Milford council proposes library capital repairs, discusses PTO for part-time director

Milford City Council reviewed proposed uses for incoming county library funds and discussed granting paid time off to the library director during its April 15 work session.

The city received a check for $91,883.33 for library support that was received on January 29, 2025, and council members said the county also included an “additional $50,000” allocation in the letter that accompanied the funds. Council members and library staff proposed using the money for building repairs and other capital improvements rather than for consumable equipment.

Items discussed for the library wish list included replacing a sun‑rotted west exterior door (a cedar quote of $3,113), installing a mini‑split to improve heating in the older portion of the building, adding outdoor security cameras (estimated at $3,000), interior painting (estimate discussed around $25,000), new vinyl flooring (vendor estimate mentioned around $10,000), LED lighting upgrades (estimate $2,071), concrete work near the retaining wall and parking area, and fencing or shading for the back patio. The council said those work items would go through the city’s formal bidding process and that the library board would be included in selection and oversight for the improvements. Council members indicated bids already on file for items 1–6 totaled about $48,000 and that the council expected to have sufficient funds for the prioritized work.

Councilors reported operational findings from recent inspections: workers determined multiple thermostats in the building had dead batteries and one of the roof‑mounted units was down. After Nash Rod’s crew serviced the roof units and thermostat batteries were replaced, the building temperature rose above 66 degrees, reducing the immediate need to install a mini‑split unit.

Library Director Cynthia asked the council to consider paid time off (PTO). She said she is scheduled roughly 30–31 hours per week. Staff described the library director position as a permanent part‑time role that historically had been full time and then was restructured during past budget cuts. The council discussed retirement and benefits rules rehearsed during the meeting: the Utah Retirement System (URS) requirement for positions that average 20 or more hours per week, reporting that prior holiday pay offered to the director triggered retroactive URS payments. Payroll administrator Monica explained how PTO is earned and allocated through the city payroll system.

As a compromise, councilors discussed placing the director into a level‑1 accrual schedule that would yield roughly 4 hours of PTO per month (accumulating and carrying over) with the accrual beginning on July 1 if the council approves the change. Staff said this approach would require updating the director’s job description (currently tied to the city’s vacation code 406.02) but would not automatically expand benefits to other part‑time library staff. The council asked staff to prepare the required job‑description changes and the accounting adjustments needed to implement the PTO start date.

Councilors emphasized that all expenditures funded by the county check will follow normal bidding and procurement rules and that library board members will be part of the decision process for how the money is spent. The council marked the library repairs as a top‑priority item to be included in the FY 2025–26 tentative budget.

Ending: City staff will prepare formal bid documents for the prioritized work, draft the job‑description change for the director position, and present implementation details to the council for a future meeting.