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Proving once again that the real business of the city is conducted not during the meetings of the City of Bluffton’s Common Council, but rather during the weekly Tuesday afternoon meetings of the Board of Public Works and Safety, this week the board addressed a variety of staffing and equipment needs for several city departments.
For one employee of the Water Department the careful oversight of the board’s members will lead to a surprise come payday. Public Works Superintendent Ed Davis had approached the board about adding a new employee and also requested merit pay raises for three of the department’s workers.
Davis had requested a merit increase for foreman Shane Bennett from $14.85 per hour to a rate of $15.85 per hour. Board member Melanie Durr questioned why Bennett was not being paid more as a supervisor, noting that a merit increase requested by Davis for pipe fitter mechanic Tim Stotlar would bring Stotlar’s pay to $15.80 per hour, only a five cent difference from Bennett’s proposed new wage.
Durr asked about the job descriptions and pay range for the foreman job. “I have no problem with what you’re doing on any of these, I just don’t know that now while we we’re doing this if we need to make that adjustment, with him in a foreman and supervisory capacity,” Durr said.
Davis reviewed the foreman classification pay rates and noted that the top pay range is $17.18. Bennett has been in a supervisory role since Aug. 23, 2005, and usually supervises up to four employees. Durr said with Bennett in a supervisory role he should be making more than just five cents over his subordinates. Davis noted that when Bennett was promoted he went from an hourly pay rate of $12.49 to $14.00.
“That was a dollar and a half then but we still didn’t get him to where he probably should have been as foreman,” Durr said.
“He is the only foreman and has been a foreman since the second of August in 2005,” Davis said. Board member Jim Phillabaum noted that he had also noted the wage discrepancy and had contacted Mayor Ted Ellis earlier to comment on the situation. Durr suggested that Bennett’s wage should be increased by at least 50 cents over his subordinates. Davis suggested a pay rate of $16.35 per hour, which the board approved.
“This is not the way we play this game,” Ellis noted, as Davis suggested the new rate.
Durr said she supported the increase for Bennett to avoid repeated problems with wage conflicts. “If he’s in a foreman position and has four people reporting to him he should be paid for that,” Durr said. The board also approved merit increases for Stotlar, from $15.30 to $15.80 per hour, and for David Hendricks from $14.11 to $14.60 per hour.
In a related matter the board approved hiring Christopher Anderson of Bluffton as an apprentice and introductory employee in the Water Department to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former water department employee Chad Shepherd. Anderson will begin work at a rate of $9.50 per hour, pending the successful completion of a drug screening and physical.
In other matters the board approved Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Pam Vanderkolk’s request for a purchase of pool chemicals from Spear Corporation, totaling $6,576.75. The order must be placed by April 15, 2007 to qualify for free shipping. The order includes 25 100-pound pails of Pulsar Briquettes at $206.95 each, totaling $5,173.75, plus shock, enzymes, and other water treatment items.
Merit pay increases for four on call firefighters were also approved. Eric Kiefer’s hourly wage will be increased from $16.20 to $17.31 per hour. Firefighters James Stiles, Mike Mann, and Justin King will now be paid $15.10 per hour, up from $13.80 each.
The board also approved the payment of $1,309.00 to Decatur Electronics for the purchase of a police radar unit to be installed in a shift supervisor’s vehicle.
The purchase of a new LED style light bar was also approved from Steven R. Jenkins Co., for a total of $1699.99, also to be installed in the shift supervisor’s vehicle. “We have a Sergeant now who likes to get out and do traffic duty, Chief Tammy Schaffer noted.
The board also approved the payment of $92,461.72 in city utility expenses and $533,376.33 in city expense vouchers.
jgwallace@news-banner.com
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