BY DAVID JOHNSON
CITY OF MERRILL, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
The Merrill Common Council met on Nov. 9 in the Council Chamber in City Hall.
Among the items on the agenda was a request from Trinity Lutheran Church for a “drop-off” zone on Blaine St. to accommodate their new daycare center in the former Park City Credit Union Building that was recommended by the Board of Public Works. This item was approved.
In an effort to enhance recruiting and retention of city employees, the following vacation schedule was adopted: Accrued during 1 year of continuous service: 80 hours annually. Accrued during 5 years of continuous service: 120 hours annually. Accrued during 10 years of continuous service: 160 hours annually. Accrued during 15 years of continuous service: 208 hours annually. Newly hired employees will be credited with one week of vacation upon hire and any time used will be deducted from the first six months of accrual. The existing Sick Leave Policy was changed from not being able to utilize sick leave until after six months of continuous employment to Sick Leave may be utilized upon accrual. Leave time is a major factor today in recruiting and retaining employees, especially among younger employees.
A Longevity Pay Policy was approved that states: After five years of continuous employment each non-union employees shall receive an annual longevity payment of $2.50 for each month worked back to their date of employment, to be paid out annually. Thus, for years 1-5 no longevity would be paid. Starting in year six employees would begin receiving $150 for the 60 months they have already worked and this would increase by $2.50 for each subsequent month of employment on an annual basis. There had previously been a longevity pay policy that was rescinded years ago. These changes should make employment with the City more attractive to potential employees and assist in retaining existing employees.
A Public Hearing was held on the proposed 2022 budget for the City of Merrill. There were no questions or statements from the public during the public hearing.
Three ordinances were considered, the first being an ordinance amending Code of Ordinances Chapter 2, Article IV, Section 2-109(b) setting the Street & Weed Commissioner’s annual salary at $4,000, the Aldermanic salary at $4,000 annually, and the Mayor’s salary at $25,000 annually. The Street & Weed Commissioner salary was approved at $4,000 annually, as was the increase in the Mayor’s salary to $25,000. The increase in the Aldermanic salary to $4,000 was voted down. The Second was an ordinance amending Code of Ordinances Chapter 2, Article IV, Section 80 to raise the additional compensation for the Council President to $500, this ordinance amendment was voted down. The third was an ordinance adopting the 2022 City of Merrill Budget and Establishing the Tax Levy for the Year 2021 with the Property Tax Levy set at $5,831,281 and a total budget of $14,109,866, excluding the Landfill, Water Utility, Sewer Utility and TIDs, this ordinance passed by a 5/4 vote with the Mayor breaking a tie vote. As part of the budget discussion a motion was made to remove $100,000 from the Merrill Airport T-Hanger Project and passed. A motion was also made to utilize ARPA funds to purchase 70 acres of land adjacent to the City Forest and was passed.
A resolution was unanimously passed ratifying a labor contract between the City of Merrill and the Merrill Professional Police Association for the period of January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023.
A resolution was passed pertaining to the redistricting of Aldermanic Districts as a result of the 2020 Census and adopting the Ward Map. Although minimal, Merrill residents will find some changes in the boundaries and should check the map on the City website in order to determine if they will see a change in their Ward and where they vote.