Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Southpoint Sun - 7
Council okays municipal pay increases
ities such as neighbours By Mark Ribble LEAMINGTON — Af- like Kingsville, Essex, ter a lengthy presenta- Amherstburg and others tion and discussion at last like Woodstock and Orweek’s council meeting, angeville. This leaves LeamingLeamington Council voted to accept a recommen- ton about five-to-eight dation that brings market percent lower on average equity to the salaries of and leaves the municithe municipal employees. pality vulnerable to emConsultant Marianne ployees leaving for high Love, brought onboard paying jobs in other comto conduct a salary re- munities. Love recommends that view of the Leamington’s municipal employees, Leamington’s pay target recommended a new sal- be more in the 65 percenary grid framework that tile, which would mean would bring Leaming- a substantial increase in salary for ton employees up to levels of other Our municipality some employees. comparable mumust be an In total, nicipalities. employer the recomAccording to mendathe consultant, the of choice.” municipality last — Trevor Jones tion will cost about did a compensa$815,000 to tion review in 2012 and then updated that cover full-time employees and an additional program in 2017. Love was retained last $45,000 for part-time and year to review the current student employees. She also recommended compensation program. She compared job rates that Leamington underbased on the current take the practice of salacompetitive pay market, ry reviews every three to taking into consideration four years. The recommendation four things: internal equity, pay equity, market would require Leamingequity and sustainability. ton to bring employees to She said that Leam- their proper level based ington sits at about the on the job and recogniz50 percentile when com- ing their time in that popared to other municipal- sition as well.
Councillor John Hammond expressed concern about someone perhaps getting a massive increase in pay and suggested a more stepped approach. “I understand the importance of having good employees and being able to retain them, but $815,000 is a very big jump,” he said. “Can we look at going from 50-66 percentile the first year, then from 56-62 in year two and 62-68 in year three?” “This allows time to get back to normal operations,” Hammond added. “We know that represents a three per cent tax increase.” Councillor Trevor Jones spoke in favour of the recommendation from the consultant, saying that Leamington has to operate as a “big little city.” “I believe our municipality must be an employer of choice,” he said. “We have to serve the greater good.” While Councillor Tim Wilkinson agreed it was not an easy subject to approach, he said that the town is in a unique time where the power is with the employee. “I’ve seen so much turnover,” he said. “It
wasn’t that way when I started eight years ago.” Wilkinson said he felt the municipality needed top talent in the positions and there is a cost to losing that talent. “I’m not excited about it but I think it’s necessary,” he said. Councillor Paul Tiessen agreed with Wilkinson, saying any corporation’s most important assets are its employees. “We need to pay at least what our competitors are paying,” he said. Mayor Hilda MacDonald had reached out to many of her mayor colleagues and discussed the issue and was quick to point out that council needs to apply current thinking. “We have to be current in our thinking,” she said. “We’re doing things en-
tirely different than five, ten, twenty years ago.” “We have to make decisions that are painful, but that are best for our municipality,” she said. Councillor Hammond spoke up prior to the vote
to say that he would also support the recommendation. The vote unanimously approved the recommendation for the increases, effective January 1, 2022.
Excavation crew finds human remains in Kingsville KINGSVILLE – On April 26 at approximately 2:00 p.m., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) attended a location in the Town of Kingsville for the report of human remains found by an excavation crew working in the area. After thorough examination by a Forensic Anthropologist, it has been determined that the located human remains will not be part of a criminal investigation and have been determined to be historic in nature. The remains have been reported to the Registrar Funeral Burial and Cremation Services of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, and will not involve any further police investigation.
Canadian Navigable Waters Act Kingsville Non-Profit Port Management Corporation hereby gives notice that an application has been made to the Minister of Transport, pursuant to the Canadian Navigable Waters Act for approval of the work described herein and its site and plans. Pursuant to paragraph 7(2) of the said Act, Kingsville Non-Profit Port Management Corporation has deposited with the Minister of Transport, on the on-line Common Project Search Registry (http://cps.canada.ca/), under the NPP File Number 2015400162, a description of the following work, its site and plans: Kingsville Non-Profit Port Management Corporation anticipates that dredging for navigation improvement purposes at Kingsville Harbour will commence as early as July 2022. The clean dredged sand will be deposited in Lake Erie east of the harbour as shoreline nourishment material at approximately 42° 1 ‘ 22.65” N x 82° 43’ 46.7” W in front of Lot 2, Concession 1, Town of Kingsville, County of Essex, Province of Ontario. Comments regarding the effect of this work on marine navigation can be sent through the Common Project Search site mentioned above under the Comment section (search by the above referenced number) or if you do not have access to the internet, by sending your comments directly to: Navigation Protection Program – Transport Canada 100 S Front St, 1st Floor Sarnia ON N7T 2M4 Transport Canada (TC) will not make your comments on a project available to the public on the online public registry. However, any information related to a work is considered as unclassified public record and could be accessible upon legal request. As such, the information and records provided should not contain confidential or sensitive information. If you want to provide confidential or sensitive information that you think should not be made public, please contact TC before submitting it. However, comments will be considered only if they are in writing (electronic means preferable) and are received not later than 30 days after the publication of the last notice. Although all comments conforming to the above will be considered, no individual response will be sent.
ESSCFP HOLDS SPRING PRAYER EVENT
KINGSVILLE - On the April 23-24 weekend, Erie Shores South Catholic Family of Parishes hosted a “Spring into Prayer” event at St. John de Brebeuf Church. Families acknowledged the importance of prayer by participating in a variety of games and activities that focused on the importance of prayer. The event also celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. Above, Cora Azzopardi (left) and Corbin Azzopardi display their prayer booklets that they created. Photo submitted
Posted at Kingsville, Ontario this 4th day of May, 2022. Kingsville Non-Profit Port Management Corporation
