By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

Nine months from now, Russellville aims to be a more competitive employer, retaining the best people in positions throughout the city.

At its meeting Tuesday, the council approved work with Center of Governmental Services at Auburn University to do the following: update and develop a personnel policies and procedures manual; write new job descriptions; evaluate jobs and recommend pay grade classifications; and provide new pay level recommendations for a complete organizational pay plan.

“It’s something they say we should look at every five years,” Mayor David Grissom said.

The suggestion for this plan of action came from Councilman David Palmer, who said the county completed this process a few years ago. “(Policies) need to be revisited every so often,” said Palmer, adding that this action, which will cost the city up front, should actually save the city money over time.

Grissom said as part of the process, the group will analyze the pay rates of employees in different positions, such as police officer, in the cities around Russellville, “so we’ll be very competitive moving forward.”

“We’re becoming a training grounds for a lot of people,” Grissom said. “I can kind of see why.” Grissom pointed out that although 5 percent raises have been given to employees freely over the years, that increase has never been applied to the base salary listed in the city’s personnel policies and procedures manual. “It’s going to be up to us going forward to try to fix this,” Grissom said.

The work was approved at a cost to the city of $29,113.

The city council also approved changes to the nuisance ordinance that will make it stricter and – ideally – more effective. The changes include reducing the number of days to elapse between notifying someone of the offense and issuing a ticket and court date, as well as implementing a new set of fines.

In a special called meeting June 12, the city approved moving forward to apply for state funds to rebuild Hal Kirby Park, damaged in the recent flash flooding.

The city was aided in preparing the necessary documentation be Keith Jones and Marilyn Smith with the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments.

“We’ve got great community support for this project,” said Grissom. The city managed to get 800 signatures on a petition, required as part of the application process, in a matter of six days.

The city approved – as part of its application for a CDBG for the maximum amount of $250,000 – $55,000 of in-kind work.

Rebuilding at Hal Kirby will mean a great deal of upgrading the community park. Features will include a new press box/bathroom/concession stand building; concrete walkways; chain link fencing; a new field designed for T-ball; and underground electrical lighting.

“It’s just a very important part of our entire community,” Grissom said. “So many people have played there. Their children have played there; their grandchildren have played there. It’s just a special place to a lot of people. It’s kind of like a landmark.”