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Special Meeting of the City <br />Council <br /> August 23, 2004 <br /> Page 4 <br />department he worked in. He said they also needed to compare with local <br />industries and contractors. Interim City Manager Townsend said he would try <br />to promote within and then if there was no one qualified, he would go outside. <br />Councilman Wilson suggested setting the entry level pay for a Maintenance 1 <br />worker at $8.00. <br />Councilman Wilson asked if the step pay was going to be kept at 6 month, 1 <br />year, 2 year and 3 year intervals for step raises. Mayor Fendley felt the starting <br />wages should be discussed first and address that issue later, after staff brings <br />back recommendations. Councilman Bell agreed and added that they needed <br />to differentiate in jobs that take different levels of expertise. He said he would <br />agree with the $8.00 per hour for entry level maintenance. On a question from <br />Councilman Poston, Councilman Wilson explained that the average benefit <br />load for the Street Department was $4.81 per hour. <br />A discussion ensued on what different maintenance workers jobs were. Interim <br />City Manager Townsend asked if the M3 and M4 salaries would stay the same. <br />Mayor Fendley said they would have to be lowered also, the entry level <br />positions. Councilman Wilson said this would not effect an existing employees. <br />Interim City Manager Townsend said it would effect existing employees who <br />were applying for a different position or moving up a grade. He indicated it <br />would discourage workers from wanting to move up. Councilman Wilson said <br />the Council was trying to save jobs and keep benefits. <br />Councilman Poston said that using a third party contract service for some of <br />these positions would save the City money because they wouldn’t have to be <br />paying benefits. <br />On a question from Councilman Wilson, Melba Harris, Human Resource <br />Officer, explained that she derived the suggested starting wage from the survey <br />by getting an average, instead of the median, because she felt the average was <br />more reflective of what was going on in the area. <br /> <br />