreements and pushback between the City Council and Hill regarding ordinance changes he sought and other proposals he had brought up. Ultimately, that led to Hill submitting his resignation.
“We had heard some negative comments with the proposed ordinances and things that he had said and some of the proposed changes,” the mayor said. “I think one of my instructions to him was to get to know our community before making changes and get to know our people.”
Pearce said he was disappointed the decision to hire Hill had been short-lived, and that he had left the job after such a brief time.
“This was such a major disappointment for all of us,” he said. “This was not who we felt we had hired. And when he came in, he was talking a lot more about economic development and bringing in subdivisions … that was not where council wanted him to be.”
Erin Corbell, who previously had been Lampasas city manager before stepping down to work in the city’s finance department, will serve as interim city manager while the council goes back through the interview process to find their next hire.
Pearce said the council members are going to start the search for a new city manager right away, and they will be more diligent this time around to be sure whomever they bring in will be the right fit for Lampasas.
“I know the council is going to do their very, very best of vetting this next city manager,” the mayor said. “On this next hire, council wants to make sure that we hire the right person with the same values as our community … so that we’re continually going in the right direction.”
He added that the main goal is to take care of the residents, the taxpayers and the people who fund this city.
OTHER BUSINESS
During the remainder of the meeting Monday, the council heard a presentation from the Forward Lampasas group regarding future hike and bike trails. No action was taken.
A pinning ceremony was conducted for Tim Davis, as he officially was named the new fire chief. He had served as interim chief of the Lampasas Fire Department after the retirement of Joe Adams in May.
Victoria Box was introduced as a new police officer for the city, and she was sworn in at the meeting.
In other business, the council awarded a bid to Lone Star Sitework LLC for the ADA paving project at the Hostess House in an amount not to exceed $81,950.
The council also reappointed Justin Milam and Mike Watson to the Airport Advisory Board.
A contract for utility line tree trimming was awarded to the Lower Colorado River Authority and McCoy Tree Surgery in an amount not to exceed $209,000.
Also, the city authorized the purchase of 570 water meters from Core and Main for a total of $238,346.
The next meeting of the City Council is scheduled for Oct. 27. It will start at 5:30 p.m. in the Jack Calvert Municipal Building.
