Judge stalls New Albany drainage deal

By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Eric.Campbell@newsandtribune.com
The New Albany Tribune

A Floyd Circuit Court judge’s temporary restraining order has postponed the privatization of New Albany’s stormwater drainage department, which would have been turned over to contractor Environmental Management Corp. today.

J. Terrence Cody’s order came at the petition of the drainage workers’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It extends for 10 days, through an Aug. 10 hearing on the matter that will include Cody and lawyers for AFSCME and the defendant, the city government.

Cody didn’t elaborate on the terms of the order, only saying that it “preserves the status quo.”
The status quo is this: The city employs an office worker, a foreman and two field workers for drainage-maintenance projects identified by EMC, the management contractor. Under a contract the Stormwater Board signed with EMC July 20, those employees would be transferred to EMC’s payroll Aug. 1 and the city would pay an annual fee $5,000 above current costs.

Brian Dixon is EMC’s head of drainage operations. He didn’t comment extensively on the restraining order.

“We’ll just continue to do what we’ve been doing so far. We have a contract in place to manage the program,” Dixon said.

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