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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2010 BARROW JOURNAL PAGE 9A Auburn discusses bonuses for employees NEW ENGLAND TOUR Faye Simmons took the Barrow Journal along during a one-week cruise to New England recently. Donations continued from 1A BY LORIN SINN-CLARK Christmas will come early for City of Auburn employees when they receive a one-time pay bonus on December 17 in recognition of their “dedica tion and commitment in sav ing thousands of dollars” dur ing the past fiscal year. The city council discussed a $250 “across the board” bonus at the Nov. 18 and will sign a resolu tion to make the payments at the Dec. 2 meeting. There was discussion, how ever, about $250 being too high or too low. Longtime citizen watchdog John Nelms called the $250 “too little, too late — after taxes there won’t be much left.” He suggested a 2-2.5 per cent across the board pay raise instead, saying, “that would show your commitment to the employees.” Peggy Langley said she “had a problem with” the city’s one part-time employee, getting the same amount the 46 full-time employees were to get and proposed that the part-timer get “half.” That employee is downtown development coor dinator Sherrie Miller. City Administrator Ron Griffeth said “that particular part-time employee works 30 or more hours a week and is here all the time.” Dorissa Shackelford sug gested paying Miller “three- fourths” in recognition of the 30 hours, “if this is going to be an issue.” Griffeth said giving a 2.5 percent across the board raise to all employees would cost $50,000 and would not be as equitable as the across the board $250 because higher paid employees would receive more money. He also said the supplements will cost the city $11,750 and are possible because the city spends 37 percent on per sonnel, which is “below the norm.” The cost has been “worked into the existing bud get” and the supplements will come from each department’s regular employee and overtime accounts. Mayor Linda Blechinger said city leaders “talked about this” early in the budget year and had hoped to make it hap pen, adding, “I am very happy to be able to do this for our employees.” YOUTH BASKETBALL LEAGUE The council gave a nod to spending $4,320 to rent the Auburn Elementary gym nasium for four hours on 12 Saturdays beginning in early January for a new Youth Basketball League. The request was made by parks and leisure services coordinator Tommy Duncan, who said he was hop ing to put together 10-12 teams of 5-12 year olds. Registration forms have already gone out in the schools, he said, and based on calls he’s received, “the interest is there.” The rental fee breaks down to $1,440 for gym rental and $2,880 for 96 custodial hours, which, Duncan said, the school system requires. Based on 128 players paying $75 each, $9,600 in recreation depart ment fees would be generated. Duncan estimated the total cost of the program at $9,040, which includes game officials, player jerseys and trophies. Donna Scouten suggested selling concessions to generate more income. Duncan said he would “have to look into that,” as the school system does not allow food or drinks in the gymnasium. BALL FIELD PROJECT Land clearing is almost com plete at the 20-acre Parks Mill site where ball fields and a new public works facility will be built, public works direc tor David Hawthorne reported. The next step is to start grading, but the city does not have the equipment needed, so, “to get the ball fields built on time,” Hawthorne asked the council to okay renting the necessary heavy equipment from a local contractor. Hawthorne said he has arranged for the city to rent an excavator, two dozers, a compactor and a dump truck from Kenneth Pruitt of KSP Enterprises “at about half the rate he normally leases his equipment out for.” Rents will be paid on an hourly basis, only when the machines are in use and range from $37.50-$75 per hour. Public works employees will provide the labor. When asked for a cost esti mate for the rental, Hawthorne said a “wild guess” would be 15-16 hours per day at $100 per hour. He declined to give a total estimate because “it’s hard to tell what we might run into.” He did say paying a con tractor to do the work would cost $250,000-$300,000. The mayor commended Hawthorne and public works employees on the work they have done so far, using only a mini-dozer, and the council agreed to okay the rental at the December 2 meeting. OTHER BUSINESS: •Closing 4th Avenue for use as a staging area for the 2nd Annual Defenders of Freedom Motorcycle Ride on April 9 was discussed. Final approval will be voted on at the Dec. 2 meet ing, but Blechinger said she was sure event host AMVETS Post 12 could “count on our support.” •In a holiday schedule Griffeth proposed city offices would be closed November 25, 26; December 23-25. Suggested 2011 holidays are; January 1; January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day; Good Friday; Memorial Day and July 4. “I feel a lot better about the way it’s done now,” he said. A spokesman for the state burn foundation said this week that her agency enjoys a good relationship with Barrow County Emergency Services. She said her organization uses the boot-drive proceeds to support two important local programs for chil dren affected by fires — the Children After the Fire pro gram that was launched five years ago by Barrow County Emergency Services and has helped 70 children, and Camp Oo-U-La, a week-long summer camp for young burn victims that is held each sum mer at Winder’s Fort Yargo State Park. TRAINING ISSUES On unrelated matters involving firefighter and EMT training, a spokesman for the Georgia Firefighters Standards & Training Council said his office is satisfied with the steps taken “so far” by Barrow County Emergency Services in response to train ing records deficiencies. “This is an ongoing pro cess where Barrow County is working with us and we are satisfied at this point in time,” said executive director Lyn Pardue. According to a response to his agency that was submit ted Nov. 9 by interim chief John Skinner, the fire depart ment from Nov. 9-11 had outside evaluators conduct mandatory “core competen cy” evaluations on firefight ers whose files were missing some documentation. On another front, Chris Threlkeld, the program direc tor for the Northeast Georgia regional office of EMS/ Trauma, said his inquiry of the fire department’s online EMT refresher course is not complete. But he noted that the review is an “inquiry” and has not reached the stage of being a full-fledged investigation. He said he could not com ment on the progress of the inquiry, though he did note that his staff resources have been significantly impacted by state budget cuts. wm LnjT 'town as (§iL®sa aa®saa^ rnerstone ^oman^are Dr. Nicolas Psomiadis Barrow County's Only Full Time Board Certified OB/GYN Dr. Psomiadis is an Assistant Professor of OB/GYN with the Philedelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. 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