Sodaville Mayor Brian Lewis formally resigned during the City Council’s meeting on Thursday, June 19, marking his last day in office.
Reading from a prepared statement, Lewis expressed his gratitude “for the opportunity to work alongside the city council, staff and residents,” and wished the city continued success.
Lewis was essentially forced to resign because he is moving to Lebanon and, according to Sodaville’s charter, will not be eligible to serve on the council.
“Even though I’m not gonna be the mayor anymore, I’m still gonna be involved – because I’ve been doing it for so long – as a liaison to try to get the water problem solved in Sodaville,” he said.
City Administrator/Recorder Molly McGuire asked if anyone on the council would be interested in taking over the mayor seat for the rest of the term, which ends on December 31 of this year.
Councilor Caleb Gay expressed interest, and the council approved a motion to appoint him as mayor. To fill Gay’s now-vacant seat, McGuire said they will reach out to the remaining write-in candidate for councilor from the November 2024 election to see if they would be interested in the position. If not, the city will accept applications and choose from the pool. The term for that seat ends December 2028.
In November 2026, the mayor’s seat, as well as two councilor seats, will be open for elections.
Water updates
Public Works Director J D Burns told the council he had to ask Lebanon Fire District to halt its work at Fisher and Maple streets this week. The crew, he said, were flushing hydrants and registering hydrant pressures for state insurance requirements.
“I told them ‘We can’t have you do it right now. We’re hurtin’ for water,’” Burns said.
It was determined they could return in March or April, when the city has more water in its reserves.
Burns reported wells are no longer keeping up with demand, but “we knew that was coming.”
Water use in the city is currently averaging about 23,000 gallons a day, whereas last year at this time it was 15,000, he said. The good news is that there is a little more water in the reservoir this year than last year.
Burns reported water loss last month was a little high at 19%. He will be running a leak detection test with OAWU.
In other business:
- Burns reported the city’s weed eater was stolen from the park.
- A resident offered to buy a sprayer for his tractor, to be hired by the city to mix and spray for road dust control. Burns believes it could cost up to $5,000 for 200 gallons of mixture.
- McGuire reported estimates for the Well 6 project are being generated.