Centerville approves employee pay raises

Employees of the City of Centerville’s Water & Sewer and Streets Departments are now enjoying an increase in salary thanks to Centerville Mayor and Council.

Mike Brumfield, Director of Operations for Centerville’s Utility Department, brought the request before Mayor John Harley and members of council during Tuesday night’s regular council meeting on February 1.

“Some time back, we talked about how we were not able to fill positions in the water and sewer and the streets departments,” Brumfield reminded council. “Mayor and Councilman Armijo asked us—myself and Ms. Carol—to look at this and see what we could come up with.” He went on to say, “What we have done is change our hiring rate… from a 10-1 to a 13-1, which is a $19,794 difference in the budget, but Ms. Carol and I feel like our budget will sustain the overrun on that.

“The same with the street department,” Brumfield continued. “It changed that budget $4,254.33. With the new hiring rate, we’ll need to change seven of our existing employees who are still below that new rate, and that’s what causes the increases in the budget currently. We ask that mayor and council adopt this new rate to hire.”

It was further explained that the pay increase would retroactively take affect, with the start date of it being January 26, 2022. Two current employees of the street department and five in the water and sewer department will benefit from this change in the pay scale. Additionally, Brumfield mentioned it would be applied to one open position in the street department and three positions that need to be filled in water and sewer.

“This really is not uncommon,” said Councilman Edward Armijo during council’s discussion of the matter. “Because of the difficult time in retention for, not just our city, but other cities in other environments. It’s definitely a great move, and I’m glad that you all were able to get together and come up with a solution,” he told Brumfield.

“We want to hire good employees,” added Councilman Micheal Evans, “and this is what it’s going to take.”

Mayor Harley pointed out, “Our goal is to increase as much as we can, but we also have to keep in mind that we’re paying their insurance. A lot of people will hire for, let’s say, $15 an hour, but they have no insurance coverage.”

After the brief discussion, which included Attorney Rebecca Tydings explaining the pay scale classes to Centerville’s newest councilman, Bob Byrd, the requested increase was given unanimous approval by council.

During the time that the floor was open for public comments, Scout Master Lou Napolitano (of Centerville Boy Scout Troop 100) invited mayor and council to attend a February 3 Eagle presentation at the Lion’s Club. The troop has found a new home there after Centerville Methodist Church chose not to re-charter the troop.

“The Lion’s Club stepped in and took over for us,” Napolitano shared. “It’s going to be a short one because most of the stuff we had in our old building at the Methodist church is still in storage,” he said of the February 3 meeting. “But we’re going to have a good time. [Councilman] Ed [Armijo] is going to be there with his grandsons. It’s going to be a good day. We just want to let you know that we’re still up and going and we’re still looking for Eagle Scout projects.”

In his remarks following Napolitano’s announcement and invitation, Mayor Harley said, “You’ve been a pillar of the community as far as scouting is concerned, for the city of Centerville over the many years since I’ve been around. I really appreciate all that you do and the people who work with you. Thank you, sir.”

In other business Police Chief Cedric Duncan approached the podium to discuss a resolution to replace one of the department’s trucks.

“The 2011 GMC is the animal control truck that we are currently using,” Duncan explained. “The truck is 11 years old and it’s best to go ahead and get rid of it now so that we get another one. We did get a $2,500 trade-in value for it through Branham, and that will offset some of the cost of the other one. It is ready to be picked up.”

It was shared that the truck would be sold “as-is” with equipment, and the new truck that will be obtained will come already fully equipped. The dog cage in the old vehicle will be installed in the new one at no cost.

Council gave this resolution its unanimous approval.

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