The Dalton City Council will have to again hold the first reading of a measure that would allow some retirees to come back and work part time for the city without having their pension benefits halted.
The council meets Monday at 6 p.m in council chambers in City Hall.
Council members held a first reading of the measure at their May 2 meeting.
“We found that we had to reword it,” said Mayor David Pennington. “Since we reworded it, we are going to have to hold the first reading again. We’ll vote on it in two weeks (from Monday).”
Under the city’s current pension plan rules, if retirees come back to work for the city their pension benefits have to be suspended until they leave city employ again.
At the May 2 meeting, Human Resources Director Greg Batts said the city is having the same issues filling positions as other employers.
City Administrator Andrew Parker said finding and keeping employees with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) has a been a particular problem and it will only get worse with new, more extensive training requirements to obtain a CDL.
Those who already have a CDL have been exempted from the new requirements. Parker said that means retirees who have a CDL can step into roles without those requirements.
Batts said retirees would be limited to 16 hours each week. If they go above that, their pension would be frozen.
Pennington said the city administrator would have to sign off each time a retiree is brought back.
Council members are expected to vote Monday on:
• A $37,303.97 contract with Grade 1 Underground of Dalton to install a fire hydrant at Dalton Municipal Airport. Ninety percent of the cost of the project would be funded by a federal grant. The city’s share will be $3,730.40.
• A change to the city charter that would increase the number of years the council can lease city property to 35 years from five years.
The discussion about expanding the time period the city can lease property for first came up in discussions about the Municipal Airport. Officials said building new hangars and other structures at the airport is expensive, and no one is willing to make that sort of investment if they can lease the property underneath the structure for only five years.
