Council approves payroll changes

Portland wastewater employees who receive additional certifications will get a pay raise.

Portland City Council made that decision at Monday’s meeting after the realization that the payroll ordinance was not clear enough in the past.

Council also repealed a resolution that had allowed city employees to contribute to a deferred compensation retirement plan, changed payment requirements for those who pay the city using bad checks and approved a preliminary proposal to add parking signs to the lot of the Evangelical Methodist Church.

Mayor Randy Geesaman proposed three changes to the city’s payroll ordinance, including adjusting a pay scale for wastewater employees based on certifications. His suggestions also included a change in the definition of part time work for the mayor’s secretary and the creation of an assistant superintendent position in the city’s street and parks department.

Wastewater department superintendent Bob Brelsford addressed the section of the payroll ordinance that was unclear about raises based on certifications. He suggested that the city award a 25-cent per-hour raise for employees with a level 1 certification, 50 cents per hour for those with a level 2 certification and $1 per hour for those with level 3 or 4 certifications. Council approved the change, citing the importance of rewarding employees who spent their personal time studying and acquiring the certifications.

Council also adjusted the amount of hours the mayor’s secretary can work in a given week. The limit was capped at 25 hours a week, but council voted to adjust it to 29, to cover rare instances when the mayor’s secretary had to stay after her scheduled hours.

The proposal to create the role of assistant street and parks department superintendent was met with caution by a few council members. The position was eliminated in 2014 because of budget constraints. Judy Hedges and Janet Powers suggested council hold off on the decision in order to review the street and parks department’s budget and discuss the proposed position with street and parks superintendent Ryan Myers. Council tabled the decision for further review.

Council also repealed a resolution passed in January that allowed city employees to sign up for the Hoosier S.T.A.R.T. deferred compensation plan. The plan is separate from the already existing Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF). Geesaman said he had shown the details of the plan to the city’s department heads, who distributed information to their employees and that city officials hadn’t realized that the S.T.A.R.T. plan came with no matching money from the state (though state, not municipal, employees can receive matching funds through the program). Council agreed that the already existing PERF fund performed the same function and in some cases was better than the S.T.A.R.T. plan.

An amendment to the city’s code of ordinances was passed to change the requirements for individuals who paid the city with a bad check. According to clerk-treasurer Lori Ferguson, a number of individuals have repeatedly paid their water bills using bad checks. The amendment requires that after paying with a bad check, an individual may only pay by cash, money order, debit or credit card.

Council members Don Gillespie, Michele Brewster, Judy Aker, Bill Gibson, Powers and Hedges, absent Kent McClung, heard an inquiry from pastor Steve Arnold about adding no parking sings to the parking lot of Evangelical Methodist Church, at 930 W. Main St. The lot extends to both sides of Alexander Street, and Arnold asked about the process for adding signs that specified who could park in the lot. Portland Police Chief Nathan Springer mentioned that the city’s ordinance allows and organization to post signs, after filling out a form and paying a $25 fee for each sign.

In other business, council:

•Heard from officers of the National Honor Society at Jay County High School about their philanthropic work. Katie Carpenter, Alli Campbell, Kiara Walter and Carly Grieshop told council about their work raising funds to host a MobilePack for Feed My Starving Children. The group needs to raise $25,000 to host its MobilePack, scheduled for April 29, and has currently raised $20,500. Those interested in contributing can contact NHS sponsor Chrissy Krieg.

•Approved an ordinance that would create a fund for the Community Crossing Grant, which the city was awarded for work on Industrial Park Drive and Wayne Street.

•Approved an ordinance to allow the clerk-treasurer’s office to pay certain bills, like phone bills, prior to receiving city council approval. The payments would still appear on the city’s claims sheets and council would approve the payments after they were made.

•Heard from Geesaman that a group of city officials will meet Feb. 28 to begin work on a comprehensive flood response plan. He said he will provide more information to council at its next meeting.

•Discussed plans for Geesaman and a number of other representatives from the city to go to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Environmental Protection Agency, National Economic Development Authority, Army Corps of Engineers, congressmen and senators to advocate for funding to solve a variety of issues in the city.