Council to discuss options for filling or redefining role in city government
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
Elkhorn Mayor Brian Olson announced Monday night that Public Works Manager Martin Nuss had resigned from his position.
In his resignation letter, Nuss said he was moving on to other opportunities, according to Olson.
Nuss was hired in 2014 to fill the new position created when the council voted to terminate long-time Department of Public Works Director Terry Weter and eliminate the director position.
With a merger of the water and electric utilities, the duties and responsibilities of the position had been substantially diminished and the council was in favor of creating the new position with lesser requirements of the job.
“That’s when we decided to shift the water over to the electric department because of the water treatment plant,” he said. “We were looking to cross-train and get folks working in between each other.”
With a pothole in city administration left with Nuss’s departure, Olson said for the immediate future City of Elkhorn Utilities Director John Murphy will be overseeing the public works department until the city determines how it would like to continue moving forward.
Olson said the council hasn’t discussed options at this point, as Nuss’s resignation was formally accepted Monday night, though he said there are options.
With public works overseeing sewer, water, plowing, parks and maintenance operations, Olson said the council could determine to replace Nuss. However, being the second person leading the department the city has gone through in recent year, Olson said the council could also potentially go another route.
“They could potentially go more towards supervisory-type roles and cross-train a little better,” he said. “They could potentially create two new positions, which in the end run, would save taxpayer dollars.”
Look to future additions of the Elkhorn Independent for more on this topic as the Elkhorn Common Council explores its options in future meetings.
