By Anne Scheck
MINET BONUSES NIXED BY BOARD; MANAGER SAYS REWARDS NEEDED
A move to reward MINET employees with bonuses was voted down Thursday by a majority of the company’s board of directors in the wake of a revenue-earning milestone by the municipal fiberoptic company. For the first time in many years, MINET is scheduled to make its full debt payment this June – without the addition of any city subsidies, according to a report presented at the board meeting.
Despite the improved financial picture, two different resolutions that would have given cash rewards to the company’s personnel – one for more than $80,000 to be divided among personnel, then a second one that would have slashed that sum to slightly less than half the original amount – went down to defeat. Board member Chris Lopez, a Monmouth city councilor, had offered the second resolution after the first one received a resounding no-vote.
All members of the board from Independence, including City Manager Tom Pessemier and former Independence city councilor Michael Hicks, voted against awarding the bonuses.
Most of the board members, including Polk County Treasurer Steve Milligan, voiced reluctance to approve the bonuses – reasons ranged from a shaky, pandemic-associated economy to the idea that a salary structure, not periodic bonus money, is a more effective way to reward the work force.
Following the vote, MINET’s general manager, Don Patten, said the company was determined to find “an appropriate and acceptable method in valuing the very employees who make all of its success happen, financially as well with words – and to do so promptly.”
However, any remaining money after the debt service is paid this June will be applied to the October debt-service payment, according to John Cooper, MINET’s finance director. “That does not mean it will completely ‘fill in’ the entire October payment, but it will help,” Cooper said.
In past years, MINET has relied on the cities to help make its debt payments. In Independence, that has been financed from allocations by the city’s water-and-sewer fund, where part of the billing to customers has been earmarked for this purpose.
PUBLIC RESPONSE NEEDED FOR TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Public response and reaction is requested for a proposed transportation system plan that now ranks certain projects as “high-priority,” ranging from an extension of E Street all the way to the city limits to the proposed means for traffic mitigation on intersections of Main and Monmouth, as well as Main and Polk Streets.
So far, a new and much-needed east-west major arterial hasn’t been designated high-priority, but it’s considered an important part of the plan, according to a report at the most recent Independence City Council meeting – it would provide a heavily trafficked, higher capacity thoroughfare. In contrast, the E Street extension would be built for connectivity, lighter traffic, with a low-to-moderate capacity, affirmed Matt Bell, the senior planner for Kittlelson & Associates, the consultant on the project. If a bridge over Ash Creek becomes part of the E Street extension, it would probably be similar to the one currently being designed for the replacement of the F Street Bridge, he said.
Check the link below for how to give feedback:
http://www.independencetsp.com/?fbclid=IwAR2QPmDWOTQBZlu-ltD43WSZrLPAKvEwSTD3t9lvzG7irEJDujRqHv5FUNU
RAISE FOR MINET GENERAL MANAGER, CITY MANAGER
MINET General Manager Don Patten received a 12% raise in a unanimous vote by the company’s board of directors last week, though one member abstained from being included in the ballot.
Patten had not received a raise for the previous two years, 2019 and 2020, according to his salary history referenced at the meeting. The cost-of-living raises given to him during that period – of two percent – were below the actual COLA rate of between two-to-three percent, according to the salary record.
The salary increase is the second one for a manager in the past few months. Independence City Manager Tom Pessemier was awarded a 10% increase by the Independence city council in December, in a tie vote that was decided when Mayor John McArdle cast the deciding yes vote. However, a short time later, Pessemier announced he would accept only a five percent raise plus COLA of 2.8% – refusing the additional 2.2% due to consideration of the current economic impacts of covid.
Several members of the community privately expressed gratitude and appreciation for Pessemier’s actions after he returned some of his salary increase – some said they remembered meeting him at special events, which apparently ranged from block parties at the last 4th of July to previous winter holiday festivities.
American cities and towns have been reported to be in financial stress during the pandemic or are expected to experience it this year, according to recent surveys, including an analysis by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and a study by the Brookings Institution.
