Ordinance Amendment Tabled; Employee Insurance Contract OK’d

at a special called meeting Tuesday tabled a proposed amendment to the city’s new anti-nepotism ordinance—a change aimed at providing a more specific definition of fraternization as spelled out in the policy.

City Attorney Glen Stinson during the meeting said he had not seen a copy of the proposed amendment until arriving at city hall Tuesday evening. That led Councilwoman Earlene Graham to propose tabling the amendment until it could be reviewed—a move agreed upon by the council.

The current ordinance, approved during a Jan. 4 called meeting, discourages fraternization between employees due to the “high possibility of undesirable consequences of ramifications for both the employees involved and the City,” according to the ordinance language. The policy also prohibits fraternization between a department head or supervisor and an employee they directly or indirectly supervise. The entire ordinance is attached to this article.

Councilmen gave the green light to enter into a new contract with Shaw Hankins to provide insurance for city employees. City Administrator/Clerk Cynthia Geyer says the insurance plan provides the same features as last year’s insurance plan under Shaw Hankins, but with an increase in deductible, from $500 to $1,000. The change represents a reduced cost to the city of $150,000.

The meeting also saw councilmen approve a council meeting calendar for 2012. Regular sessions will be held at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month with a few exceptions. Next month’s regular session will be held on Feb. 14 as Geyer and Police Chief Gary Yandura will be attending on Feb. 7 conferences relating to their respective jobs. March’s meeting will be pushed to the 13th of the month as .

The council will meet Sept. 11 as the first day of the month comes right after the Labor Day holiday.

Also under the meeting calendar, work sessions will typically be held on the Thursday preceding the next Tuesday’s meeting.