Redkey OK’s pay raises for new year

The Town of Redkey’s employees will get a raise in 2019. 

Redkey Town Council approved its salary ordinance for next year at its meeting Thursday. 

It also purchased items for the Redkey Police Department, including tasers and equipment for the new police vehicle. 

As it has in recent years, the ordinance reflects a salary increase across the board for town employees.

“It does include a 3 percent raise that you guys voted on,” Redkey clerk-treasurer Debbie James told council.

The town’s total budget for 2019 is $551,493, up about 3.2 percent from this year.  Also Thursday, the board approved a slew of year-end purchases for the police department, including three new tasers for $5,226. 

“They are absolutely obsolete, we’re getting error messages when we turn on our tasers,” Todd Miller, Redkey’s town marshal, said. “We do not have a means of non-lethal force. … It’s probably the most important purchase.” 

Other purchases included police lights for the side of the new vehicle for $988, $3,930  for an organization system for the back of the car and $583 for a weapons organizer. 

In other business, council members Doug Stanley, Mike Wright, Dave Dudelston and Ted Friddle, absent Charles “Red” Coons: 

•Agreed to switch out a water meter at Matthew Conn’s house. 

Conn, who has lived in his home since June, said his water bills have been high each month, and he has followed all the instructions from the water company and the town to determine if there were leaks. 

He told council he couldn’t afford to pay to test the meter. Council members voted to switch the meter at his house with a spare one and monitor it for two weeks to determine if a faulty meter was the cause. 

Council also heard from Randy May, who objected to a new water usage ordinance council adopted in November. 

May, who was elected to council this fall and will take his seat in January, told the board he disagreed with the fines in the ordinance and thinks it should be amended to give more leeway in certain circumstances.

“We spent months working on this,” Stanley, the council’s president, told May. “If we’re going to get into this territory, we’re not going to do it tonight.” 

Council voted to table the matter until January.  

•Paid claims of $132,541.75. 

•Rolled over leftover vacation days for the police officers for another year.

•Approved an adjustment of $28.03 for an underground water leak at 410 S. Spencer St.

•Tabled voting on two bids it received to construct a fence around the dump.