Members of the Bluff City Board of Mayor and Aldermen spent substantial time discussing compensation and scope for the interim town manager position and agreed to a workshop to develop a compensation package and job description.

Board materials included a salary figure used as a starting point: staff said they had taken a Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) recommendation and removed benefits to arrive at a $92,000 starting figure for the interim position. The interim manager, Miss Roberts, was described in the packet as not requiring benefits and possibly not requiring a city car; staff recommended using $92,000 as a discussion starting point. One board member referenced a $100,000 figure previously circulated by a consultant; another board member said $92,000 is too high if the interim role is part time.

“I took the number that MTAS had suggested, took out benefits as a starting point,” a board presenter said when explaining the proposed figure. Board members repeatedly raised the issue of hours and expectations: several said they needed clarity on how many hours the interim manager would be required to work before deciding whether a $92,000 salary was appropriate. Several members urged that, if the interim position were part time, pay should be adjusted accordingly; others said the workload and the lack of foundational administrative systems justified higher compensation or a full-time expectation.

Board members and staff also described organizational gaps that the interim manager is addressing: an outdated employee handbook, no consistent certification for certain training quarters, paper-based inventory and work-order systems in some departments, and missing standard operating procedures. Staff recommended that the job posting or final job description require three to five years of relevant experience to ensure the person hired can build or restore administrative systems.

The board did not adopt a final pay decision at the meeting. Instead, members agreed to hold a workshop to compare salaries and refine a job description and to schedule a special meeting that will include second readings of ordinances from the same agenda. Members suggested possible interim arrangements — such as adjusting hours or paying an interim hourly rate — and asked staff to bring options to the workshop. Several public commenters urged the board to compensate Miss Roberts for the extra work she has been performing; one commenter said Miss Roberts had not asked to be paid and had said when she first addressed the public that “it’s not about the money” and that she was not afraid of hard work.

The board directed staff to circulate comparative salary information, draft job descriptions and proposed hourly/time commitments for the interim manager before the workshop. No formal compensation decision was adopted at the meeting.