Sewer Line Approval Marks End of Pruett Era

It was a full house at Mountain View City Hall on Monday evening with citizens gathering to close a controversial and rumor-ridden time in city leadership.  

Outgoing Mayor Donnie Pruett presided over a few final items of old business. Notably, the Board resumed a contentious argument over whether or not the City should run a sewer line to property owned by Steve Arnold.  

Alderwoman Laura Wagner explained that she worked out a deal with Arnold that would run sewer to his property on the condition that Mr. Arnold place $5,000 in a city escrow account.  If Arnold fails to begin construction of a permanent structure within a six-month time frame, the funds would reimburse the city for the cost of the new service. 

Outgoing Alderwoman Judi Colter pushed back at the deal, citing discrepancies of opinion over estimated cost. "I don't know how you can agree without knowing the cost," she explained, "It was going to cost $50,000, three years ago."

Backing her qualms, Pruett asked for a motion to table the matter, "until the next administration takes over." The motion was quickly made by Colter, but the rest of the Board refused to second. 

"This is a good faith deal to Mr. Arnold, who has waited patiently and done everything we've asked," Wagner explained.

Demanding to be heard, Mr. Arnold addressed the Council. "If he will keep his voice down, I'll listen to him all night," Pruett retorted before asking Arnold if he had a problem with tabling the matter for a month.

Arnold snapped back with a curt "yes", before going on to explain how he's "heard promises for seven years."

"I've gone through several administrations," Arnold said. "I'm ready to make a decision and work with anybody I can."

The back-and-forth between Pruett and Arnold continued to escalate before incoming Mayor John Krasuski finally interjected.

"This may be the last blunder of this administration and the first one of the next," Krasuski said, "but my motion is to go ahead and work with him [Arnold] according to the agreement we made."

Krasuski's motion was immediately seconded by Wagner. Alderwoman Colter was the dissenting vote., but ultimately the motion moved forward with the support of Punkie Stevenson, marking the final decision of the Pruett era.