Friday, December 27, 2002
Language changes are needed in one ordinance since state law forbids in-term pay raises for elected officials.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Six weeks of intense negotiating paid off for village officials and employees, with one minor exception.
Council unanimously approved three-year contracts for the village's 30-plus employees at a special meeting Thursday, offering pay raises across the board for each year.
One ordinance, however, dealing with pay raises for the elected positions of mayor, treasurer and city clerk, was tabled until the Jan. 10 meeting to allow council to make some changes in the wording of the legislation.
Councilman William Dray said the ordinance needed to be amended to clarify a January 2004 date for the increases to take effect, as well as to make other minor changes.
Law Director Paul Dutton explained to council the language changes were necessary, since Ohio law forbids elected officials from receiving pay raises midterm.
Council passed legislation, though, that gives employees in the clerk's office, streets department, planning and zoning and parks, buildings and grounds departments 4-percent raises the first and second years and a 3-percent raise the third year.
Council negotiated the same percentage increases for union employees in the police and fire departments.
All of the current contracts with village employees expire Tuesday.
Internet cable access
Council also approved legislation to equip the police and fire departments with cable access to the Internet through an agreement with Time Warner.
Currently, the village's seven departments rely on dial-up access through dedicated phone lines. The new plan will give faster connections and better security to the safety forces at a monthly cost of about $160.
Councilwoman Karen Jones was the only dissenting vote, saying she was opposed to a portion of the contract that requires the village to spend additional money after the first year of the five-year agreement for router maintenance. The router allows several computers to use the same line at the same time.
In the life of the contract, the maintenance fees would amount to more than $950.
"For that kind of money, we could buy a new router every year," she said.
Councilman D. James London, who sponsored the bill, said the village retains the right to cancel the contract after the first year, but as written, the agreement locks the company and the village into the quoted price for the full five years.
The village's other departments will continue to use dial-up access for Internet connections. Currently, the village uses three Internet providers.
slshaulis@vindy.com