Mayor urges single point of contact as council questions contractor communications

Councilors debated direct contact with contractors after some members visited the Cemetery Hill site. The mayor urged that staff act as the single point of contact: "Let Dale be that person that we've agreed with Chris who he's gonna go back and forth to," the mayor said, framing the issue as a safety and liability concern and asking members not to visit the active worksite without staff.

Several council members said they were checking the project to verify work and that they were not telling contractors what to do. One councilor said, "Trust but verify is all I'm doing," describing their intent to confirm the work was done appropriately while respecting safety protocols. Staff stressed the need for a single chain of communication to avoid conflicting instructions, preserve contractor relationships and reduce liability exposure if an unauthorized person were injured on the active site. The mayor and staff agreed to keep site visits coordinated through the engineer or inspector so the contractor receives instructions from a single authorized source.