Salary and Personnel Committee backs new facilities maintenance coordinator position

The Salary and Personnel Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Common Council add a facilities maintenance coordinator position at grade 135 to the city employee pay schedule. Administrator Rindy made the motion to create the coordinator post and Alder Wartweiler seconded; the clerk recorded four ayes and the committee voted to forward the recommendation to council.

Rindy told the committee the change follows a recent retirement and a prior compensation study. “In July 1 we had a retirement after 33 years from a facilities maintenance technician,” Rindy said, noting the McGrath compensation study included both the technician role and a higher-grade coordinator position. Rindy said the coordinator position reflects succession planning and a shift in responsibilities beyond routine maintenance.

Rindy described the coordinator as handling higher-level duties such as long-term forecasting, preparing and presenting bid packages and plans to committees, and taking on significant IT-related responsibilities that have grown over time. “There’s going to be more of those higher level responsibilities involved in this position,” Rindy said when explaining why the grade differs from the prior technician role.

Committee members asked whether the move permanently eliminates the technician job or simply suspends recruitment. Rindy said the technician classification would be retained in the pay scale as a potential future position; reinstating it would require returning to committee. The chair called the roll and the clerk recorded ayes from Alders Grenzo, Truhart, Cleveland and Wartweiler, formalizing the committee’s 4-0 vote to forward the measure.

The recommendation will be placed on the Common Council agenda for final consideration; the committee did not set an effective date for the change or specify hiring timing.