Council authorizes employee bonuses

BELLA VISTA — The City Council, during its Monday regular meeting, unanimously approved a round of employee bonuses for individuals who have worked through the

covid-19 pandemic.

The approved resolution adjusted the 2021 budget by

$86,555 to pay out bonuses to city employees, coming in at

$500 for most employees and

$1,000 for police, with a prorated amount paid to workers who started in 2020.

Mayor Peter Christie said the actual bonuses paid to employees come in a little over $68,000 and the remainder will cover fees, taxes and retirement fund matches.

Council member Doug Fowler said he believes this was the right call to recognize city workers.

It’s worth noting these bonuses are essentially covered by Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act money the city received.

“The city was able to recoup a little over a million dollars in relief funds,” he said. “This isn’t coming out of the city budget per se.”

While the police may, more obviously, be on the front line, he said, it’s worth noting that all city staff has spent the past year at risk. Street workers are out interacting with the public, home inspectors are out meeting with people and there have been covid-19 cases in multiple city departments, including administration, he explained.

“They are just as much at risk,” he said. “It affected every aspect of our day-to-day lives.”

It’s worth noting that none of these bonuses were allocated to elected officials, he added.

The council also approved the purchase of an asphalt zipper.

Christie said the equipment will allow the Street Department to churn the base layer under damaged streets rather than dig it out, haul it out and replace it.

“This is an amazing device that will save us a lot of money when we’re fixing potholes and other portions of the street,” he said.

After churning portions of the road, the mixture of pavement and base layer becomes a new base layer, he said.

“The roller can simply flatten it and then it can be paved,” he said.

The contract to purchase the new piece of road equipment, not to exceed $236,410.50, is through the HGAC cooperative purchasing agreement and city staff expects the tool to pay for itself within the first year, he added.

Council member John Flynn said he’s comfortable with the city investing in a piece of equipment like this.

“Any time you have something that pays for itself in the first year, it’s a wise investment,” he said.

Councilmember Larry Wilms said he agreed that this could save time and money.

The city has a lot of rough streets that can be more easily addressed with a tool like this, he said.

“Those can be readily patched rather than have to dig them out and put in new base there,” he said.

The council also approved the purchase of a new fingerprinting machine and two vehicles for the Police Department, as well as updated data recovery software and hardware.