Fort Oglethorpe hourly employees will get a 75 cents an hour raise. Half the salaried staff will receive a 1 percent pay hike, and half will get no raise, city officials said.
The City Council came to the decision after a second closed-door session on employee pay hikes.
“I don’t have a vote,” City Manager Ron Goulart said. “I assume council members thought this was the direction to take to close a gap between salaried and hourly employees.”
He noted his projected budget developed last fall for the 2008 fiscal year projected a 3 percent raise for all city employees.
“Some of my supervisors aren’t very happy,” Mr. Goulart said. “I hate it because I asked them to watch their budgets closely to hold down costs and make the proposed salary hike possible. I depend on these department heads and supervisors for the smooth daily operation of our city.”
He said he proposed a 3 percent pay increase based on an inflation rate of about 3 percent in 2007, and the 2008 inflation rates have been higher.
Councilman Steve Brandon said supervisors receiving no salary increase at this time received “substantial increases of several thousand dollars in 2007.”
Council members also heard proposals for increased fees at the city’s new swimming pool when it opens this season. Recreation Director Jeff Long said the increase would be the first since 2003.
The proposed daily rate will go from $3 to $4. A season pass for a family of five will be $150 for residents and $225 for nonresidents. A two-hour pool party at night, after regular pool hours, will be $125 for up to 25 participants.
The council during its work session discussed the proposed $1 million LaFayette Road streetscape project and intersection upgrades from Thomas Road to Harker Road.
Mayor Ronnie Cobb said a survey of merchants in the project area 10 years ago found business owners were very interested in the streetscape proposal.
“The next thing we knew someone raised opposition and the city had to move that streetscape project to Battlefield Parkway or lose the funding,” he said. “If you apply for a streetscape grant, receive it, fail to use funds and send them back, you can forget being actively considered in the next grant application cycle.”
Arcadis planner Terry Reynolds said the project can be tweaked, but major changes at this stage would be a problem.
He said the plan includes 70 new parking spaces for merchants on the west side of a narrowed LaFayette Road.
“A two-lane road with a turn lane is more than adequate for the current level of traffic,” Mr. Reynolds said.
Mr. Cobb said state officials have told him the time is past for any major change to the project.
“We must have the designs complete and bids in on the project by early January 2009, or we will lose the funding,” the mayor said.
