Tellor appointed to Anna City Council

The newest member of the Anna City Council is a person who will be familiar to many in the community.

Dave Tellor has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the city council. Tellor has served in the past as Anna’s mayor, as a member of the city council and as an Anna employee.

Tellor’s appointment to the post was announced at a regular meeting of the Anna City Council which was held Tuesday evening, Jan. 15. The meeting was held at Anna City Hall.

Tellor joins David Isom, Al Kamp and Martha Ann Webb as city commissioners. Steve Hartline is the mayor of Anna.

A vacancy had been created on the city council with the recent resignation of commissioner Brandon Bierstedt. Bierstedt resigned when he moved outside of the Anna city limits. His term in office was to have expired this year.

Initially, there had been thoughts to leave the post vacant until the April 2019 municipal election. 

Mayor Hartline said at last week’s meeting that he thought it would be best to have a full council, adding that he wanted somebody to fill the vacancy who would not be running for election in April.

Hartline said that Tellor, whom he called a friend, “had the experience to step in.” 

“He has the ability to do what’s right for the city,” the mayor said. 

Tellor said that he indeed would not be running in the April city election. Tellor said that he was looking forward to again serving the people of Anna.

In other business at last week’s meeting, plans were announced for the creation of a new city assistant administrator’s post. The position will be advertised for the purpose of finding someone to fill the job.

The new assistant administrator will work with Steve Guined. He has served as the city’s long-time administrator and has nearly 30 years of experience with the City of Anna.

Guined initially had planned to retire last year, but has stayed on the post. He plans to continue to serve the city during a key time of transition. 

The city has experienced the recent retirements of several key employees. Guined’s continued service with the city is seen as a way to smooth the transition process.

Guined will work with the new assistant administrator. The current scenario calls for the assistant administrator to move into the post held by Guined.

The city administrator reported at last week’s meeting that action is being taken to address concerns related to discolored water which has appeared at various locations throughout the city.

Guined assured those at the meeting that the water is safe. 

“The water is perfectly safe to drink,” Guined stated...a point he reiterated several times.

The city purchases its water from the Anna-Jonesboro Water Commission. The water commission supplies several other customers in the Union County area. 

Guined said that concerns about discolored water have been reported by other entities which are water commission customers.

The concerns have surfaced over the past three years. The time has coincided with recent water commission projects. 

Guined emphasized that the water commission is working with the city to determine the source of the problem. 

He said the water commission has been “very helpful” in pursuing the matter. 

The city also is working with the JT Blankenship engineering firm on the matter.

“This is going to take some time,” Guined said. “We’re taking a measured approach...starting at the source.” 

“We will solve the problem,” he declared.