Council weighs health insurance costs and pay for prospective DPW hire

Council discussion on May 11 focused on the fiscal impact of health insurance for a prospective Department of Public Works hire.

The minutes record an annual premium of $12,312.36 for the new hire's health insurance. Council members identified $5,100 in possible cuts to the current budget and proposed a $100 weekly payroll deduction from the new employee's pay (approximately $5,200 annually) to share costs; together those offsets would leave the village covering about $2,012.36. The same discussion recorded a proposed pay rate of $25.00 an hour for the position.

The discussion occurred amid other DPW updates: the backhoe requires major repairs and will be out of commission for roughly a month, and the dump truck also needs work though staff said it could be kept running through the summer. A meeting with a prospective new DPW employee and the HR committee was scheduled for May 14 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss job details. The president's report also noted a pending public meeting to answer questions about Bridge Street and the culvert, to include the County Drain Commissioner and Chain Link Bridge Project representatives.

Next steps recorded in the minutes: the council scheduled further personnel discussion and an HR meeting to finalize hiring details; no formal pay or benefit commitments beyond the recorded proposal were adopted at the May 11 meeting.