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Dispute over CDL pay and assistant supervisor contract puts Ogdensburg DPW staffing under review
Summary
DPW employees raised compensation concerns and a dispute over CDL training repayment; council asked staff to collect contract comments for attorney review and discussed an interim pay adjustment for the acting assistant supervisor pending budget review.
A personnel dispute in the Department of Public Works took up substantial time at the Feb. 10 Ogdensburg council meeting as employees and council members discussed RICE notices, CDL training, and compensation for acting DPW leadership.
Clerk Robin Hough told the council that three DPW employees received RICE notices and signed to have related employment discussions in public. Two employees, William Yates and Jacob (Jake) Brush, submitted proposals asking for salary adjustments; the minutes note these employees had been hired with an agreement that the borough would cover CDL training costs in exchange for a multi-year service commitment and prorated repayment if they left.
Jacob Brush told the council he will not pursue a CDL without compensation in place, and his mother, Susan Brush, later told the meeting she and her son had followed the personnel process and asked that the council record a response. Mayor George Hutnick and several council members said they recognized the employees’ contributions but emphasized that any pay adjustments must be reconciled with the municipal budget. Councilman DeMeo asked members to forward contract comments to CFO Mike Marceau and Attorney Robert McBriar; McBriar requested consolidated comments so he could perform a single attorney review. The minutes record a direction to submit comments by midweek so a draft employment agreement for DPW Assistant Supervisor Jake Kinney can be prepared for the council to consider.
Kinney told the council he was asking for retroactive pay to Jan. 1 and that he is pursuing training; council members discussed an interim adjustment but said final action depends on budget figures and a drafted employment contract. No final salary or contract was adopted at the Feb. 10 meeting.
