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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial City Council Minutes 08.08.1984Minutes of the City Council of Laurel August 8, 1984 A special meeting of the City Council of the City of Laurel, Montana, was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Albert Ehrlick at 7:12 p.m., on August 8, 1984, for the purpose of holding a public hearing on the preliminary budget. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Lonnie Kellogg Marvin Carter Mel Krug Fred Feuerbacher III Chuck Dickerson Donald Meyers Bob Gauthier Rob Harris This being the time and place advertised and according to MCA 7-6-4228, a public hearing was held. The City Clerk reviewed and explained the proposed changes to the 1984-85 preliminary budget. Discussion regarding filling the position of Maintenance Director. Bob Gauthier stated it's getting to the point now~ it's more than what 3 people can handle. It's my opinion to have Larry and Dave work strictly the utilities with water and sewer. Larry would probably be the Engineer and work building inspections and give the Maintenance Director charge of the crew as his main job. We do have that position on the books and when Dick retired we just de- cided not to fill it. It's to the point now when we almost have to do some- thing. Don pointed out to me that this year I see no problem appointing it, further.years it gets very tight. The biggest concern is during the legisla- ture years, no matter what happens the legislature always seems to take some- thing away from us. Don Meyers Are we looking at $26,000 a year? Albert Ehrlick We figured we'd start at $22,000. Bob talked to me about it. Bob Gauthier The shift foreman right now is making approximately $19,000. Utilities Director is making about $24,000. We came up with around $21--22,000. So this year we're probably looking at budgeting for the 9 months around $20,000 starting in October. Lonnie Kellogg When we first thought about it, it was September. I think we're going to be able to put it off until October. Bob Gauthier We would like to have Dave be able to get in on all the training. Don Meyers Then Dave is going to take over the whole job at the sewer plant. Bob Gauthier Sewer and water plants. Don Meyers I hope to hell he can handle it. Albert Ehrlick I think he can. Lonnie Kellogg HKM felt that when we discussed it before, their recommendation (which I still firmly believe in is a Class I license); however, they felt that Dave being a dedicated employee, that he is would do the City justice down there and I feel he will too. Don Meyers Who are we going to have doing paper work? He can't do paper work. Lot of paper work in that job. Lonnie Kellogg Learn it in the training session. Albert Ehrlick Plus Bob Mann is good at that. job out and advertise it, retirement. Lonnie Kellogg Plus it's local. A lot of them guys are tired of the road. Joe Bradley The engineer lsn't he in charge of the street. Don Meyers The Maintenance Director would be taking care of that. Joe Bradley Well, we've got the job duties in the ordinance, I can't remember who answers to whom. Don Meyers The Maintenance Director still answers to the engineer. Joe Bradley And the Utilities Director is off on his own. Lonnie Kellogg No. He still answers to engineer. Joe Bradley The engineer is the head. Don Meyers I think we could get somebody for that kind of money. Albert Ehrlick Well we can try it and if we can't I would really recommend Andy cause Andy has done the roadwork. Don Meyers I think we're going to have nothing but problems trying to promote somebody from within. I think we need someone from the outside to come in here and take the bull by the horns and get things going. Albert Ehrlick We've got Larry in there and Larry's done nothing but give us problems. Don Meyers Well that's not entirely Larry's fault as far as I'm concerned. We haven't backed him 100% like we should have. If we would have, we wouldn't have half the problems. Albert Ehrlick I disagree with you. I've backed him all the way until he started giving me all that static. I really disagree with you on that. page 2 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel ~Don Meyers Ya, but Dave Michael's getting paid for that job. I don't expect Bob Mann to do the job. We've got to look at that because there's a lot of documentation at that Plant that they're going to be checking every month, and it's going to have to be in line or we're going to be in trouble for it. Albert Ehrlick Your chief operator should help him on that, whoever the chief is. Lonnie Kellogg I think Dave can do it. Through