Finance committee favors council raises

Without much discussion, the Finance Committee unanimously recommended Tuesday that Town Council get its raises.

The committee also authorized creating the position of information technology technician and discussed buying video conferencing equipment.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, Town Council will formally consider the proposed monthly raises:

- $200, before taxes, for each of the seven council members, bringing their total to $900 per month.

- $300 for the vice mayor ($1,000 per month)

- $400 for the mayor ($1,200 per month).

Council thought it had put the raises in place at a special meeting July 26, but because not all council members were present when the item was added to the agenda, the action violated town code and must be repeated, Town Attorney Bob Bendall later found.

Councilman Chip Coleman, a member of the Finance Committee, said Bendall was present at the July 26 meeting when the raise item was added to the agenda.

“I said, ‘Can we do this?’ and he said ‘Yes,’” Coleman said.

As for the creation of a part-time IT technician, the committee supported making it a full-time post instead, authorizing IT Manager Tonya Estes to develop qualifications for the job.

Final approval of the estimated $37,000-to-$40,000 per year position will be considered at a later date, although Vice Mayor Billy Yowell doubted the town could hire a qualified IT person for that salary.

“It’s going to be hard at that price,” said Estes, the town’s sole IT employee overseeing 107 computers, 12 servers, 130 e-mail accounts, a wireless system, numerous cell phones and Blackberries in addition to new software for the treasurer’s office and Police Department.

Finally, the committee realized the possible benefits of purchasing video teleconferencing equipment in order to cut travel expenses for meetings with the town attorney and other various consultants.

Mayor Pranas Rimeikis felt the video conferencing capabilities of the town’s consultants should be explored before the town committed to the estimated $17,770 expense.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or abrophy@
starexponent.com

To shoot or not to shoot?
Vice Mayor Billy Yowell Tuesday voted against a recommendation from the police chief to do away with special permits for shooting guns in town.

Chief Scott Barlow feels the town has become too congested to allow for the discharging of firearms, as town ordinance allows with a special permit from the town manager.

Barlow said the occasional request comes in to shoot at garden pests in town.

Yowell believes that allowance should remain in place.

“I had a guy tell me he killed 11 groundhogs last year in town,” the vice mayor said, adding that he’s held a special permit to discharge a firearm as well.

“If somebody’s got a varmint, to do it right you’ve got to come get a permit,” Yowell said.

Mayor Pranas Rimeikis agreed with Barlow, saying, “The town is too densely populated to be throwing bullets around.”

He suggested using traps to deal with garden pests.

Consideration of the local law change will go before Town Council at its meeting Aug. 12 for a first reading. A second reading will be held at the Sept. 9 meeting, at which time council could vote to implement the change.