Tindle named interim city administrator

During the Nov. 3 meeting of Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the board voted to name Tonya Tindle, the city recorder, as interim city administrator.

The motion, and subsequent vote, came after Mayor Jerry Lowery reminded the board the city’s current administrator, Brad Hennessee, had submitted a resignation and that his term would expire at the end of November. Tindle has served as interim administrator in the past for a term of five months between the resignation of the previous administrator and the hiring of Hennessee.

“What is the board’s feeling on getting MTAS [Municipal Technical Advisory Service] involved in looking for a city administrator?” Alderman Jim Floyd asked after it was determined that Hennessee’s last day of employment would be Nov. 22. “As I understand, they go through the candidates and give us a list, and we interview them ourselves.”

However, Lowery said he felt it best to wait until the first of the year to begin seeking candidates for city administrator and added that he would like to have a work session to discuss the direction for the city’s future.

“Not saying MTAS does not get involved, and maybe they can give us a list of candidates out there,” Lowery said. “But I’m just putting my trust in this board that I think we can make the right decisions for Sparta. However, we have not discussed it yet.”

In other business during the meeting, the board voted to approve raising the pay grade for the city’s fire chief to Pay Grade 9. While the adjustment does not raise the fire chief to the same level as the police chief as had originally been proposed by Alderman Brian Jones, it does bring the position up a grade level.

The board also voted to adjust Pay Grade 8 to starting at the mid-point between grades 7 and 9 in an effort to bring consistency to Position Classification/Compensation Plans. The board had found that each grade from three through 12 was roughly equivalent to the midpoint between the grades directly on either side of it with the exception of grade 8.

One final personnel decision was made. The board approved the position title of lead Investigator and assigned the position to a Pay Grade 6A.

In other business, the city voted to approve Resolution 22-574, which resulted in the city making a donation of $1,500 to the White County Humane Society. They also decided to enter into an agreement with Samantha Satterfield, of Sunseeker Outfitters, to lease the building owned by the city, at 211 W. Bockman Way. The agreement will be a one-year lease at the amount of $650 per month.

The next meeting of Sparta Board of Mayor and Aldermen is scheduled for 5 p.m., Nov. 17, at Sparta City Hall.