Roachdale council freezes salaries for 2010

ROACHDALE -- Roachdale town council members passed an ordinance freezing town employee salaries for 2010 during their Tuesday night meeting.

"We've got to look at it this way; you have to have a cap sometime. A lot of businesses have caps now. It's a touchy subject. We hate to do it, but we can come back later with everyone's salary except the town clerk's," said Board President Bill Long.

Council members also discussed the gas rate increase coming up in 2010. The first increase will come in the January billing for the December usage. It will be implemented in three phases with a new phase every six months. An ordinance will be written and approved before January.

Town Clerk Martha Louk told the group that she had a number of complaints about people parking in handicap spots who were not handicapped. Particular issues are in front of the bank and post office.

Town Marshal Mike MaHoy was asked to contact people and ask them not to park in these areas.

MaHoy asked the council to change his cell phone plan from Nextel to AT&T.

"My Nextel has no service. Making the change would actually save some money. There are more minutes and unlimited text. I can get rid of my pager and that saves $20 too," said MaHoy.

The council approved the change to plan that now will cost about $90 rather than the current $109 or more a month. Bill Long abstained from the vote due to his background with a local telephone company.