Personnel Committee

MINUTES PERSONNEL COMMITTEE November 1, 2019 VERONA CITY HALL 7:30 AM 1. The meeting was called to order by Sarah Gaskell at 7:40 a.m. 2. Roll Call: Sarah Gaskell, Heather Reekie and Charlotte Jerney were present. Also present: City Administrator Adam Sayre, Human Resources Coordinator Mitch Weckerly, Police Chief Bernie Coughlin, Director of Public Works Theran Jacobson, and City Clerk Ellen Clark. 3. Approval of the minutes from the September 27, 2019 Personnel Committee meeting. Motion by Jerney, seconded by Reekie, to approve the minutes of the September 27, 2019 Personnel Committee meeting. Motion carried 3-0. 4. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Collective bargaining agreement with the Wisconsin Professional Police Association LEER Division. Sayre explained that Staff has been working with representatives of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association regarding police union contract renewal. The proposed three-year agreement includes changes related to union dues deductions; allows compensatory time to be paid out at the next regular payroll upon request; allows officers to deliver court testimony remotely by phone; changes to Police Canine Handler compensation for care and maintenance of the Police Canine; and offers wage increases for represented officers of 2% on January 1, 2020, 2% on January 1, 2021, and 3% on January 1, 2022. Gaskell asked that in the next contract (2023-2025), Easter not be listed as a paid holiday, as it is a designated Christian holiday. Perhaps an additional personal day could be added to replace the Easter holiday. Sayre continued, stating that medical appointments have been added to acceptable absences covered by sick leave. Staff is comfortable with the agreement as it is. Gaskell clarified that, at the discretion of the school district, the Police School Liaison will be paid up to an additional $3.00 per hour. Coughlin added the probationary period for new hires attending the Academy has been extended to end eighteen months after completion of the Academy. Motion by Gaskell, seconded by Reekie, to approve the collective bargaining agreement with the Wisconsin Professional Police Association LEER Division. Motion carried 3-0. 5. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Position description and compensation of Outreach Library Assistant, Reference Library Assistant, and Reference Librarian positions. Weckerly stated there are currently three position vacancies at the Library. Each position was reviewed, and compensation grade levels were assigned based on completed Position Analysis Questionnaires (PAQ).  The Outreach Library Assistant is an existing 50% position. The position description has been updated to include added focus on assisting the Community Engagement Librarian. The Reference Library Assistant is a new 20% position. This position has been added to provide assistance to the Reference Librarian. Sayre explained some of these positions are required because of the addition of year-round Sunday hours beginning in 2020. The Reference Librarian is an existing vacant full-time position. The primary update to this job description was to assign outreach and communications functions. This person will update social media, as well as perform other outreach functions. Weckerly stated these changes are intended to make processes flow more smoothly. They are changes within the positions, not position changes. These positions are funded in the 2020 budget. Motion by Gaskell, seconded by Jerney, to approve the position descriptions and compensation of Outreach Library Assistant, Reference Library Assistant, and Reference Librarian positions. Motion carried 3-0. 6. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Position descriptions for Building Inspector, Community Development Specialist, City Administrator, and position description and recruitment of Director of Planning and Development. Sayre explained minor changes to the Building Inspector position description. Budgeting responsibilities have been eliminated from the description. In addition, supervision of the Building Inspector will shift from the City Administrator to the Director of Planning and Development. Changes to the Community Development Specialist position description include the following additions: providing assistance to the City Administrator as well as the Director of Planning and Development; coordinating sustainable efforts in public and private development; and performing other related duties as assigned by the Director of Planning and Development, and the City Administrator. The researching and promoting sustainability efforts function was eliminated from the City Administrator position description. Changes to the Director of Planning and Development position description add working with the Verona Economic Development Commission, administering the Building Inspection budget, supervising the Planning and Building Inspection Departments, and coordinating affordable and workforce housing efforts. Geographical Information System (GIS) duties were eliminated from the description. Sayre stated the goal is to start recruitment for the new Planning and Development Director as soon as possible. Reekie asked Sayre if he believes we will have a good number of candidates from which to choose.  Sayre replied the economy is strong, and people are happy in their current positions. It may be a difficult time to recruit for this position at this time. Motion by Gaskell, seconded by Jerney, to approve the position descriptions for Building Inspector, Community Development Specialist, and City Administrator, and position description and recruitment of the Director of Planning and Development. Motion carried 3-0. 7. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Amendments to City Administrative Police #4 – Personnel Policy Regarding Uniforms and Equipment. Weckerly explained that most of this policy is new. The purpose of the update is to establish eligible items that employees in each department may purchase, and to provide a spending limit. The City will supply any necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Department Heads will determine the PPE to be provided for their departments. PPE is not subject to the clothing or uniform allowances. Public Works and Parks employees are eligible for reimbursement up to $850.00 during the first calendar year of employment, and $700.00 for each calendar year following, for the purchase of eligible clothing items to be worn while at work. Uniform allowance balances cannot be carried over from one year to another. A list of eligible clothing allowance items was presented. Under the proposed policy, Building Inspection employees are eligible for reimbursement up to $350.00 during each calendar year of employment for the purchase of eligible clothing items to be worn while at work. Uniform allowance balances cannot be carried over from one year to another. A list of eligible clothing allowance items was presented. Gaskell stated $350.00 seems high, and suggested that coats, hats, etc. bearing the City logo be supplied to them by the City. Discussion followed. The consensus of the Committee was to allow a $350.00 reimbursement during the first calendar year of employment, and $250.00 for each calendar year following. Weckerly explained that if any Public Works, Parks or Building Inspector employee who has received reimbursement for taxable items under the clothing allowance voluntarily terminates employment with the City, an amount equal to any portion of reimbursement funds received for those items within the last three months of the termination date will be deducted from the employee’s final paycheck. Police department employee reimbursements will follow the Police collective bargaining agreement with respect to uniform and equipment allowances. The Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief are eligible for reimbursement of up to $500.00 per calendar year for the purchase of uniforms and equipment consistent with department uniform policy. Paid-On-Premise and Paid-On-Call Firefighters are eligible for reimbursement as defined by each year’s budget. Clothing bearing the City logo may be funded if funding is available in the department budgets.  Jacobson stated it is good to have the policy updated and in black and white, so everyone is on the same page regarding this item. Motion by Gaskell, seconded by Reekie, to approve amendments to City Administrative Policy #4 – Personnel Policy Regarding Uniforms and Equipment. 8. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Approval to fill position process. Weckerly stated he and Adam are working on this new policy, and are asking for feedback from the Committee regarding how involved the Committee wants to be in the position description and authorization process. The process involves supervisors submitting the Position Authorization Request to the Human Resources Coordinator and City Administrator any time there is a position vacancy. Supervisors should also look for potential efficiencies when filling positions. Weckerly will do a position analysis to determine the compensation grade for each requested position. Gaskell asked Weckerly to add Limited Term Employees (LTE) to the list of positions in the policy that are not required to go through the Personnel Committee. Sayre stated if a position is being changed - for example changing it from a full-time position to an LTE position - that change will come before the Committee for approval. Gaskell asked that Department Heads be required to sign off on the department’s ability to pay for any new or changing positions through the budget. Weckerly stated any position changes resulting in a change in pay grade will come before the Committee for approval. All positions will be approved by the Human Resources Coordinator and City Administrator. 9. Discussion Re: Effective date of cost of living increases. Sayre explained that January 1, 2020 falls on a Wednesday. The City’s payroll cycle ends on Sunday. When January 1 falls in the middle of a payroll cycle, the Finance Department must manually adjust the payroll to pay the correct amount for just a few days. This is a time issue for the department. Sayre asked if there is any interest by the Committee to try to establish an effective date when the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) would become effective at the beginning of each year. Theran asked if the effective date could be based on the payroll period. Sayre replied the effective date could be bumped up to start December 30, 2019, or it could be bumped back to start January 6, 2020. Weckerly suggested setting the effective date as the beginning of the pay period closest to January 1st. Doing this simplifies the process, and will decrease the potential for error when making manual adjustments. Sayre stated there will be years when employees get the COLA a little before January 1 st, and years when they will get it a little after January 1st.  The consensus of the Committee was to use the beginning date of the pay period closest to January 1st as the start date for the COLA. This will come back to the Committee at a later date. 6. Adjournment: Motion by Reekie, seconded by Jerney, to adjourn at 8:52 a.m. Motion carried 3-0. Ellen Clark, City Clerk