NON-UNION EMPLOYEES ONLY … City Law Director Tom McWatters, Mayor Kathy Huner and Council President Scott Stiriz discuss whether or not the Finance Committee recommendation will apply to union fire department and police department employees.
By: Amy Wendt
Wauseon City Council met in regular session on Monday, October 15 and discussed percentage wage increases for full-time and part-time non-union city employees.
Councilor Sarah Heising spoke on behalf of the Finance Committee composed of herself, councilor Shane Chamberlin and councilor Steve Schneider (who was not present due to an excused absence).
“You all know that we had decided to step away from the merit pay based increases to the employees,” Heising explained.
“Now that merit pay is gone, the question remains “what will it be replaced with?” Heising continued.
The committee discussed different options including a bonus system where both full-time and part-time employees would receive a certain amount at the end of each year. The other option discussed was an annual percentage raise.
According to the Finance Committee report as presented, councilor Schneider prefered to “move forward with what employees want and not to have raises linked to evaluation.”
Also considering input from city department heads, the committee ultimately came to the recommendation that full-time and part-time non-union employees receive a percentage increase.
This annual wage increase percentage amount would be determined on a year-by-year basis according to the state of the city’s finances.
Seasonal workers are excluded from this recommendation. Councilor Harold Stickley asked if this change would apply to employees of the fire and police departments and after discussion, councilor Chamberlin clarified that this will only impact non-union employees.
Also in committee reports, councilor Scott Stiriz reported on behalf of the Tree Commission that the group had met on October 11 at which time John Alexander gave the committee a list of diseased trees that will need to be cut down.
Councilor Stiriz also informed council that Tree City USA will be changed to Tuesday, May 10, 2023. The next Tree Commission meeting is November 14, 2022.
In regular business for the evening, council approved:
-Minutes of October 3, 2022 regular meeting and October 13, 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting.
-Resolution 2022-26 authorizing the mayor or her designee to accept the lowest and best bid and to enter into a contract with the lowest and best bidder for the refuse franchise.
-Resolution 2022-23 declaring the official intent and reasonable expectation of the City of Wauseon on behalf of the State of Ohio (the borrower) to reimburse its capital fund for CE22y/CE23y, Brunell Street rebuild with the proceeds of tax-exempt debt of the State of Ohio; placed on emergency and passed.
In new business, Mayor Kathy Huner asked for a motion to allow the mayor to enter into a salt bid contract with the lowest and best bidder which was approved.
Mayor Huner also requested a motion to advertise for chemical bids and allow the mayor to accept the lowest and best bids which was also approved.
One final item that Mayor Huner added was that despite advertising, she has had numerous inquiries concerning Trick-or-Treat so she wanted to reiterate that this year’s Trick-or-Treat will be held on October 31, 2022 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. with donuts and cider following at the fire station.
Approval for payment of bills was also granted and the meeting adjourned at 5:16 p.m.
Amy can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com