Council Purchases Excavator

A full board of Monticello City Council members convened last Thursday for special called meeting to review several action items and discuss multiple probable office policies.

Of the five action items listed on the agenda, only one received a vote which was the purchase of a new excavator for the Electric Department. Department Director Mike Boykin said that he has advocated for an excavator for the electric department for a while.

The electric, gas, and water departments had been sharing the city’s two excavators for sometime but the approval of the new purchase will give each department its own highly demanded piece of equipment.

The council discussed a gas department equipment purchase but action on that matter was tabled until October’s regular meeting this week.

With regards to the traffic speed limit changes in the city, council members instructed City Manager LaThaydra Sands to request the posting of 25 miles per hour signs of the Department of Transportation for all residential areas and 45 mph in other areas.

Council also had the Mine Lake property listed as an action item but moved it to executive session for the purpose of real estate with no action taken.

Several policies were discussed—fraternization, office early release, equipment checkout, code of conduct, salary versus hourly pay, and cellphone—but no action was taken on any of them.

The city does not have a fraternization policy noted the city manager. Council member Jenny Murphy mentioned that the city used to employ a husband and wife and asked how would that work.

Some discussion ensued on the office early release as it was relative to recent activities with the office closing for Hurricane Helene. Mayor Pro Tem Doug Currie spoke on the issue with citizen’s losing accesibilty and assistance if the office shuts down early or closes unexpectedly.

Mrs. Sands noted that only happens in the event of major circumstances like disastrous weather. She noted that with Hurricane Helene though the office shut down early, the office phone lines were still operational and forwarded to employees manning them. It was suggested that a weather clause be worked into the policy.

Mr. Boykin spoke on equipment sharing between the electric, gas, and water departments. “We get along good when sharing equipment,” he said and was ecstatic about no longer having to share an excavator. Through discussion, it was determined that the city doesn’t need a checkout policy but rather an equipment checklist for each department.

The electric department director also spoke to the council about salaried versus hourly pay when it comes to extensive overtime hours as with natural weather phenonenons like storms and hurricanes. He said that he had worked six storms, often days on end, with no extra pay as a salaried employee.

He said department heads are salaried and will work those extra needed hours without any question but feel like they should be compensated for such. Council members agreed that some medium could be found for such and that discussions would continue.

The code of conduct policy was tabled until the November work session and the cellphone policy was requested to be simplified.