Council tentatively hires James Fry as sanitation commissioner pending wage talks

The Albia City Council moved forward with filling the Sanitation Commissioner position after the hiring committee recommended James Fry.

Merle Regenold reported the committee interviewed two applicants and recommended James Fry. Regenold initially moved to hire Fry, but that motion died for lack of a second. Council and staff then discussed wages and the need to finalize a job description. City Attorney Bob Breckenridge reported wage negotiations were underway for supervisory positions, and department supervisors had partly completed bargaining discussions.

Following that discussion, Regenold moved and Brandon Williams seconded to hire James Fry at his current wage until supervisor wage negotiations conclude and to schedule discussion of the job description for the next council meeting. Fry accepted the tentative offer. Sanitation Commissioner Bill Murphy expressed displeasure earlier when the council first tabled the hiring, but after the subsequent motion Fry remained at his current wage pending the outcome of negotiations.

The council also directed staff to advertise the wastewater operator position and noted Hydro-Clean work should complete by the end of the week. No final long-term wage or job-description decisions were made at the Nov. 16 meeting; supervisors' wage negotiations will affect the final terms.