Committee recommends positions, pay changes

Napoleon City Manager Andrew Small said there are several employees in the electric department who can retire now if they wish, or within a few years.

“I was rather shocked by the longevity of that electric department,” Small said.

Human Resources Director Brittany Roof pointed out council had budgeted for the positions for this year. They had also previously had job descriptions created, as well as the base pay of $43,600 annually.

“I would say in the next three to five years, 90% of the department is gone,” Roof said. There are 12 employees in the department not counting the supervisor.

She added it would take about two years to go through the apprenticeship, by which time there could be a few retirements.

It is not known yet whether the two apprentice positions would be temporary, depending on the employment situation once the candidates have completed the program.

Parks and Recreation Director Tony Cotter again proposed the facility manager position, which he had brought to council late last year during budget discussions. The position was not created but council wanted it discussed further in committee.

“So what I am asking for is a full-time position what would primarily oversee the day-to-day operations of the aquatic center and the golf clubhouse,” Cotter said.

He said additional duties could include overseeing recreation programming, manning the golf simulator and being his assistant with the thought of eventually succeeding him as parks and recreation director.

He added he has been with the city for 32 years as director.

“Keeping things working properly and running efficiently at the aquatic center has really added a lot of time to my day,” Cotter said.

The proposed salary range for the full-time position is $20 an hour to $25 an hour.

Small said increasing the pay scale for the two IT positions comes down to retaining quality employees. He added the two employees there have already been courted by private companies.

For the IT specialist, the pay scale would move from a low end of $19.69 an hour and a high end of $25.99 an hour (where the employee is at currently) to $22 and $29.50 per hour.

Roof said the plan, if council agrees, would be to move the employee to the second to last step on the new scale, which would be about $27 per hour.

This change has not been budgeted for 2023.

The IT supervisor salary, which is currently in the range of $54,000 to $80,000, was proposed to a range of $62,000 to $87,000. However, Small said the plan would be to keep the current supervisor at his current salary of $80,000 for this year and evaluate him at the end of the year.

“I would like to retain employees, especially good employees, that get the job done and know what we have and how things are routed,” Small said.

Committee member Molly Knepley abstained on both votes dealing with the IT positions.

All four requests will now go before council for final consideration.