Personnel Committee

1 PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 2 Tuesday, December 2, 2025 3 11:00 AM 4 Approved 5 6 7 1. Call to Order 8 Chair Howson called the Personnel Committee meeting to order at 11:00 AM. 9 10 2. Roll Call 11 Present: Chair Louise Hownson, Kurt Harff, Brigid White 12 Staff Present: Administrator Julie Schmelzer, Village Clerk Julie Thyssen 13 Other: Benjamin Andrews 14 15 3. Approve Agenda 16 Chair Howson proposed an amendment to the agenda to table Item 6a, Employee Contracts, for a 17 future meeting. 18 Motion to approve the agenda as amended was made by Harff and seconded by White. Motion 19 carried — all ayes. 20 21 4. Approve Minutes: August 21, October 14, 28 & 31, 2025 22 White noted a clarification regarding comments she made in the October 28 minutes related to 23 employee surveys, stating no negative intent was directed at the Administrator. No formal 24 corrections were submitted. All minutes were approved as presented. 25 Motion to approve the minutes for August 21, October 14, October 28, and October 31, 2025 was 26 made by Harff and seconded by White. Motion carried — all ayes. 27 28 5. Comments, Correspondence and Concerns from the Public 29 No public comments, correspondence, or concerns were received. 30 31 6. Discussion/Action Items 32 a. Employee Contracts 33 This item was tabled to a future meeting per the agenda amendment approved under Item 3. 34 35 b. Personnel Handbook Revisions 36 Administrator Schmelzer summarized the handbook revisions previously discussed, which included 37 updates to payment in lieu of benefits, harassment policy (with Type 1 and Type 2 classifications 38 added), and a mileage reimbursement provision requiring employees to provide a valid driver's 39 license and proof of insurance. 40 41 White inquired whether provisions addressing employee benefits upon separation or termination 42 were included in the current section. Schmelzer clarified that this topic had been discussed at the 43 board level in executive session and pertains to the tabled employee contracts. She noted that while 44 the village had previously been advised such extensions were not permissible without policy, the 45 board had since agreed to extend health benefits for a departing employee on an informal basis. 46 Schmelzer recommended the committee consider formalizing this provision in policy, noting that 47 continuation of coverage through the village's group plan would be more cost-effective than COBRA. 48 Schmelzer recommended the revised handbook be forwarded to the full board for approval, with an 49 effective date of January 1, 2026, and that all employees sign acknowledgment of the updated 50 document. 51  Minutes of the December 2, 2025, Meeting of the Personnel Committee - Approved 1 Schmelzer also noted the existence of an employee benefit guide — previously compiled by MSA — 2 that had never been formally adopted. She recommended that formalizing and adopting a 3 comprehensive employee benefit guide be placed on a future agenda for 2026. Additionally, 4 Schmelzer raised the concept of a separate supervisor handbook covering purchasing policy, invoice 5 procedures, and grievance navigation, recommending the committee consider this for future 6 discussion as well. 7 Motion to recommend the Personnel Handbook revisions to the full Village Board was made by Harff 8 and seconded by White. Motion carried — all ayes. 9 10 Future Action Items: 11 • Staff to prepare final revised handbook with an effective date of January 1, 2026, for board 12 approval; all employees to sign acknowledgment upon adoption. 13 • Formalization and adoption of an employee benefit guide to be placed on a future 2026 14 agenda. 15 • Development of a supervisor-specific handbook to be placed on a future agenda. 16 17 c. Parks Crew Staffing and Interim Wages 18 Schmelzer provided background on the parks department staffing situation, noting that the crew 19 had operated throughout the past year at three full-time members following a departure. After 20 reviewing the impact on staff — including increased weekend rotations and significant fatigue during 21 Fall Fest — Schmelzer presented a staffing model developed in consultation with the park’s 22 supervisor and parks committee. 23 24 Seasonal Full-Time Employee (Summer): The committee discussed hiring one seasonal full-time 25 employee for the summer months to restore a four-person crew rotation and improve project 26 efficiency. The committee expressed support for this approach. 27 28 Seasonal Part-Time Mowers: The committee discussed hiring two seasonal part-time employees 29 focused on lawn mowing, structured as split-week schedules (Monday–Wednesday and 30 Wednesday–Friday), targeting high school students from the Gibraltar School District. Schmelzer 31 confirmed the village's insurance carrier would cover minor employees with valid driver's licenses for 32 mowing operations, though chainsaw use would not be permitted. Wages were discussed with a 33 tentative range of $16–$18 per hour, to be confirmed following a wage analysis of comparable 34 municipal positions. White suggested recruitment begin no later than early April, including 35 participation in Gibraltar's annual spring job fair. 36 37 Winter Interim Compensation: For the period of November 1 through May 31, while the crew 38 operates without a fourth full-time member, the committee agreed the three crew members should 39 be compensated at the next step in the wage scale (approximately $0.70–$0.80 per hour increase). 40 Schmelzer recommended this provision be formalized in policy and clearly state that additional 41 compensation is contingent upon the department remaining at three full-time members, and will 42 cease if a fourth full-time employee is hired. 