As city officials say they’d like to do more for the city’s lowest paid workers, Springfield City Council members June 23 unanimously approved a bill that grants a 1 percent pay increase to city employees and allows merit raises up to 3 percent.
The city budgeted $1.5 million from the general fund for the raises in fiscal 2015, and the minimum pay increase will begin with the July 17 paychecks, said Springfield Human Resources Director Sheila Maerz. She said additional money would come out of enterprise funds to pay for wage increases at independently operated city entities, such as the Springfield-Branson National Airport and the Springfield Art Museum. City department heads had asked for $9.1 million to cover pay increases in the fiscal 2015 budget, but those requests were denied.
The new pay schedule does not pertain to City Utilities’ employees, but it does cover employees on the city’s law enforcement pay schedule, after council approved a substitute bill with such language. When the original salary ordinance was introduced June 9, the Springfield Police Officers’ Association had yet to agree to the proposal.
Maerz said the substitute bill was the outcome of ongoing collective bargaining discussions. “The original council bill only provided merit steps and across-the-board [raises] for certain grades on the law enforcement schedule. This amendment will provide for merit steps and across-the-board for all positions on the LES,” she said.
Before the vote, Councilman Craig Hosmer expressed concern that raises weren’t more targeted to make low-wage positions more competitive with peers in other communities. But Maerz and City Manager Greg Burris said the three labor groups that negotiate pay adjustments would need to sign off on such a strategy.
Burris has said he wanted to find ways to improve wages for all city employees, particularly those with the least competitive salaries.
“Years ago, a goal was set to establish the city’s salaries in the ‘middle third’ of salary surveys,” Burris said at the June 9 meeting. “Based upon our most recent salary survey, a few of our positions were in the middle third, and that’s great, but many more of our positions were in the bottom third of the comparison. In fact, some of our positions are more than 40 percent below market.”
Maerz said the majority of city employees are represented by one of the three employment groups: the police association, the International Association of Fire Fighters and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
“A large percentage of our employees are part of a bargaining unit,” she said.
Maerz said while the associations for police officers and fire fighters have tentatively agreed to the terms in the salary ordinance, the municipal employee group has declined to begin the collective bargaining process.
Burris has said budget adjustments could be made in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, depending on the outcome of labor negotiations.
Neosho winner Despite voices of opposition, council awarded a $1.3 million contract to Neosho-based general contractor Branco Enterprises Inc. for construction of a clean-water operations facility.
Darrin Teaford, a project manager at Springfield contractor Mechanical Services Inc., said at a June 9 public hearing his firm’s nearly $1 million bid should have been more favorable.
At that meeting, Springfield Planning and Development Director Ralph Rognstad said Branco was selected by city staff to lead the project based on experience with similar projects. Teaford said the company had submitted such information, but Rognstad said staff didn’t feel it had met the guidelines outlined in the request for proposal. According to the explanation in the bill, Mechanical Services had not “completed at least one project of similar size and scope within the last three years.”
Before the June 23 vote, Councilmen Mike Carroll and Craig Fischel said they felt the Springfield firm deserved a shot to build the facility that is helping the city meet operational needs as it replaces aging wastewater infrastructure.
“The cost savings are just too great to overlook,” Carroll said.
Branco Enterprises was awarded the job with a 5-2 vote. Both Carroll and Fischel voted against the bill, and Mayor Bob Stephens and Councilman Jeff Seifried were absent.
South Oaks rezoning Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) requested a rezoning of 1.2 acres at the South Oaks Centre on South Campbell Avenue to make way for a Murphy Oil USA convenience store and fueling station.
Approved by the city Planning and Zoning Commission on June 5, the rezoning to a highway commercial district would permit a gas station at the northeast corner of the shopping center at Campbell and Walnut Lawn. City planner Rognstad said the current planned development does not allow for a gas station on the property.
City staff recommends approval and no members of the public spoke to the proposal. Council is slated to vote on the ordinance July 7.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
