District pay dropped

Days before the start of a new year, the pay for the new director of the Jay County Solid Waste District has been reduced — at least for now.
Seeking flexibility in options for paying a new contract educator position, members of the district board of directors trimmed $4,500 from the proposed 2011 salary of Jill Hall, who will serve as director/financial administrator.
Hall is succeeding Kay Hayes, who has served as director since the district’s formation in 2002. The two full-time positions are being consolidated into one, and during 2011 budget preparations, the salary for the one remaining position was set at $30,000.
But members of a committee established to set parameters and conduct a search for a contract educator balked at the $30,000 figure Monday, saying they did not believe a proposed $5,000 figure for the contract educator is enough.
The board, with members Dan Orr and Jim Zimmerman the leading advocates, approved a reduced salary of $25,500 for the director/financial administrator along with a promise to re-visit the issue when a contract educator is found and his or her compensation is determined.
A $5,000 amount for the educator was not included in the salary ordinance, but some board members said all or part of the $4,500 trimmed from the director salary could be shifted to the contract educator.
Also voting for the reduction in the director salary were Faron Parr, chair of the committee assigned to hire the contract educator, and board member Bill Gibson.
Board president Milo Miller Jr., who did not vote on the reduction, said this morning he felt caught in the middle of the discussion. “I don’t have a problem with (Hall) having the $30,000 … I don’t know what the feelings of the board are. They’re thinking that they’re not going to get anybody to do (contract educator position) for $5,000. And they’re probably right … but I don’t want Jill to be upset and quit.”
Hayes, the outgoing director who was honored Monday by board members for her years of service, said she believed there would be other sources in the 2011 budget that could be used to increase the pay for the educator.
“I would say there’d be money in the budget … for a little pad there,” she said.
Also Monday, board members approved claims totaling $25,608.01. That amount was abnormally high because final 2010 quarterly grant payments were made to the city of Portland ($3,000) and the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District ($2,500).
The district also spent $2,287 on promotional items for the 2011 Jay County Fair. The items were purchased from Reflections by David.
District income in November was $20,932. Revenue is generated from a tipping fee of $1.75 per ton imposed on trash deposited in the Jay County Landfill. That fee is collected and paid to the district by landfill owner/operator Waste Management of Indiana Inc.
The claims and income report leaves $21,387.84 in the district checking account, and $52,665.72 in an investment account.
In other business, the board:
•Heard Hayes report that a roofing contractor has been called to investigate the source of a leak in the “copy room” of the district office, which is a former home across from the landfill and owned by Waste Management. The contractor wants to wait until snow on the roof thaws to do his inspection, Hayes said.
•Adopted the 2011 holiday schedule, which calls for 11.5 paid holidays and matches the county schedule. Days off include President’s Day (Feb. 21), Good Friday (April 22, half-day), Election Day (May 3), Memorial Day (May 30), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (September 5), Election Day (November 8), Veteran’s Day (November 11), Thanksgiving (November 24-25) and Christmas (December 23-26).
•Asked Hall for recommendations for appointments to the district’s Citizens Advisory Committee for 2011.
•Gave $100 year-end bonuses to Hall, Hayes and part-time employee Sandy Doyle.
•Presented Hayes with a clock for her nearly eight years of service with the district. She was an employee of the three-county Mideast Indiana Solid Waste District before that.[[In-content Ad]]