a training process, I feel comfortable with it. Don Meyers What do we do then when he goes back down there? Do we freeze his wages? Lonnie Kellogg I can't see anything but. Bob Gauthier Any other discussion -- keep going. Don Meyers What kind of a person are we looking for? Are we looking for -- my idea of a person that should be a Maintenance Director is i f we could find somebody that worked road construction or something like this thats done, maybe 40 years old, that we could bring in here that knows how to build a street, he's mechanical minded, he knows equipment and knows how to handle people. Albert Ehrlick If you can get somebody like that. Don Hackmann For $22,000 a year, it would be pretty tough, Don. Don Meyers But looking there at people that do seasonal work. If we put this it's a year-round job, has good benefits, a 20-yr. page 3 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Don Meyers Well I just feel that we need to bring somebody in. Albert Ehrlick I can take you all over town. In fact, Bob Mace is supposed to get ahold of both you and Lonnie. He had problems with him the other day. Don Meyers Bob Mace has trouble with everybody. Albert Ehrliek I can take you all over town where he's been. Marvin Carter We definitely have to advertise it. Anyone who wants to apply for it, applies for it. Lonnie Kellogg What I would like to see before we advertise and everything, get the Personnel Committee~ Larry and Dave - cause both those two have handled the crew, they worked in the Street Department, they know basically what kind of a person they need. Then make a recommendation, have the Personnel Committee make a reeommendati0n to the Council before we go out for adyertising. Albert Ehrlick I would like for whoever we set up in there to have a fairly free hand. I don't feel that Larry should be dictating to. Don Meyers We've got to have a boss~ Albert. We've gotten into this problem before. Albert Ehrlick The aldermen and mayor can be his boss. Don, you know yourself everytime Larry has took over the crews we've had problems. Don Meyers We've got a power problem with the crew and Larry, Albert,and you '- know damn well of that too cause the crew goes and talks to you if they don't like what Larry tells them. Albert Ehrlkck. They have ever since last winter. You guys started that hassle. They haven't.talked to me on any of this stuff, they've went to you instead of me. And I can prove that. Joe Bradley So Larry is the Director of Public Works and the Engineer. Albert Ehrlick Yes. Joe Bradley So the Director of Public Works is the head man. Bob Gauthier I personally decided whether we want to go that direction or not, whether we want to look at hiring a Maintenance Director according to the budget. Marvin Carter If we do this, is this going to constitute we're going to get B men working 5 days a week, or are we going to go another 4½ day workweek or how is this going to oome out? Albert Ehrlick B men 5 days a week. I myself would say they would take turns on weekends. Bob Gauthier I hope then it cuts down on the comp time too. Marvin Carter That's what I mean, that's basically what I'm getting at. Don Meyers We're lucky if we have 2 guys 4 days a week now. Bob Gauthier There should be no reason for comp time with B guys. Lonnie Kellogg You're still going to have a certain amount. Bob Gauthier After 5:00 p.m. or something like that. Normally you should be ~ble to come down here and find somebody at least one of the three guys. Don Meyers Why can't we bid a job and that job specs call for anything that goes for your job. If we require them to come to a couple of meetings or some- thing, why can't it be drawn up in the job description. page 4 Minutes of the City Council of Laurel Albert Ehrliok It can. I'm sure it can. Joe Bradley It can, except you also have to,basioally State law provides for a 40-hr. work week. If you go over that then you have to provide some time off. Bob Gauthier You have to give them time off or pay them for it. Joe Bradley It's in the salary, but still you can't work somebody 80 hours a week. Lonnie Kellogg But with the 3 of them there still shouldn't be any reason why there can't be someone there from 8 to 5 Monday thru Friday. Don Meyers They.eould stagger it so somebody came at 7 and somebody came at 8. There would always be someone there til 5 pm Monday thru Friday instead of at B pm On Friday, nobody's around. Albert Ehrliek They could even rotate every third week. ~i~ Chuck Dickerson One thing about your Maintenance Director the way it was previously but I know there for awhile Larry was like coming in at 7 am and going through the