Grounds for frustration

PRINCETON — Commissioners on the Princeton City Council unanimously approved paying for the city’s new $600 coffee maker Monday, but that was only the beginning of the discussion.

At the July 16 council meeting, commissioners voted 2-3 against paying for the pot ordered by the Princeton Water Treatment Department, but City Attorney John Isaacson said the city was legally bound to pay the bill since the machine had been used.

At Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Terry Madsen continued the discussion after the vote to pay the bill was taken.

“As everyone knows, we own a $600 coffee pot that is apparently somehow inextricably intertwined with the operations of the water plant,” he said. “I guess we should be discussing what it is we think should happen with that coffee pot.”

Madsen said the purchase was within the $1,000 leeway department heads have to make purchases necessary to keep the city running. He added those department heads need to remember they’re using taxpayer money and what the priorities should be.

Madsen said he’d asked the pot be removed until the council had a chance to talk about it.

“I’d like to see this resolved and get this all behind us and move on to more important things,” he said.

City Manager Andrew Brannen said he had looked into the situation since the last council meeting.

“To replace the unit that we had would have been a $300 purchase, not a $500 purchase,” he said. “We went back to the employees and the bargaining unit. We made the offer that if they would basically cover the $200 that they spent that we feel they shouldn’t have spent, then the machine could stay. They have refused to do that, and because of that, we have made the request they take the machine out.”

Brannen said the machine should be out by the end of the week, and then it’s up to the employees.

“If they want to drink coffee, they can make their own provisions for that,” he said. “We certainly offered to buy them a replacement for what was there. After this error was made, we agreed to meet them halfway. They didn’t want to meet us halfway, so I think at this point the only way to resolve it is to take it out.”

Mayor Keith Cain agreed.

“I think the pot needs to come out,” he said.

Cain said he had no problem with $1,000 limit when it’s needed for the day-to-day running of the city.

“When you go to this level for a coffee pot, this should have at least been run past the city manager before it was purchased,” he said.

Commissioner Bob Warren was concerned about the speed of the response.

“It sounds like the commissioner of that department has requested the removal, the city manager has requested the removal,” he said. “I guess my only question is, why isn’t it out of there?”

Cain has his own plan for the pot after it’s removed.

“This coffee pot, as far as I’m concerned, can go on eBay once it’s out and be sold,” he said. “We’re not just going to leave it sit.”

Madsen said the whole issue was disturbing.

“I don’t know who thinks they don’t have to answer to who, or who doesn’t understand what the chain is or who works for who is, but I think that’s something that’s going to have to be clarified,” he said.

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