MINET BONUSES NIXED BY BOARD; MANAGER SAYS REWARDS NEEDED
A move to reward MINET employees with bonuses was voted down Thursday by a majority of the company’s board of directors in the wake of a revenue-earning milestone by the municipal fiberoptic company. For the first time in many years, MINET is scheduled to make its full debt payment this June – without the addition of any city subsidies, according to a report presented at the board meeting.
Despite the improved financial picture, two different resolutions that would have given cash rewards to the company’s personnel – one for more than $80,000 to be divided among personnel, then a second one that would have slashed that sum to slightly less than half the original amount – went down to defeat. Board member Chris Lopez, a Monmouth city councilor, had offered the second resolution after the first one received a resounding no-vote.
All members of the board from Independence, including City Manager Tom Pessemier and former Independence city councilor Michael Hicks, voted against awarding the bonuses.
Most of the board members, including Polk County Treasurer Steve Milligan, voiced reluctance to approve the bonuses – reasons ranged from a shaky, pandemic-associated economy to the idea that a salary structure, not periodic bonus money, is a more effective way to reward the work force.
Following the vote, MINET’s general manager, Don Patten, said the company was determined to find “an appropriate and acceptable method in valuing the very employees who make all of its success happen, financially as well with words – and to do so promptly.”
However, any remaining money after the debt service is paid this June will be applied to the October debt-service payment, according to John Cooper, MINET’s finance director. “That does not mean it will completely ‘fill in’ the entire October payment, but it will help,” Cooper said.
In past years, MINET has relied on the cities to help make its debt payments. In Independence, that has been financed from allocations by the city’s water-and-sewer fund, where part of the billing to customers has been earmarked for this purpose.
PUBLIC RESPONSE NEEDED FOR TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Public response and reaction is requested for a proposed transportation system plan that now ranks certain projects as “high-priority,” ranging from an extension of E Street all the way to the city limits to the proposed means for traffic mitigation on intersections of Main and Monmouth, as well as Main and Polk Streets.
So far, a new and much-needed east-west major arterial hasn’t been designated high-priority, but it’s considered an important part of the plan, according to a report at the most recent Independence City Council meeting – it would provide a heavily trafficked, higher capacity thoroughfare. In contrast, the E Street extension would be built for connectivity, lighter traffic, with a low-to-moderate capacity, affirmed Matt Bell, the senior planner for Kittlelson & Associates, the consultant on the project. If a bridge over Ash Creek becomes part of the E Street extension, it would probably be similar to the one currently being designed for the replacement of the F Street Bridge, he said.
Check the link below for how to give feedback:
http://www.independencetsp.com/?fbclid=IwAR2QPmDWOTQBZlu-ltD43WSZrLPAKvEwSTD3t9lvzG7irEJDujRqHv5FUNU
RAISE FOR MINET GENERAL MANAGER, CITY MANAGER
MINET General Manager Don Patten received a 12% raise in a unanimous vote by the company’s board of directors last week, though one member abstained from being included in the ballot.
Patten had not received a raise for the previous two years, 2019 and 2020, according to his salary history referenced at the meeting. The cost-of-living raises given to him during that period – of two percent – were below the actual COLA rate of between two-to-three percent, according to the salary record.
The salary increase is the second one for a manager in the past few months. Independence City Manager Tom Pessemier was awarded a 10% increase by the Independence city council in December, in a tie vote that was decided when Mayor John McArdle cast the deciding yes vote. However, a short time later, Pessemier announced he would accept only a five percent raise plus COLA of 2.8% – refusing the additional 2.2% due to consideration of the current economic impacts of covid.
Several members of the community privately expressed gratitude and appreciation for Pessemier’s actions after he returned some of his salary increase – some said they remembered meeting him at special events, which apparently ranged from block parties at the last 4th of July to previous winter holiday festivities.
American cities and towns have been reported to be in financial stress during the pandemic or are expected to experience it this year, according to recent surveys, including an analysis by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and a study by the Brookings Institution.
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