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Pawnee City council orders handbook updates after crew safety review
Summary
Council reviewed the employee handbook’s safety statement, directed immediate edits (adding 'or composite toed' boots), agreed to add a social-media/cell-phone policy, and discussed obtaining shoring equipment; an on-call pay section and dress-code changes were proposed for further approval.
Pawnee City council members reviewed the city employee handbook during their Sept. 22 meeting and directed a set of changes aimed at clarifying safety requirements for field crew members and updating personnel policies.
City Attorney Stehlik-Ladman led discussion of the handbook’s Safety Statement and said periodic review was appropriate given the hazards crew members face. Foreman Spencer Cumley told the council the crew has tripods, harnesses and ventilator fans for sewer work and some safety glasses with side shields, but "the City does not have any shoring," and shoring would be needed for certain deeper excavations. Cumley also described taking trenching and shoring certification and explained that soil classification determines benching and shoring needs.
Council Member Pat Hatfield asked for an immediate, narrow edit to the safety page to allow composite safety-toe footwear; the council directed Clerk Tamela Curtis to add the words “or composite toed” immediately following “steel-toed” in the two handbook paragraphs that reference footwear. Members also discussed requiring periodic reviews of the handbook and a short open-book quiz as a tool to verify employee understanding.
Clerks and councilors raised additional personnel-policy changes for the next meeting packet: removal of references to a CDL where that qualification is no longer required; addition of an On-Call Pay policy (the draft adds one hour of straight pay per day in the proposed language); and an updated mileage reimbursement rate of $0.70 per mile effective Jan. 1, 2025. Dress-code language was revised to require city work shirts for crew members, with the city to provide up to 10 shirts annually and two hoodies per crew member; clerks will receive magnet name tags.
Clerk Curtis said she will incorporate the edits and add cellular-phone, equipment-use and social-media guidance drawn from county examples for council review at the next meeting. The council directed staff to consider whether to obtain shoring equipment and to include any recommended procurement options in the forthcoming packet.
No formal ordinance or final handbook amendment was adopted at the Sept. 22 meeting; councilors asked staff to return with revised pages and formal language for approval at a future meeting.
