A new contractor to handle water safety inspections following the sudden death of a long-time technician.
Council Member Dustin Stanton requested the addition of the item to the meeting agenda. Stanton said it was necessary to ensure the town maintained compliance with safety regulations regarding commercial water systems.
“I’m going to make the motion to add to the agenda that we hire Jeff Johnson as a certified operator to take Rick Mayberry’s position for backflow prevention,” Stanton said.
Stanton noted that Mayberry had retired from Cookeville and performed backflow prevention for Baxter for several years before passing away recently. The council agreed to bring Johnson on as a contractor rather than a standard employee to fill the vacancy.
“I don’t know if many of you folks tonight know that Rick Mayberry, that retired from the City of Cookeville, he’s done our backflow prevention for several, several years down here,” Stanton said. “And Rick passed away, I guess last week, John, two weeks ago? Just a sudden thing, passed away.”
The position requires inspecting systems in commercial buildings to ensure contaminated water does not reverse flow into the public water supply.
“So basically in your businesses, commercial buildings, areas of that nature, require a backflow preventer for that, to prevent anything getting into our water system as far as back-siphonage, backflow, and that stuff,” Stanton said.
These inspections occur annually at locations such as schools, gas stations, and shopping centers. Stanton confirmed that Johnson holds the necessary license and possesses extensive experience in the field.
“Jeff’s had his backflow prevention license several years now and he’s definitely qualified for the position,” Stanton said. “Knows the system, has many, many years of water experience under his belt.”
The council voted unanimously to approve the hiring of Johnson for the contract position.