HU board OKs Vest's hire

By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
Less than one week after he was fired by the city council as city administrator, Ferrell Vest was hired by Hartselle Utilities as operations and special projects manager Monday night.
The motion was made by HU board member Michael Gunter to hire Vest. The motion was seconded by board member and council member Frank Jones.
Jones, along with councilmen Dick Carter and Alvin Abercrombie, voted in favor of Vest's termination as city administrator at last week's council meeting.
HU Board President Buzz Howell said the board matched Vest's city administrator salary of $63,900 and medical and vacation benefits. He said the newly created position, in which Vest will be working directly for and with HU General Manager George Adair to assist in communications development, has been discussed by the board for some time.
"When Ferrell became available, it put a whole new light on the situation," Howell said. "HU has a lot of things on its plate right now and we feel that Ferrell will help take some of that load off of George. We didn't hire a second manager, but put a capable person in place to help us deal with the many special projects we have coming up."