Ellsworth has a new mayor following the resignation of Alan Stefek, who also served for many years on the City Council. His chair was filled Tuesday night by council president Mark Kennedy. “Effective immediately, I am resigning as mayor of the City of Ellsworth,” Stefek wrote in a letter dated Monday, Nov. 11. “Due to health concerns, I am not able to continue in the position. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the community I love and appreciate the support of the city staff and council.” Kennedy, who did not seek re-election to the council, now assumes Stefek’s term, which has two years remaining. The new mayor opened the meeting by thanking Stefek for his service, both as mayor and on the council. Then for the second time in as many months, council members questioned a purchase decision, one that has bathed the town’s east water tower in pink and blue lights. The issue was originally raised in October by council member Steve Magette, who said he learned about the lights at a card game. At Tuesday’s meeting, he questioned an expense to Harrison Electric for $21,720 for installation of the tower lights. At the October meeting, city administrator Scott Moore indicated Suez, the large international company that has maintenance agreements on Ellsworth’s three water towers, planned to pay for the lights. “It’s just an added feature to our tower,” Moore said of the four LED ground lights. He said a discussion with Suez representative Jim Jackson led to the light idea as a way to discourage turkey vultures from roosting on the tower. Moore defended his decision by saying the council approved the maintenance agreement with Suez and he supports asking out-of-town companies to invest in Ellsworth when the city spends money with them. At the October meeting, he said Suez planned to pay for the lights. “It’s just an enhancement the company is willing to help us with to showcase their work,” Moore told the council at the time. At Tuesday’s meeting, when pressed further by the council, the city administrator said he was waiting to hear from the company. In a telephone interview Monday afternoon with the I-R, Jim Jackson said his company sets aside money to help its client communities; however, no decision has been made on Ellsworth’s water tower. “It may take a month before we hear back from them,” Jackson said. He said he included the $21,000 price tag in his request, but Suez officials could settle on less or no donation at all, especially since the company gave the local Kiwanis Club about $6,500 this year in the city’s name to pay for a water feature in the new splash pad. If the water tower request is rejected, Jackson said he could reapply next year under the same conditions — that his superiors would make the decision on how much of a donation to make. Council members continued to voice their concerns Tuesday night. “None of us here knew anything about this until the lights were on,” Tyler Renard said. Following a brief discussion about writing a policy to cover such situations, council member Mary Soukup said the city has a procurement policy and it wasn’t followed. City policy states that anything more than $10,000 must be authorized by the City Council. “The council didn’t approve this and it’s done,” Soukup said. She also objected to the practice. “I’m not comfortable doing that with anybody the city does business with,” Soukup said. Magette offered a motion to pay the bills presented to the city Tuesday night with the exception of the $21,000. The motion was approved.