DAPHNE, Ala. —Public Works director Richard Johnson approached the finance committee and the council for approval to hire a grounds worker to fill the vacancy caused by a resignation.

The council approved the filling of one position last week, but Johnson has had another resignation, and thus another position he requests filling. A temporary worker currently fills the position while a full-time replacement is found through the application process.

Johnson pleaded his case to the finance committee Monday.

“The grounds department has the highest turnover. The majority of the employees are under $10-an-hour employees. If you make $9.28 an hour and someone offers you $1 more an hour, that is an over 10 percent raise. You are going,” Johnson said. “In my tenure with the city, which is only about eight months, I have seen about a 50 percent turnover in that time period.”

Because of the high turnover rate and the city’s hiring freeze currently in place, Johnson fears he will have to keep coming back before the finance committee and the council to fill the positions he needs filled.

Johnson said the grounds department does essential work for the city, but due to the department’s staffing issues, work is not being done in a timely manner.

“I think there is an economic impact to having a good aesthetic to our community. I know there are some strong considerations on all sides of this but this is a department that is affected by seasonal activity. We have entered into grounds season. The demand is at peak, it will stay that way throughout the summer. We are every day falling behind. As soon as that number in the grounds department drops down to eight or less we start digging a hole. Right now we have dug a pretty fine hole for ourselves,” Johnson said.

Work orders are being completed in the order they are received, Johnson said, and many items have been backlogged.

“Citizens don’t care for that too much,” Johnson said.

Councilman Bailey Yelding said the grounds department seems necessary to the daily function of the city and the vacancies should be filled.

“If we have 10 employees to carry the work of the city and we have lost two or three employees, that means 30 percent of the work will not be done, plain and simple. You cannot take several men and do what you expected 10 men to do,” Yelding said.

Councilman Derek Boulware asked Johnson if the department could be rearranged to get more men on the ground each day but work within his current operating budget.

Johnson said he is frustrated because the workload for the department has stayed the same, but the resources to do the work have diminished. 

The finance committee decided to send the decision of filling the vacancy to the city council.

Also, Monday, the finance committee:

r Recommended the approval of a $600,000 loan to the Daphne Volunteer Fire Department. The loan will be used to build a fire training facility and purchase a new fire truck. The training facility will cost an estimated $375,000. The fire department said the loan will be repaid within five years and the training facility, once completed, could generate revenue for the city.

r Recommended the appropriation of $35,000 to replace three HVAC units at the library and one unit in the recreation buildings. All four units have exceeded their life expectancy.

r Recommended the appropriation of funds to purchase a used wheel loader. The city currently leases the machinery and the purchase price is equal to the lease price paid in two years. It will cost the city $38,165 to purchase the machinery. The lease agreement on the machinery cost the city $21,635 each year, which was already included in the budget.

r Recommended to the city council the low bid for new police vehicles be rejected and the bid awarded to the bidder on the state bid list. Jim Ellis Chevrolet was the lowest bidder, but the dealership is in Georgia. The finance committee decided to keep the purchase within the state.

r Recommended the city council accept the lowest bid of $60,165 for a used wheel loader from Caterpillar Financial Services.

During the meeting, the human resources department announced two positions within the public works department have been advertised.

It also announced that in the next week, a memo will go to employees about payroll changes. Most of the city’s workforce is already on direct deposit, but there are still around 50 employees who receive a paper check. Employees will have two months to make arrangements for direct deposit.

Utilizing direct deposit for all employees will save funds for the city, officials said.