North Lewisburg police officers will be seeing a change in the way overtime hours are accrued.
Village council voted Tuesday night to approve the department for a 28-day pay period, compensated in two pay checks, which will allow more flexibility in shift scheduling.
While all public and private employees are required to be paid 150% of their regular pay rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 in one week, special provisions are made for police and fire department workers. The reason for this is that first responders often require extended shifts, such as 24-hour or 12-hour durations, as part of the schedule rotation.
Through the natural rotation of the schedule long shifts, some such workers would accrue overtime hours one week, only to fall well short of 40 hours the next.
Extending the pay period allows departments to let work hours average out over a longer stretch of time.
Police Chief Scott Bodey brought the issue before council in hopes it would allow him to decrease his overtime budget. Council approved the request by a vote of 4-0, with council members Amanda Warner and Robin Street absent from the meeting.
Council also learned from Village Administrator Todd Freyhof that he will be moving away from treating streets with a salt/grit mixture, opting for straight salt in the future.
Freyhof explained that while the salt/grit is a cheaper alternative, it comes with drawbacks. Salt/grit mixtures blend sodium chloride with sand and anti-caking agents. While the salt is carried away with melting snow, the sand is making its way into the stormwater system, as well as collecting in the sanitary sewer lines.
Freyhof said he contacted other village administrators in the area and found that none of them use the grit mixture.
On top of an increased cost for straight salt, Freyhof said the village would need to build some type of barn structure for storage.
In other business, council:
•Approved the permanent 2023 budget, which is unchanged from the temporary budget.
•Learned that there is a defective blower at the wastewater treatment plant. Freyhof had a few solutions involving rental or purchased equipment but said the village may have lined up a used unit from another source.
•Learned that 270 of the needed 300 surveys for the low-to-moderate income study have been collected.
•Learned that Bodey has received grant approval which will fund laptop computers to be installed in the village cruisers.
•Learned from Freyhof that maintenance and painting on the village water towers will begin in May or June when the West Tower is taken offline. In September, the East Tower will see work. While offline the village will use temporary pneumatic storage tanks to maintain water pressure in the village.
•Heard that the village is negotiating to purchase a used snow plow/dump truck from an area township for $30,000.
•Learned that street spraying and sweeping will take place in late April or early May.
•Set Spring Cleanup for the weekend of May 20.