The Village of Industry now has a deputy clerk position. Creation of that role might cause the loss of a member of the board of trustees, but that will avoid a conflict of interest, says the village’s attorney.
Last month the village unanimously agreed to create the new job of deputy clerk with a salary of $2,300 per month, with the plan to revisit that decision in six months. The duties of the job includes processing all water bill payments and serving as the main point of contact for residents regarding water bills.
Trustee Tressa Wheeler has been serving in a similar role, despite the lack of an official title, since this spring for $750 per month. She stepped in after State Bank of Industry discontinued its role processing payments of water bills. The village’s new software for calculating water bills operates in the cloud, and the bank was no longer interested in processing payments that way.
Wheeler told the board she has been spending around 20 to 25 hours per week in her duties, and trustees are concerned that $750 per month doesn’t fairly compensate her.
“She’s getting phone calls all hours of the day,” said Trustee Candice Drummond.
Before the board hired Wheeler Debbie Black, the village treasurer, had warned that Wheeler, or anyone else in the role would be “married to this job.”
There was discussion about whether the deputy clerk position should be hourly or salaried. Wheeler said she prefers the latter, as she tends to fit the time working on water bills into different portions of her day, and a lot of it occurs while sitting at her kitchen table.
Trustees expect to hire Wheeler for the deputy clerk position, but first need to advertise the job and give other applicants a chance to be considered.
“We know we’re going to hire the person with the most experience,” said President Staci Danner. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”
Erin Wilson Laegeler, the village’s attorney, said a deputy clerk shouldn’t also serve as a village trustee, as that would pose a conflict of interest. That means Wheeler would have to choose between the deputy clerk role and continuing as a trustee.
At the November meeting, Wheeler gave trustees a verbal notice of her intent to resign as trustee. She will give a formal notice later if she is hired as deputy clerk.
Water tower project delay will cost $16,000 The village’s new water tower was to be filled with water by October 14, said Doug Erickson of Benton Engineering, which is overseeing the village’s various water infrastructure projects. Caldwell Tanks, the contractor for the water tower’s construction, missed that target date and has requested a 60-day extension.
“If I’m just being frank, some of it’s their fault,” Erickson said.
He also said that although the village wouldn’t owe Caldwell Tanks any additional money beyond what already has been budgeted, his firm would need an extra $16,000 for 60 more days of engineering work. Trustees unanimously agreed to the 60-day extension and the extra $16,000. The original estimate for engineering and legal work on the watertower project was approximately $285,000.
Erickson told trustees that they could view the big picture as a net positive financially as the board already had saved $25,000 off the initial Caldwell Tanks bid of $1,536,800 after the company offered a discount for not putting up containment measures when painting the water tower this summer.
Once the water tower is filled, it will need to be disinfected before the old water tower can be taken offline and dismantled, Erickson said.
Motor Fuel Tax funds approved In other news, the board approved a 2026 contract for $106,000 for Motor Fuel Tax funds. This money, which comes mostly from a statewide tax on gasoline, gets distributed to local governments for local road construction projects. The money can’t legally be used for any other purpose. Trustees discussed which streets in Industry might be the best candidates for improvements with the funds next year, but no formal decision was made on that yet.
