CLAREMONT — The City Council has voted in favor of an across-the-board 2% increase in the salary schedule for city’s 38 non-union or merit plan employees, though it does not mean all of the employees will receive a raise.
That will be left up to the new city manager. (City officials on Friday said the council has offered the job to Ed Morris, the current Weathersfield town manager, contingent on a background search and agreement to the terms of a contract).
The ordinance raising the city worker salaries has to go through two more readings and a public hearing before it takes effect, likely in September.
“I’ve seen a lot of good people go, taking a lot of knowledge,” said Councilor Scott Pope in support of the new salary schedule. “Let’s get this going.”
The vote last week was 7-2 in favor of the salary scale adjustment with councilors Andrew O’Hearne and Jonathan Stone voting no.
Finance Director Mary Walter presented the council with data on the pay schedule, which has 14 grades, 8 of which are salaried and with the bottom six hourly.
Walter and interim City Manager John MacLean said the 28 merit employees who have been with the city five years or more are, on average, 11% below where they should be on the pay scale.
Walter said in a memo to MacLean that seven of the 38 full-time merit plan employees have “maxed out” at the top of their salary but only two of them are the highest grade, 12, and are directors.
The other five are between grades 6 and 11, with one person at grade 6 in the job for 27 years. To be maxed out means an employee is at the highest salary for that grade and cannot be given a raise unless he or she moves to the next grade.
MacLean told the council on Wednesday in his view, the issue is about fairness, and with no adjustment in the schedule in five years, employees see an erosion of earning when they have had to pay more for health insurance. That in turn also makes it harder to attract, recruit and retain qualified employees, MacLean said.
Walter said non-union employees have had to shoulder a greater workload because of layoffs have led to only 38 of the city’s 54 full-time positions being filled.
“I believe we are sending a message that the current merit plan employees are expected to do the work of those other positions and are valued less than new employees coming in the door,” Walter wrote in the memo to MacLean.
The first effort to increase the salary schedule several months ago under then-City Manager Ryan McNutt was defeated by the council. At the time, the council was opposed to the increase because the public works union and clerical union had not yet received a new contract.
Also on Wednesday, the council approved an agreement that will allow it to move forward with demolition of 139 Main St., an apartment building which has been condemned and is in danger of collapse. But the city could not demolish the structure because of an interior wall shared by 147 Main St. That building is owned by New England Family Housing. Under the agreement approved by the council, the housing organization will shore up its building so when the shared wall is removed it won’t affect 147 Main St.
The agreement also requires the council to pay $6,000 toward a new foundation wall after 139 Main St. is torn down. The building has been in disrepair for years and abandoned by its listed owner, Twin State Property Maintenance. The city has placed cement barriers so motorists and pedestrians cannot pass too close to the building where there is concern with falling debris.
Bids for the demolition — expected to cost between $60,000 and $80,000 — are expected to go out in the next few weeks.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
