Whitley County Water District meeting held in parking lot

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous government entities are going high tech in order to continue meeting while maintaining recommended social distancing measures.

Whitley Co. Water District Board of Directors met in the parking lot on April 9 to maintain social distancing.

Some are meeting via Facebook Live, such as the Whitley County Fiscal Court, others are meeting via Zoom, such as the Whitley County Board of Education.

On April 10, the Whitley County Water District took the exact opposite approach to using technology so it could meet while maintaining social distancing, and instead went about as low tech as you can probably get.

The three-person board of directors made up of Chairman Andy Meadors and members Bob Durham and Ralph Stanley held a special called meeting in the parking lot outside of the water district office in Williamsburg at 10 a.m.

The only other people in attendance for the three-minute meeting were Whitley County Water District General Manager Sandy Smith and one journalist.

During the meeting, which the board declared as an emergency due to the COVID-19 circumstances, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the personnel policy manual in regards to employee discipline action during emergencies.

“During an emergency, the general manager shall have the authority to discipline employees pursuant to the policies and procedures contained herein, including dismissal with documentation without board approval,” the policy change reads.

The board also amended the job description for the general manager under essential job functions to read, “During an emergency, the general manager shall have the authority to discipline employees pursuant to the policies and procedures contained herein, including dismissal with documentation without board approval.”

Meadors explained at the start of the meeting that the district had operated without a general manager position between 2001 and 2019.

When longtime employee Albert Mahan retired, the board examined the operations and concluded that it wanted to establish the general manager position again.

Meadors said he thinks the position was established in January 2019, but Smith wasn’t promoted to general manager until July 1, 2019.

When Smith was promoted to general manager, the board overlooked changing written policies and giving her the authority to discipline employees, including dismissal of an employee, if necessary, Meadors explained about the reasoning for the meeting.

“I felt like, in communicating through Sandy with the other board members, that we needed to address this because of the fact that COVID pandemic may last up until August or even later and we won’t be able to meet like we normally do on a monthly basis,” Meadors explained.