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02-23-1983 , ~ o ~ CITY OF EDGEWATER MERIT BOARD MEETING February 23,1983 Chairman Edgell called the meeting of the Merit Board to order at 7:30 P.M. in the conference area of the Community Center. ROLL CALL Terry Edgell Robert Bates Betty Billups Ray Troian Debbie Sigler Present Excused Present Present Excused APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Troian made a motion that the minutes of the January 26,1983 meeting be adopted as presented, being seconded by Mrs. Billups. Upon roll call vote the motion CARRIED 3-0. COMMUNICATIONS Chairman Edgell stated that the only communication is the memo from our board to the Council in regard to the meeting time change and the Council's reply. OLD BUSINESS Evaluation Forms Mrs. Blazi asked to make a comment on the change in the Personnel Guide. She explained that something like that is just sent to the Union President and he will decide whether all of the employees have to vote on it. In this particular case, he has approved the change that was recommended and she will be sending it to Council when she gets it back. She also has to do the same thing in regard to the evaluation forms. Supervisors Salaries Mrs. Blazi explained that this, as well as all of the recommendations from the Merit Board was tabled by the Council until our attorney can get an opinion from the Attorney General as to working on one hand with the union and on the other hand with a Merit Board. Mr. Troian stated that he does not see the conflict. He can not under- stand how the union would object if plusses are given to the employees. There was a discussion with the board members, Mrs. Blazi and Councilman Spencer in regard to the reasoning behind the feeling that there is some kind of conflict between the Merit Board and the union. Mrs. Billups stated that she is glad to see Mr. Spencer at this meeting and she feels that the Council should try to attend one meeting although she realizes they can not attend all the meetings. Chairman Edgell spoke that he was thinking the Council and the Merit Board could have a joint workshop. He feels they should discuss a standardized salary schedule and a written procedure for evaluation forms,job descriptions and classifications. Councilman Spencer agreed that a workshop with this board would be a good idea. o o Mrs. Blazi stated that the President of the P.B.A. spoke to her and he is going to get her more information on job scales. She added that it won't be too long before negotiations start again; the present contract states that the City will provide a pay plan. At this time there was discussion about the time and work that the board members are putting in. There have been compliments given by several employees about the job the Merit Board is doing. It is discouraging when the recommendations are just tabled. There was discussion about the freezing of the merit increases. Mrs. Blazi explained that the Council has started reviewing all of the deparmtent heads and supervisors, however nothing was said at these meetings about any salary increases for the superintendents. We still are faced with the question as to who does the evaluations on superin- tendents and who recommends them for raises. Councilman Spenaer stated that at the present time the Council has taken upon itself the responsibility to evaluate all of the department heads. The result of these evaluations will be salary determinations. City Garage Mrs. Blazi stated that the Council had a special meetin~ in regard to this. It was approved to have the old roof fixed on the building, another bathroom is being put in. An addition is not being put on, however repairs and remodeling is being done to the building. She added that the decision about the heat and air conditioning has been put off at the present time. The Council is holding another special meeting to discuss the grader, which was listed as a safety hazard. Also, there will no longer be any painting done in the garage. Councilman Spencer clarified that he feels the Council only deferred their decision on the heat and air conditioning until they can determine the cost involved relative to the grader. Job Descriptions & Wage Scale Information Mrs. Blazi explained that the City of Port Orange recently prepared one, therefore this is what has been copied for the board members to use as a draft. Chairman Edgell explained to Councilman Spencer what the board has been trying to accomplish with the job descriptions and a wage scale. Mrs. Blazi spoke to the board about the job descriptions that have been prepared for our employees. She added that we have the foundation now all we have to do is work out the figures with the grades or steps. Councilman Spencer spoke of a large company he worked for where there was a union and everything was spelled out precisely; there was no merit type increases. Individuals did there jobs and after certain time in were advanced to the next step. However non-union employees were evalu- ated under very different judgment. Mrs. Blazi stated that this is what we are up against, because the P.E.A. contract is not like this. It is very generalized and does recognize the merit system, which was passed by the Edgewater citizens on a referendum. Councilman Spencer agreed that it is highly desirable to have some form of merit system so that you are able to monitarily award those employees who are doing outstanding jobs. Chairman Edgell spoke of a past experience the board had, where they had nothing in writing to go by in regard to raises being given. He added that you know Edgewater is growing and this will be more of a problem if it is not taken care of soon. He brought out the fact that this will also help the Council when preparing the budgets. -2- ~ o o Councilman Spencer suggested that the Merit Board keep in mind a few items during their preparation of this procedure. Each supervisor should be limited to so many merit increases that they can give; they should not be able to give all of their employees merit increases. This makes them be selective. That written documentation be provided as to why a particular employee is given the increase. Also that the supervisors next level chain-of-command approves this increase prior to it being granted. This prevents favoritism among the supervisor and some employees. NEW BUSINESS Safety Program Mrs. Blazi read from the Merit Ordinance and the letter from Management Risk that the Council needs to formerly assign responsibility and authority for a safety program. She added that this board has already been authorized these duties under the Merit Ordinance and the Police Chief is the Safety Officer, if the Council wishes to keep it this way. There was discussion about the accident reports that are filled out on the employees. Perhaps these could come to the Merit Board and this would be a good way to come up with some safety suggestions. Mrs. Blazi suggested that she could get someone from Management Risk to come to a Merit Board meeting, perhaps the same time the Council meets with you. Councilman Spencer stated that there are two aspects of safety; one being the inspection of physical safety problems and the other is safety education. He added that he is all for having employees involved with this. It was explained that the Council will have to come out publicly with the authorization of a safety program due to the letter that the City received in regard to this. Mr. Troian made a motion to request the Council to authorize the Merit Board to get started on a safety program, being seconded by Mrs. Billups. Upon roll call vote the motion CARRIED 3-0. BOARD COMMENTS There was discussion again about the Council attending a Merit Board meeting. The board members expressed their gratitude to Councilman Spencer for being present at tonight's meeting. Mr. Troian made a motion to invite the entire Council to the next Merit Board meeting, being seconded by Mrs. Billups. Upon roll call vote the motion CARRIED 3-0. Chairman Edgell spoke about his getting upset at the Council meeting. He stated that to him indecision is the worse thing. Until we get an opinion from the attorney on Councilman Ledbetter's question this board sits in limbo. Mr. Troian made a point that "teeth" should be put into the safety program matter. Once it is set up we should urge that it be inspected and carried out. This was agreed to by the board members. Mrs. Billups made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Mr. Troian. Motion CARRIED. Minutes submitted by: - Debbie Sigler -3-