43 44 Post-Fall Fest Day Off: The committee agreed parks crew members should receive one paid day off 45 in the week following Fall Fest, with scheduling to be coordinated by the parks supervisor to account 46 for post-event cleanup responsibilities. 47 48 Fall Fest Compensation: The committee declined to support triple-time pay during Fall Fest, noting it 49 was cost-prohibitive (estimated at approximately $19,000 for the weekend) and without precedent. 50 Instead, the committee agreed that parks crew members working Saturday and Sunday of Fall Fest 51 weekend would receive double-time pay regardless of hours worked earlier in the week. 2  Minutes of the December 2, 2025, Meeting of the Personnel Committee - Approved 1 Motion to approve the proposed parks department staffing plan and compensation adjustments — 2 including the seasonal full-time summer hire, two seasonal part-time mowers, the November 1–May 3 31 interim wage step increase, one paid day off in the week following Fall Fest, and double-time pay 4 for hours worked on Saturday and Sunday of Fall Fest weekend — was made by Howson and 5 seconded by White. Motion carried — all ayes 6 7 Future Action Items: 8 • Staff to formalize the winter interim wage step and Fall Fest double-time provisions in the 9 Personnel Handbook for board approval. 10 • Staff to conduct a wage analysis for seasonal part-time mowing positions and bring a a 11 recommended rate forward. 12 • Parks supervisor and Administrator to initiate recruitment for seasonal positions beginning 13 no later than the first week of April, with outreach to Gibraltar School District including the 14 spring job fair. 15 • A future agenda item to be scheduled regarding the on-call policy for employees who are on 16 approved vacation. 17 18 d. New Administrator Onboarding Process 19 Howson presented a draft onboarding framework developed through research into municipal 20 administrator onboarding practices. The document was organized into preparation steps, first- 21 day logistics, and ongoing milestones. 22 23 Schmelzer confirmed that staff maintains an internal onboarding checklist and would cross- 24 reference it with Howson's draft to ensure no items are missed. Key priorities identified 25 included: completing the incoming administrator's personnel file (application, resume, and 26 executed contract); establishing email and cell phone accounts; coordinating benefits 27 enrollment through the HR consultant; and preparing office access and equipment. 28 29 The committee confirmed a village-issued cell phone would be procured through Cellcom prior 30 to Andrews's start date. Regarding computing equipment, it was agreed no new hardware would 31 be ordered at this time, as existing office equipment (desktop and laptop) would be available for 32 use. 33 34 Schmelzer emphasized that navigating the village's file systems — including planning and zoning 35 files, contract files, and grant files — represents the most critical onboarding priority given her 36 departure on January 2. She committed to scheduling a screen-sharing session with Andrews 37 during the week of December 15 to walk through file organization and day-to-day system 38 navigation, subject to schedule constraints around the board meeting (December 16) and plan 39 commission meeting (December 18). 40 41 Regarding public announcements, Howson confirmed that Schmelzer's retirement press release 42 would be published in the Pulse the week of December 5, with Andrews's introduction press 43 release to follow approximately ten days later. Press releases for website posting and email blast 44 are to be sent to either the clerk or administrative assistant for distribution. 45 46 Schmelzer noted the importance of scheduling Andrews's performance evaluation and 47 recommended the committee chair place it on the radar well in advance. She also recommended 48 the committee consider increasing the professional development and training budget in future 49 budget cycles. 50 51 Future Action Items: 3  Minutes of the December 2, 2025, Meeting of the Personnel Committee - Approved 1 • Howson to immediately forward Andrews's resume and contract to Schmelzer for 2 personnel file assembly. 3 • Staff to send Andrews an employment application (fillable PDF) for completion prior to 4 start date. 5 • Staff to configure village email account and cell phone (via Cellcom) prior to Andrews's 6 start date. 7 • Schmelzer to schedule a screen-sharing/file orientation session with Andrews during the 8 week of December 15. 9 • Howson to arrange a staff welcome and orientation on Andrews's first day. 10 • Howson to submit Andrews's introduction press release to village staff for distribution 11 approximately ten days after Schmelzer's retirement announcement. 12 • Personnel Committee to schedule Andrews's formal performance evaluation in 13 accordance with the employment contract. 14 • Professional development and training budget to be reviewed and considered for 15 increase in the 2026 budget process. 16 17 7. Matters to be Placed on a Future Agenda or Referred to a Committee, Official or Employee 18 The following items were identified for placement on future agendas: 19 • Employee Contracts (tabled from this meeting) 20 • On-call policy for employees on approved vacation 21 • Employee Benefit Guide — formal adoption 22 • Supervisor Handbook — development and adoption 23 • Professional development and training budget 24 25 8. Next Meeting Date 26 The next meeting date was not established. To be determined. 27 28 9. Adjourn 29 Motion to adjourn at 12:31 p.m. was made by Howson and seconded by Harff. Motion carried — 30 all ayes. 31 32 33 34 Respectfully submitted by Julie Thyssen, Clerk 4