By Heather Michon, Correspondent
The regular meeting of the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors on Wednesday (June 6) was a brief and laid-back affair, perfect for a pleasant summer evening.
Roof
School superintendent Chuck Winkler made an urgent request for a rapid infusion of $150,000 to begin critical repairs on the roof of Carysbrook Elementary School over the summer break,
Leaks have developed across about 24,000 square feet of the roof, and “it’s going to start causing issues,” said Winkler.
Repairs are expected to cost $250,000.
Winkler told the supervisors he knew this was “a big ask,” but “I’ll make sure there’s $150,000 in carryover (funds)” to replace the loan later in the year.
His request was granted on a 5-0 vote.
Raises
Supervisor also discusses possible changes in county policy involving cost of living adjustments (COLA) and general pay raises for new hires.
“There’s no perfect plan,” said County Administrator Steve Nichols, but his feeling was that it should be something simple and straightforward.
“It would be vastly simpler to say if you’re on board the month COLA goes into effect, you’re eligible.”
But supervisors were hesitant to consider any plan that could theoretically allow someone to, in the words of Tony O’Brien, “to be hired on May 31 and get a raise on June 1.”
Mike Sheridan had earlier proffered a suggestion to hold any COLA or general increases until the first pay period after an employee completed probation. Depending on the position, probation can last anywhere from 6 to 12 months.
“Take probation off the table,” O’Brien suggested.
He recommended a fixed period of anywhere from 30 to 120 days or more after the date of hire before an employee was eligible for general pay increases. This would make it easy to track for accounting purposes and would eliminate the hired today/raise tomorrow scenario.
Columbia
The supervisors also approved the extension of the charter for the Columbia Area Renewal Effort (CARE) task force until June 30, 2019.
Steve Nichols said the task force meetings were going well and residents of the former town were eager to keep going. “It’s really a community effort.”
Much of the task force’s Phase I and Phase II projects have been completed. Demolition of the derelict buildings along Rt. 6 is scheduled to be complete by the end of June.
