LEBANON — The city manager ordered electric department officials to hook up a rented generator Tuesday in apparent defiance of City Council.

        Council members' initial response was muted, saying they wanted to talk to City Manager James Patrick first. They met in executive session at Tuesday night's regular council meeting.

        “Council last Wednesday told me to do it,” Mr. Patrick said about the rental of the $5,500-a-week generator for a company in the city's Columbia Business Park.

        However, council members told him later — in Monday night's budget session — not to rent the generator, and if he had rented it to send it back.

OTHER ACTION

Lebanon City Council also voted Tuesday to raise rates on the city's basic, deluxe and digital cable packages.

        The equipment is for Franklin Brazing, the first company in city-owned Columbia Business Park. The city had talked about providing electric service to the park, as opposed to letting Cinergy serve it with its nearby lines. However, since officials landed Franklin Brazing in the spring, they have made little progress in doing so.

        Franklin Brazing, meanwhile, needs to get its Lebanon plant fired up so it can move from Mason in time to meet a mid-January deadline on an order, Mr. Patrick told council.

        Mr. Patrick had said last week it would cost $5,500 a month to rent the generator for Franklin Brazing, with the company paying for fuel, and council members supported that. The stopgap measure would be used for two to four weeks, while Cinergy extends temporary lines to the company.

        However, Mr. Patrick told council Monday that the cost was actually $5,500 per week, or $14,999 a month, and the city would have to pay for fuel.

        City Attorney Mark Yurick said state law requires the city to take bids on projects that are more than $15,000. Council members agreed the city would have to solicit bids on the generator, and several also questioned the value of spending perhaps $30,000 on a temporary solution.

        “I don't see anything legally to get out of the mess,” Councilman Mark Flick said Monday. “We're going to have to go to bid.”

        Tuesday afternoon, the generator sat in Franklin Brazing's parking lot, with several large cords running to the building. Company president Tim Mathile could not be reached for comment.

        Council members were less reticent about assigning blame for not getting electric service to Columbia earlier — necessitating the rental of the generator.

        “It's council screwing around,” Mr. Flick said. “I've been jumping up and down for weeks for a decision. Nine months is plenty of time to talk about anything.”

        However, Councilman James Reinhard disagreed, saying he's been suggesting for months that the city make arrangements with Cinergy while preparing to build a substation for the park.

        “All of this is really on Mr. Patrick's shoulders for not acting throughout the year as I and other council members have asked,” he said.

        Council passed an emergency ordinance Tuesday asking Cinergy to run a line to Franklin Brazing.

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