BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
The Union County Board of Commissions met Dec. 18, 2023 for its regular monthly meeting and, for the first time in several months, there was very little public comment and the meeting went quickly.
Patricia Burkel was the sole member of the public to speak, and she made objection to an item on the evening’s agenda concerning policy changes and compression back pay. Although she is a county employee, she said she was speaking as a citizen of the county in making her comments. Her main objection was to the fact that the proposed changes and actions were not posted on the county website for the benefit of county residents prior to the meeting and also said she found the compression raises with back pay were “a bit excessive.”
The raises in question were to Board Secretary Diane Hannon and Building Department Denise Clemons, who had been omitted from the county-wide compression raises when they were granted in January. Both county employees had received only the 2022 COLA (cost of living adjustment) raises a few months before the compression raises were put into effect. They were two of five county employees who did not receive a compression raise in January.
The purpose of the raises were to bring all county employees up to the $15 per hour minimum wage (effective in 2026). Originally the five employees (Hannon, Clemons, Pamela Toney, Vickie Barron and Burkel) had all been deemed to be paid fairly when their pay after the 2022 COLA fell within the range for employees with comparable jobs and all were making at least $15 per hour at that time. Burkel questioned why she did not get a compression raise and was granted one As a result of her questions she was granted a compression raise of $0.54 per hour and was given back pay to Jan. 1, 2023. Motion was made by Commissioner Willie Croft and seconded by Commissioner Jimmy Tallman to grant retroactive compression raises (with back pay to Jan.1, 2023) of $0.50 per hour to Hannon and Clemons, and the motion passed the board unanimously. Barron and Toney had previously been approved for compression raises, with Toney receiving a $1.95 per hour raise and Barron receiving $2.01 per hour, both with back-pay.
The change to the personnel policy on the agenda was a clarification of the policy concerning holiday pay for county employees. According to the clarification, all full time county employees will receive eight straight hours of holiday pay at their base pay rate. Full time collection site employees will receive holiday pay only for hours they are scheduled to work on a holiday (the work nine hour shifts, not eight hours as do other county employees. The county’s single (at this time) scheduled part time employee will receive holiday time as per the regular schedule, while call time employee are not eligible to receive holiday pay. Motion was made by Croft and seconded by Commissioner Mac Johns to approve the clarification and the motion passed unanimously.
In other business and discussion the Union County Commission:
- Approved a payment of $10 to J.R. Davies for the land he donated to the county near Sara’s Park. It seems that Davis’ tax consultant felt that it would be better if the county purchased the land rather than take it as a donation.
- Honored the Union County Volunteer Fire Fighter of the Year for 3034. Jim Rooney has been with the county fire department for 18 years. Johns said that Rooney was “a big asset to the community, the fire department and his fellow firefighters. He is always there when we call.”
- Heard a report from County Coordinator Jimmy Williams concerning some trees that require removal at the Harmony property/ballfields. Williams said that there were not many trees and he had tried to find a company that would pay the county for the wood, rather than require being paid for the removal and that the best offer he had received was from Gary Williams who would do the job and pay the county $5 a ton for pulp wood and $10 a ton for chip wood. He asked the commissioners if they wanted him to see about getting a better price but the board chose to approve the individual and payment he had outlined to them.
- Heard a request from Williams that Personnel Director Michaela Clemons be issued a county credit card for use in paying for background checks and for expenses at conferences. He said it was proving to be difficult for her to use his card and it often led to confusion with the hotels when both attended a conference. Commissioner Mac Johns told Clemons that she could always contact one of the board members directly if she encountered an issue in the use of the card and made motion to approve getting her a card. The motion passed unanimously.
- Unanimously approved a design exception/variation on the plans for the work on CR-18. It seems that Clay Electric has some utility poles already in place on SR-121 at the end of the road that are right at the edge of the planned 18 foot clear zone.
- Heard comments from Williams that the plans and engineering for the Providence Fire Station are complete and have been sent to Tallahassee for review and approval. Once the approval has been given the county can advertise for bids on the project, so construction should be able to begin in early 2024.
- Heard another report from Williams that Florida Power and Light (FPL) has agreed to pay $10,500 for some software that will improve the communication between code enforcement, the building department and the property appraisers office, as well as in assisting the for county residents to pay for building permits online. The money will reimburse the cost to the county for the software and the first three years or use. After the three years the cost to the county will be $3,000 per year but Williams said he will look for grant funds to pay for it.
