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Newcastle council updates purchasing policy and approves revised salary schedule
Summary
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2026-1089 to raise purchasing thresholds and add contracting guidance and adopted Ordinance 2026-687 to separate the human-resources director and city clerk roles, citing staff workload and alignment with peer cities.
Newcastle —April 7, 2026—
The Newcastle City Council on Tuesday approved two administrative changes aimed at improving contract oversight and staffing capacity. Council members voted 7-0 to adopt Resolution 2026-1089, which raises approval thresholds and adds contracting requirements and monitoring; and they adopted Ordinance 2026-687, which revises the 2026 salary schedule and separates the human-resources director and city clerk roles.
City Manager Pingle summarized the purchasing policy changes to the council as three main areas: higher approval thresholds to reflect inflation, clearer procurement rules for materials and public works to match state law, and a new contracting section to provide guidance on how to procure, structure and monitor contracts. "The city relies heavily on contracts for service delivery, and until now, there has been no formal guidance on how to procure, structure, or monitor those contracts," Pingle said.
Council members said the changes bring Newcastle into alignment with comparable cities and will help the city operate more efficiently. The resolution was moved by Deputy Mayor Charbano, seconded by Council Member Griffin and adopted by voice vote.
On personnel, City Manager Pingle described plans to break out the combined human-resources director/city clerk position into separate roles to reduce staff burden and burnout while keeping fiscal impact moderate. The revised salary schedule was presented as consistent with an upcoming compensation study and designed to avoid sudden large salary jumps. Council Member Frost Blakeley moved adoption; Council Member Jacobs seconded and the motion passed 7-0.
Other council business included committee reports on wayfinding-sign sites and planning calendar items for the April 21 meeting (state legislative update, Q1 financial report, CIP update and a public hearing related to a detention-centers moratorium). The council also discussed adding an ad hoc downtown activation committee and a fiscal sustainability task force to the next agenda and preparing to promote those citizen opportunities at a May 5 town hall.
