Council Approves Pay Adjustment for Employees
Community, Lumpkin Co. Basketball April 5, 2022
DAHLONEGA, Ga.- The City Council approved a pay adjustment for the employees of the City of Dahlonega at their meeting on Apr. 4.
The council also approved three budgets for three projects. They delayed voting on the ServLine Leak Protection plan until more information was made available to them to the plan.
City Manager Bill Schmid brought the council the request for a pay adjustment at the work session. The reason for the adjustment is due to the higher cost of living since the last adjustment. Since the council adjusted in 2019 there has been a 10.4% increase in consumer pricing, since Oct. that has been 9.9%.
Schmid requested that the adjustment is between 3 to a total of 7%. At the full 7%, the increase would be $150,974.63. The council voted to approve a 4% to a total of 7% pay adjustment for the employees.
“I think this means an awful lot to our employees who work very very hard,” commented Mayor JoAnne Taylor.
The council also approved three budgets for three projects. Those projects are a rehabilitation project at the Barlow Lift Station, storm drain repair on Mechanicsville Road, and the parking lot overlay for City Hall.
The rehabilitation project is to replace old equipment that is on the verge of failing at the largest lift station in the city. The budget for the project was $590,000. The only bidder is W.L. Griffin Company, LLC. Their bid came in at $872,897.92.
This high bid is due to the increased cost of labor and materials. To have the funds to meet the bid Water/Wastewater Treatment Director John Jarrard asked the council to approve using $320,000 in ARPA funds.
These are the COVID relief funds that are allocated to capital projects. To learn more about ARPA funds and how they work visit https://opb.georgia.gov/covid-response/american-rescue-plan#:~:text=It%20includes%20fiscal%20relief%20funding,local%20governments%20and%20individual%20assistance.
“If I’m going to spend a million dollars of the taxpayer’s money, I want you to take me out there, and I want to understand how we are going to spend a million dollars,” explained Councilmember Johnny Ariemma when he voted no for the project.
The next project is the storm drain repair. The budget for this project is $138,000. The lowest bid is with Townley Construction for $141,612.00. Capital Projects Manager Vince Hunsinger requested that the council move $25,000 from stormwater projects to be determined funds.
The last project is the parking lot overlay. The budget for this project is $45,000. The lowest eligible bid has come in at $53,350. Hunsinger requested an additional 8,350.00 from the Facilities and Property fund.
Finance Director Allison Martin brought the ServLine Leak Protection plan to the council at the Mar. 21 work session. To review the discussion they had go to https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/03/22/council-discusses-employee-pay-adjustments/. The council has not received enough information on the plan to move forward with it at this time, so they delayed it until they had more time to understand it.
The council after reading the Lady Indians State Champions proclamation.
The council also made two joint proclamations with Lumpkin County. The first was to make the month of Apr. Child Abuse Prevention Month. The second was to recognize the Lady Indians Basketball team for their State Championship. This proclamation will be delivered at a special assembly at the school and there will also be a parade to honor the girls on Apr. 15 at 12:30 p.m.
Council Discusses Employee Pay Adjustments
Community, Lifestyle March 22, 2022
DAHLONEGA, Ga.- City Manager Bill Schmid brought the City Council a request to consider an allocation of funds for an adjustment in the employee pay rates.
Planning Administrator Jameson Kinley also brought before the council the 2022 amended comprehensive plan. Finance Director Allison Martin informed the council of a new leak protection program that they can vote in place at the next meeting.
City Manager Bill Schmid while explaining to the council the need for the employee pay adjustment.
The last time the city did an employee fee adjustment was in Oct. of 2020. Due to a 9.9% inflation increase, Schmid felt that this was a good time to request the council to consider the allocation of funds. The request is for a 4 to 7% increase.
If the 7% increase is met it will cost $150,974.63. This is to allow the employees the cost of living pay. The city conservatively budgets every year so there are funds available for this increase and will not adversely affect the budget. The council will vote on this at their Apr. 4 meeting.
Every five years the Department of Community Affairs DCA for short requires cities do a comprehensive plan update. This is a chance for the community to voice what they want the city to look like in the next 25 to 50 years. The county also does one and to view theirs visit https://lumpkin.fetchyournews.com/2022/02/02/commissioners-review-2022-comprehensive-plan-draft/.
The plan is broken up into three areas community vision, development strategy, and implementation. This is to keep the city looking to the future and working towards its goals.
Kinley shared that they had many public meetings for the community to provide input on the plan. To view the current plan visit https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/dahlonega-pubu/MEET-Packet-0391d6b9167e45308a070f2234ff9686.pdf, it begins on page 19. The council will also vote on this in their next meeting.
The city currently makes adjustments to water and sewer bills when there is a leak. On average the city makes 150 adjustments per year. With this in mind, staff sought out a new means of handling leaks. They found Servline Leak Protection Program.
This would be a four-dollar increase to the consumer’s bill with the option to opt-out if they do not wish to pay for the service. However, if they do opt-out then the customer will have to pay for the leaks themselves with no bill adjustment from the city.
Martin will be able to set up meetings for the council members so they can fully understand the program and its implications before taking action. If the council chooses to approve the plan the program will show up on the next bill after the vote.
“I think these can be some very challenging, very argumentative so for the safekeeping of our staff reducing the amount of negativity that comes in trying to resolve these things, this really helps alleviate a lot of this,” commented Councilmember Ron Larson.
Troy Armstrong while going to accept his award from the council.
Mayor JoAnne Taylor started the meeting off by presenting Troy Armstrong with an award from The Sunshine Rotary Club for his hard work and dedication to the city. Armstrong was present to receive the award.