Committee advances Bill 41 to reclassify golf-course maintenance role, moves item to regular meeting

A committee advanced Bill 41, which would amend the 2020 golf fund budget to reclassify one maintenance position from an M‑8 salary listed at $43,950 to an M‑16 salary listed at $53,358, and sent the item to the regular Allentown City meeting for further consideration.

The bill was read into the record by an unidentified presenter, who said the change is intended "to better align with the skills necessary for the position within a very competitive labor market." A public commenter who spoke in favor of the change introduced Josh Moyers as the golf course’s new superintendent, saying Moyers "came in late last year" and that "he's a Penn State graduate." The commenter credited Moyers with overseeing a renovation project and said the course is "doing tremendously well."

Why it matters: The reclassification raises the advertised annual salary for that role and adds supervisory expectations; committee members asked whether the position would be seasonal or year‑round because the change affects ongoing labor costs. The public commenter said the role will be full time and argued the higher classification would allow the new hire to supervise seasonal staff and contribute to course planning. The commenter also stated the course has significant reserves (transcript: "We probably have about 1.6 or 7,000,000 in the bank") and that the renovation project will improve facilities.

In committee discussion, a question was raised about a $10,000 step increase; the commenter and the presenter clarified the position is full time. The record includes estimates that the reclassification "may cost us another hundreds of thousand dollars" over time; the transcript also contains a figure listed as "$299.67" for the current year but does not indicate whether that is thousands, a typographical error, or a different line-item reference. Those numeric items were reported by speakers in the meeting and are included here as stated in the transcript.

A motion was made to move Bill 41 forward from the committee and Unidentified Speaker (S2) said, "I'll second that motion." The committee approved the motion by voice vote (the roll call and numeric tally were not recorded in the transcript) and the item was placed on the regular meeting agenda for final consideration. The committee adjourned without further action on the ordinance.

Next steps: Bill 41 will appear on the regular Allentown City meeting agenda for a subsequent vote; no final adoption occurred in committee.