Council votes to not waive readings on wage increase
Official pinning of Sgt. Anderson
BROKEN BOW - At their April 26 meeting, the Broken Bow City Council voted to not waive the three readings of Ordinance 1260 that would increase the wages of the Mayor and City Council members.
Currently each city council member is paid $2,100 annually and the mayor is paid $6,000. Ordinance 1260 would increase council member payment by $1,400 to $3,500 and mayor salary by $1,500 to $7,500.
In response to a question about how mayoral and council salary increases are handled, City Administrator Dan Knoell clarified that the mayor and council members are chosen by election, however, wages are controlled by ordinance. He further stated there hadn’t been an increase for some time and one is needed to attract qualified people to run for office. “We need people to dive in and run,” he said.
Mayor Sonnichsen said the last wage increase was more than four years ago, not during the previous administration but the one prior to that.
“As we go forward, council members are more involved,” Sonnichsen said. “The president of city council is very involved and dedicates a lot of time after business hours. We have
to make this appealing.”
Administrator Knoell also said the wage increases, if approved, would not be in effect until after the November, 2022 general election.
Council member Larry Miller expressed concern that if readings were waived, there would not be the opportunity for the public to weigh in. He then made the motion to not waive the three readings of the ordinance before considering it for approval. The motion was seconded by Chris Myers. The motion passed with Miller, Myers and David
Baltz voting to not waive the readings and David Schmidt voting to waive the readings.
An official pinning was held for Broken Bow Police Sergeant Chris Anderson. Anderson was promoted to Sergeant on April 18. Chief Steve Scott told the council, “I am confident in Chris Anderson and with his 12 years experience in law enforcement.” Scott said Anderson brings to the position 22 years with the National Guard, supervisor experience and field officer training experience. “He is the right man for the job,” Scott added.
Anderson stated, “I really appreciate the opportunity that Chief Scott and the City has presented me.“
In financial matters, the council approved Resolution 2022-4, Resolution calling NDEE Water Loan D311229 and Ordinance 1259 - Ordinance issuing G.O. Water Refunding Bonds, Series 2022 in an amount not to exceed $925,000. During public hearings on both, Brad Slaughter with Piper Sandler said the resolution and ordinance would give Piper Sandler the option to re-finance loans for the city if a substantial savings could be realized. If a substantial saving could not be realized, the loans would not be re-financed. Slaughter told the council that a savings of $34,000 could possibly realized with savings per Resolution 2022-4.
Present for the meeting were all council members, Miller, Myers, Baltz and Schmidt, along with Mayor Sonnichsen, Administrator Knoell, City Attorney Jason White, City Clerk Kandi Peters and Deputy Clerk Megan Linn.
The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, May 10, 6 p.m., at the Broken Bow Public Library. The meeting will be at the library as the Municipal Auditorium will be an active polling place for the primary election.