By Leigh Ann Rutledge
FPS Reporter
March 9, 2010
Denied. Case closed?
Former Street Superintendent Bill Grimes was handed a letter by Carrollton Mayor Dave Flanary minutes before the Monday night council meeting began.
The letter, dated March 8, 2010, stated “The Village of Carrollton sick leave conversion policy is set forth in Section 6.03 of the Policy and Procedure Manual. To be eligible for sick leave conversion, the Village administration interprets the policy to require either:
1) retirement from active service with ten years or more of service and eligibility to receive PERS or applicable public retirement benefits; or
2) employees who die who otherwise would qualify above.
Neither of these situations apply to your termination, and the Village administration has determined that because you are not eligible for sick leave conversion under the policy the Village must deny your request.” The letter was signed by Mayor David N. Flanary.
Grimes, who had asked to be on the agenda the previous week, asked council and administration who actually made the decision to deny his sick pay. Grimes told council he has an agreement and emails from his attorney and Clark Battista, village solicitor, claiming if Grimes dropped a law suit against the village, he would receive his sick pay. According to Grimes, terms of the agreement were once both parties signed, Grimes would receive his sick pay and neither party would speak of it again.
Grimes also asked council members if any of them listened to the tape of the pre-disciplinary conference held Oct. 21, 2009. Only Frank Leghart admitted to listening to all five hours. At a previous council meeting, Village Administrator Robert Fowler told council he would make each one a copy of the proceedings, however a computer snag would not allow him to create CDs. Councilman Luke Grimes was able to copy the proceedings onto a flash drive, which allowed any interested member to listen to it.
Grimes stated, “Can this go to a vote by council? I am asking council to do the right thing. I am not asking for something I don’t deserve. “ Grimes reiterated he was never given a chance to speak in his defense and told council if they read his letter to the editor in the FPS, they would know he did not deserve to be fired.
When asked if Battista corresponded with Grimes’ attorney, Battista said yes and advised Grimes to take the letter he received to his attorney and she could call Battista and that would take them to the next step.
“What is the next step?” Grimes asked. “Why would you send me agreements to sign and then turn around and give me this letter?”
If this was an administrative decision, why didn’t someone make the decision a long time ago instead of dragging it out? How do you justify this?”
Grimes received no answers and told council, “I am not here to open old wounds. I just want to settle this and move on with my life.”
Later in the question-answer session, Flanary did admit he “pretty much made the decision” to deny Grimes sick pay and didn’t know much about the “agreement” passing between the attorneys. When asked what he based his decision on, Flanary replied, “I read the policy manual regarding eligibility for PERS retirement.”
When Flanary was questioned whether he or the village administration had suggested if Grimes drop the lawsuit he would receive his sick pay, Flanary said he could not speak for anyone else. Battista said the question was directed to him and he would not answer it.
In an unrelated matter, Fowler asked council for approval to advertise for an engineering firm to conduct a water distribution analysis study with bids due April 5. John Yeager made the motion to allow and Luke Grimes asked Fowler where he would place the advertisement. Fowler told him he has been advertising in Mr. Thrifty. Grimes questioned as to why Fowler didn’t advertise in The Free Press Standard and keep the tax dollars in town? Fowler said price was the issue.
Yeager amended his motion to advertise at the lowest rate and the motion passed. Grimes voted no. After the meeting was adjourned, Fowler gave a copy of the ad to each media representative requesting pricing.
Council woman Mary Ann Miller explained to Fowler, she read the school board minutes on their website and wondered if council minutes could be available on the village website. “We have the website, we might as well use it. It would keep the residents informed,” she said.
Grimes said the website had not been updated with the current council members listed. This discussion led to council questioning administration whether they are actively seeking new business in town. Fowler said he is trying to get new business in the village. They said an area business will begin and could employ up to 30 people, but it is not within village limits. When asked again if they were actively searching for new business, Flanary said no but they have conversations with Wayne Chunat, Carroll County Economic Development director.
In other business, council:
-HEARD from Clerk-Treasurer Judi Noble regarding the office clerk position. The personnel committee is considering leaving the position as part-time with the possibly of full time at a later date. Noble said, “I hope to have some input on the job description for the clerk position since council doesn't’t know what all we do.” She told them the sooner they hire someone, the better.
-APPROVED Carroll Hills to place a sign on the square announcing their information fair. The sign can be in place from March 13 - April 3.
-SCHEDULED a street and alley committee meeting March 22 at 6 p.m. and water sewer at 6:30 p.m.
-GRANTED permission to Carrollton High School Speech & Drama Club to place a sign on the square from March 11 through April 1 for their spring musical.
APPROVED payment of bills totaling $65,260.76 for vendors and $28,066.70 for payroll.
-SET the next council meeting for March 22 at 7 p.m. in council chamber |
