The East Ridge City Council will meet Wednesday in a special called meeting, according to the City’s Website.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss/take action on Ordinance No. 1084, which would amend the ordinance regarding general administration.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at City Hall on Tombras Avenue.

Last Thursday’s City Council meeting was dominated by discussion of appointing an individual to the position of Assistant City Manager. City Manager Scott Miller has been grooming Kenny Custer, the city’s Director of City Services, for the position.

The council could not come to a consensus on compensation for the person doing the job or if a new position would be created in the city’s organizational chart or if the job would just carry the title of Assistant City Manager.

In June  2015 when then-City Manager Andrew Hyat resigned, he had appointed Thad Jablonski – who was serving as the Treasurer/Finance Director during Hyatt’s tenure – as the Deputy City Manager.

During a special called meeting before his resignation, council convinced Hyatt to remove Jablonski – who has since left East Ridge to work for the City of Columbia, Tennessee – and install Fire Chief Mike Williams into the post as Deputy City Manager. Williams stayed in that position for about a year before the council eventually hired Miller.

City officials recently discovered that the documents appointing Williams to the post were never signed by outgoing City Manager Hyatt. 

It is still unclear if Custer will accept the job if offered to him. Custer, who makes more than $64,000 a year in his current position, said his taking the job is contingent on the salary offered as he fills the vacant desk of the city manager.

City Manager Miller’s resignation is effective on October 26, records show.

If the council can agree on a salary and title/position for the Assistant City Manager on Wednesday and amend Ordinance No. 1084, presumably they would have a second reading and adopt the ordinance at its next regular meeting slated for Oct. 25.

That may not be legal, as according to the East Ridge City Charter 14 days must pass between first and second reading of an ordinance.