Council nixes own raise, ups mayor's

Expressing their desire to see the mayor get the same 2.5 percent pay raise as her employees at city hall, members of the Greencastle City Council voted Tuesday night to forgo their own $374 raises proposed for next year.

It was suggested, according to the salary ordinance, that Greencastle Mayor Nancy Michael and City Clerk-Treasurer Teresa Glenn each be paid a salary of $45,623 next year and council members receive $4,994 apiece.

Council members ended up changing those figures to reflect a decrease in what was suggested for their own pay, leaving them at $4,620 for next year, while giving the mayor an extra $577 and leaving the clerk-treasurer's salary the same as the proposal.

Some council members said they felt their own salaries for being on the board were too high, while others said they were satisfied with their own pay but wanted to see the mayor get an increase.

In the end, council members Bob Sedlack, Tom Roach, Russ Evans and John Lanie voted to approve the amended ordinance on first reading, while Mark Hammer voted against it.

Hammer told the BannerGraphic he voted against the ordinance because he felt the mayor should have received an even higher raise than was suggested. He also said he was not opposed to the council not receiving a pay raise next year.

Salaries for mayor, clerk-treasurer and council are paid out of three separate funds in the city budget.

Both the mayor's and clerk-treasurer's salary are paid equally out of the general fund, Department of Water Works and Department of Sewage.

The council members' salaries are paid mostly out the general fund with about $600 coming from both the water and sewer departments.

Council members will vote a second, and final time, on the salary ordinance when they meet again in November.

In other business, the council:

-- Approved the first reading of ordinance 2006-13, amending the text of the city's zoning control ordinance. The city plan commission gave the changes a favorable recommendation at their meeting earlier this month.

-- Set trick-or-treat hours in the city for 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 31 (Halloween).

-- Learned that Steve Walters, with the Putnam County Health Department, would address the council at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16 concerning preparedness for pandemic influenza.

The meeting will be open to the public and is anticipated to last about an hour.

The Greencastle City Council meets at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at city hall.