GREENVILLE — Greenville City Council convened a special meeting Thursday to discuss the hiring of an interim superintendent for the city’s sewer plant due to a personnel emergency.

In a session lasting only minutes, council voted unanimously to rehire former superintendent Vaughn Downey to fill the role on a temporary basis.

The special meeting was precipitated by unfortunate circumstances involving current wastewater superintendent, Chuck Hapner, who suffered severe injuries resulting from an automobile accident January 30. Hapner was only recently named full superintendent at the city’s wastewater department, given the job in October. Prior to that, Hapner had served as acting superintendent following Downey’s retirement in June after 30 years at the plant.

Downey will work on an interim basis of not more than 180 days. He will work a maximum of 20 hours per week at a wage of $20 per hour, without benefits.

Mayor Steve Willman said Downey’s availability to fill in on short notice was fortuitous for the city.

“We were fortunate we had the opportunity to get him,” said Willman. “He’s been there a long time, he knows everything, he understands the computer system.”

Safety/Service Director Curt Garrison said, “We needed an individual who could come in right away and help us out filling out EPA reports, and also keeping up on the maintenance at the plant and taking care of day-to-day operations. We look forward to having Vaughn come back.”

“As the city council stated at the last council meeting, he has a lot of knowledge that he brings to the table and there isn’t a better person that would be well-suited for this job. We wish him well and thank him for coming back,” he added.