Extreme Makeover: Pinckneyville Meeting to Consider Consolidation

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Mayor Joe Holder calls 2008 "The Perfect Storm", a maelstrom of recession, overlapping and duplicating costs of departments, failure of the state to pay its bills and shouldering the costs of a sprawling Technicolor Universal building.

That storm worsened in December with the city seeing a little over $400,000 in revenue and $604,000 in bills. The city borrowed $200,000 to solve a short term problem and the town's borrowing ability is nearing exhaustion. "That got us by one month," said Holder who has called a meeting of the Pinckneyville City Council for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to propose an extreme makeover of the way the city does business.

He will propose combining the water treatment plant, the wastewater treatment plant, the water and sewerage distribution systems and the street department into one public works department.

Then, he wants to contract with O'Fallon, Mo. based Environmental Management Services to run all of it.

He tendered a similar proposal to the council in April 2008 with a lukewarm reception as supervisors, foremen and workers clung to their authority and to their paychecks. "I couldn't get a motion to bring it to a vote," said Holder.

He said the city's condition is so dire he doesn't even see the city being able to make a $65,000 bond payment from the bond account. Lenders don't understand--and don't care.

"We have to get to the point where we are spending no more than we take in," said Holder. "I don't want the city to hit a brick wall going 60 mph," he said.

"We have to run lean," he said. "Everyone is going to have to become a worker," he said. And, entering into a contract with EMS will do that, he believes.

Holder says he has been negotiating with EMS which is willing to assume all of the current employees at the same rate of pay. The company will have its own health care and benefit programs.

Mayor Holder says he expects to lose one or two employees to retirement and "others who won't want to do this."

"We cannot afford the fat," he said.

One example of what has happened. The city raised water rates 20 percent last year thinking that would help. The city went from $922,000 in water revenue in 2007 to only $923,000 in 2008--a 20 percent rate increase, but only $1,000 in new revenue. "People just cut back on using water," Holder said.

"People are carrying all they can carry. I am going to give the council an opportunity to face this," he said. "I think the city has the ability to control its own fate," he said. "I can't wait another month or another two months. The people need to know the truth."

"EMS will have control of the work force and will organize it. Everyone will become a worker," he said. "They (EMS) will honor the same union, but everyone will be put into the same group to improve efficiency," he said.

"We will make one payment to them and they will take care of everything," he said. "They guarantee us they can save at least $10,000 a month," he said. "As I look at the numbers, we paid out $242,000 for health and pensions last year," he said. Contracting for public works services stands a chance of saving the city money. "We overlap on equipment and there are too many duplications," he said. "I hope the council has been in office long enough to have the courage to do what is right," he said.

Holder says EMS manages between 30 and 40 municipal systems. . But, not all of the experiences have been good. The Call's sister newspaper in Benton said Friday that city had contracted with EMS, then later ended the relationship. The meeting will be open to the public.