Dickinson supervisors adopt updated personnel manual and ratify staff pay increases; one supervisor objects

The Dickinson Township Board of Supervisors on Aug. 21 voted to adopt an updated personnel manual (Resolution 2023-10) and ratified an executive-session decision to provide a pay increase to township staff.

Chairwoman Lorelei Coplen said she supported the manual to help bring positions into a more "competitive position" and noted onboarding can accommodate alternate holiday scheduling for religious or other reasons. Manager Larry Barrick explained two of the holidays in the manual are election days and the township must close the building because it serves as a polling place.

Supervisor Rob Kole opposed parts of the personnel action and voted against Resolution 2023-10 and the ratification of the pay increase. Kole said he supported raising starting wages to remain competitive but opposed an across-the-board increase without comparative data for incumbent township positions. As he put it, "Without this data, [we] were not given an opportunity to review the data needed to make a decision on across-the-board increases and that is why I was opposed to this." The ratification passed by majority vote, with Kole recorded as the lone no vote.

Vice Chairman Robert Line said he favors providing increases once a year; Chairwoman Coplen said the board can consider position-specific adjustments during the 2024 budget process. The board did not provide detailed position-level comparisons at the meeting.

Outcome: Resolution 2023-10 passed by majority; the executive-session pay increase ratification passed by majority (Supervisor Rob Kole voted no).