The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

All facets of staffing at Hartley's new pool took center stage on Monday during the city council's meeting.

The council hired Pam Mohni as manager at a salary of $9,270, plus $10 per hour for teaching swimming lessons. Mohni, who has served as the pool manager for several years, was the lone applicant for the position.

Additionally, the council discussed lifeguard wages. The initial starting wage of $8.50 has been advertised recently, with the city responsible for covering training and certification costs.

Members mulled whether to increase the starting wage. According to discussion, Sheldon and Sioux Center offer $10 an hour, while other area communities pay a wage similar to Hartley.

Ultimately, the council tabled the issue and opted to keep things as-is for now. It may increase the starting wage at a future date if there's a shortage of lifeguard applicants; however, City Administrator Erica Haack reported interest has been solid so far.

Discussion about the pool manager and lifeguard pay was mundane compared to a debate over a 25-cent wage increase for employees Andrew Petty and Adam Lux, who recently obtained their Certified Pool Operator (CPO) certifications to run the pool's internal equipment. Council Member Mary Westphalen believed the CPO was part of the pair's regular job duties and didn't think the quarter raise was necessary.

"It's never been done in the past," Westphalen said. "We can say no once in a while. It's always yes, yes, yes, yes. Yep you can have this – yep, yep, yep, yep. We have to tighten our budget."

Council Member Roxann Swanson noted the city needs employees with CPOs to operate the new pool, and she believed Petty and Lux should be rewarded for improving their job qualifications.

"Employees improve themselves and get certifications that they need in order to do their job, and it's funded by their employer," Swanson said. "When we have our employees do these certifications, I think they do need to be rewarded for doing that. It encourages them to improve themselves and continue to move forward."

SENTINEL-NEWS FILE PHOTO

Barring unforseen delays, Hartley's new pool is slated to open June 1. Work started last summer and continued throughout the winter.

Westphalen said the employees should be rewarded in June, when the council approves annual wage hikes. Swanson said that, too, has become a battle in recent years, and believed the council shouldn't get hung up on the quarter raise if the public works department is still working within its budget.

"Why have a budget if we're not going to work within the budget?" she asked. "That's the point of it."

Ultimately, the council approved Petty and Lux's 25-cent wage hike on a 3-2 vote. Westphalen and Council Member Nick Galm voted no.

"I can see it both ways," said Galm.

It was also decided that the Personnel Committee, comprised of Swanson and Council Member Ron Hengeveld, would meet with department heads to fine tune job descriptions and determine what constitutes a raise and what doesn't.