Peaks resigns, Frank hired as Westphalia sewer operations manager

By Theresa Brandt, Staff Writer
Posted 10/14/21

Westphalia Sewer Operations Manager Phil Peaks resigned his position with the city on Monday, Oct. 4 effective as of Oct. 1.  

Peaks had indicated that he was planning to resign earlier in …

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Peaks resigns, Frank hired as Westphalia sewer operations manager

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Westphalia Sewer Operations Manager Phil Peaks resigned his position with the city on Monday, Oct. 4 effective as of Oct. 1.  

Peaks had indicated that he was planning to resign earlier in the week. Aldermen had called a special meeting Monday to discuss the issue before they had received the written resignation.

“He said he was considering formulating a resignation because of the fact that he had read the article in the UD and thought he was being fired,” said Mayor Tammy Massman. “I had explained to him that was not the case currently and that we were considering other alternatives and options but that no way meant at that point that he was released from his duties.”

Peaks initially did not believe that he needed to submit a written resignation since he thought he was out of contract, according to Aldermen Delbert Wieberg.  

Massman and County Clerk Kerry Bax believed that he was under an automatic renewal for his contract with the city.

“He’s employed by us, so something more than a verbal resignation is required and he was made aware of that when I spoke with him,” Massman explained. “He has not turned in his keys. There are things he has — documents, equipment, books, maps — that he needs to turn over to us.”

“He wasn’t really doing his duties, to begin with,” Alderman Stanley Heckman said. “We’ve been waiting on services for however long.”

“The thing is, we are stuck in a tough spot here without an operator if he doesn’t show up,” Wieberg said. “Phil is totally upset with the city. How long can we go without an operator?”

Wieberg, who had called for the special meeting, had also talked to Gary Weber from the Missouri Rural Water Association to see if they could provide a temporary operator for the sewer system and they explained that is not something they could do.

Gary Frank was at the meeting and discussed what services he could provide to the city. He has a Class C license and would provide a comparable service to what Peaks had been providing at a comparable salary of $1,000 per month and $20 per hour for repairs outside of his monthly routine. 

“At this point, Gary can start immediately,” Massman said. “He is open and willing to participate immediately if that’s what we need to do to move forward.”

Wieberg and Bax had contacted Total Environmental Services from the Lake of the Ozarks and they did not seem interested, noting the distance.  Wieberg has also contacted All Clear Pumping and Sewer and while they would be happy to provide services for the city, they need to work under a licensed operator.

“If we sign a contract with Gary, they are probably our best option,” Wieberg said. 

Aldermen voted unanimously to hire Frank as the new Sewer Operations Manager once the resignation of Phil Peaks had been received and all equipment and keys had been returned to the city. The details of the contract will need to be reviewed with Frank. 

City employee Randy Nilges was concerned about whether Frank would be at the sewer plant on Sundays to take the daily samples as this was Peaks’ responsibility. 

“We aren’t looking to take on another day,” Nilges said. 

Massman noted that she would have to review all of this with Frank but she assumed he understood he would have to take on all of Peaks’ prior responsibilities.

“Don’t get me wrong, Phil did a good job,” Nilges said. “He did a good job running the sewer plant.”

“I told Phil that over the phone,” Wieberg said. “It was his loyalty to Shawn (York at Mid Missouri Environmental) that was the problem.”

“I think that has been communicated to him a multitude of times,” Massman said. “The work still has to be done.”

“But if he’s identified the problem and he’s not given the money to fix things then it’s a little bit of a board problem too,” Wieberg said in defense of Peaks.

“There was rarely a time the Board of Aldermen refused to comply with any of Phil’s requests other than major projects,” Massman argued. “As far as the new blower, pumps, rail systems, we wouldn’t have all of those if the board hadn’t approved them. The work was there. It was authorized to be done and it wasn’t being done.”

“I don’t disagree that Phil didn’t do a good job with maintaining the plant itself and identifying issues and problems,” Massman said. “It’s just the other half we needed to make the system work. We know we need to find subs to make the system work. (Peaks) is using a company exclusively that has failed him and in turn, failed us.”

In other sewer system business, Wieberg reviewed the areas with smoke deficiencies and which ones have been brought up to date. Wieberg has contacted residents that have not had their deficiencies corrected and most of them are either repaired or are scheduled to be repaired. Wieberg has continued to work on the manholes and looking at what repairs the city needs to make moving forward.

Nilges also noted that he is planning on retiring soon, perhaps as early as next year. He said the first priority would be getting the city through the next couple of months with the change of the sewer operations manager. 

The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.