Athens City Council discussed raising pay grades to benefit long time workers, and was recently awarded a grant to purchase new recycling bins for residents.
Athens City Council discussed a plan to raise city workers' pay grades at Monday night’s meeting.
Council recently recruited Brian Butcher, regional manager at Clemans, Nelson and Associates, Inc., a company that specializes in human resources consulting, to propose options for the city regarding pay grades for its employees.
Butcher, who spoke on behalf of the company at the meeting, said he began the process of creating options for the city of Athens by studying wages in cities such as Marietta, Lancaster and Chillicothe.
The three proposed pay grade options will essentially make wages more fair for those who have been dedicated to their jobs for many years and provide them with pay raises that are yet to be determined, he said.
“You don’t want to bring in someone tomorrow that would be next to someone who has been there for years,” Butcher said. “Our thought process is to award those that have been there a long time.”
The proposed pay grade options will be phased in over three years, said Butcher.
Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht also came forward and said she had some concerns over the three-year phase plan.
“I just wonder how that comes out in the long run when you’re only giving someone part of their increase in years time,” Hecht said.
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Hecht said she agreed with the whole process in general, however.
“It would be great to move everyone up and pay them what we can,” she said.
Butcher said there is no right or wrong answer in this situation, adding that it simply comes down to how the city of Athens would like to pay its employees.
“We’re just here to help and guide you along the process,” Butcher said. “We still get to go home even if we make a couple people mad.”
Mayor Steve Patterson announced at the meeting that the city of Athens has also been selected to receive a grant of $80,000 from The Recycling Partnership to put toward purchasing new recycling bins for residents. The Recycling Partnership is a national nonprofit that aims to "improve recycling in the United States," according to its website.
The grant would pay for 3,500 new bins to be distributed to citizens who need or want them.
Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-3rd ward, expressed concern over the new bins’ considerable size difference over the already existing bins.
“I really think that folks and households should have options for storage reasons,” Papai said.
Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th ward, also voiced her concern for the issue.
“If they're so big that people don’t put them out because they're not full, we might have potential problems,” Fahl said.
Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st ward, said residents will be educated and informed on how to handle these new bins.
“Curbside recycling was implemented in Athens about 30 years ago, and we were one of the first cities in the state to do that,” Butler said. “Community recycling has been relevant for a long time here."
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