Working Foremen!s next day activities, things that didn't get done the previous day that should be done the next day, and making up a work schedule. So there you're looking at the person who's going to be running the crew such as the sewer, water, street, whatever. Either he's going to have to do it after the hours (say between 4 pm and 5 pm the preceeding day) or come in at 7 am and set up the schedule before 7:30 am so he can go down to the City Shop and give the days schedule to the Working Foremen of work to be done that day. Bob Gauthier I think Dick used to come in at 7:00 am and left at 4:00 pm. Chuck Dickerson You're talking about a rotating schedule. I don't think that will work with the Maintenance Director because he's either going to have to be here at 7 am to make up the schedule and he should be here that day to go down and talk to the crew before they go out. Marvin Carter What time does the Shift leave? Chuck Dickerson 7:30 am Marvin Carter No - in the afternoon. Chuck Dickerson They start going somewhere between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm. Marvin Carter There's no reason why that guy couldn't be down there at 4 pm talking with those people seeing what was done and what wasn't done, what they are and lay out the next day right there. Chuck Diokerson The thing of it is, Marvin, you've got 3 Working Foremen giving him things that haven't been done. You've got a water foreman, a street foreman and possibly a garbage foreman that have to be gone through and sorted out. You can't just sit down and in 15 minutes make up a schedule and give them to the Working Foreman of what they're going to have to do for the next day. Marvin Carter He's got a who~ hour. Albert Ehrlick They've been with the City a long time. He shouldn't have to explain every detail to them. There's another thing I want to say. You guys are going to have to look long and hard to find a guy as dedicated as Dick Metzger was. page 5 MinUtes of the City Council of Laurel Don Meyers You're not just a kidding! Because Dick Metzger came to work at 7 am cause a lot of times at 5 pm he was still here. Chuck Dickerson I'm not saying that a person wouldn't do this, but when you're talking about a rotating schedule, I don't really think a rotating schedule like that is going to work. Bob Oauthier I think the issue here ~tonight is not how we!re going to work out these details, it's whether we want to get one or not - so we can stick it in the budget. Marvin Carter i think we should stick it in the budget. Motion by Alderman Carter to budget $22,000for a Maintenance Director, seconded by Alderman Meyers. Motion carried 5--0. Public hearing closed. There was no one present in the audience. Motion by Alderman Meyers to adopt the changes to the 1984~85 preliminary budget as presented, to include $1,000 for equipment rental and $22,000 for Maintenance Director, seconded by Alderman Carter. Motion carried 5--0. Joe Bradley stated we were talking today in regards to John Szydlowski. There's a statute that allows the Council to continue paying his salary if you want. This is maybe something that will come up. I believe he's used up all his sick leave and vacation. Don Hackmann He will this pay period. Joe Bradley In particular, you may get a request to continue paying his insurance premiums. Now is there room in the budget for you to work with that if you get a request like that? I suppose it would be up to his wife to ask you to do some- thing like that. State law allows it is the thing. Bob Gauthier Insuranoe~premium is salary though. The thing I was looking at was disability. Don't we have working disability or Workmen's Comp or? Joe Bradley I don't know if he would be covered by Workmen's Comp. I would doubt it. He wasn't on duty. It was just shortly after the working day and it's the type of disability (stroke) that you can't really trace to Albert Ehrlick Like Alan said - unless they called it stress. Joe Bradley And that is hard to prove. It didn't happen while he was on duty, which is a strike against him~ and the type of~injury too is hard to trace to employme~nt. It could be family history. I don't think that Worker's Comp would cover anything. More discussion regarding insurance coverage for John Szydlowski and it was the consensus of the Mayor and~the Council present to wait for the request to continue paying his insurance premiums and the~ow much longer to carry him on the policy. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Approved by the Mayor and passed by the Montana, this 21st day of August, 1984. Donald L. Hackmann, City Clerk City Council of the City of Laurel,