New city job opportunities created, various purchases made at council

The reallocation of funds for new positions within the Maricopa Police Department as well as the Parks, Recreation and Libraries Department were approved at the Maricopa City Council Meeting Tuesday night.

Maricopa Police Chief Patrick Melvin received the elimination of a lieutenant and detective position within the department in order to create two new sergeant positions.

“We’re not ready for a lieutenant yet, we need more worker bees,” Melvin said.

He added that as the department ramps up for its July 1 start date, these positions will offer a salary savings to both the police department and the city.

Melvin also sought approval from Council to allow staff to apply for a grant called the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program. He said this will save the city half of the cost of bulletproof vests. The department plans to purchase 56 vests at approximately $1,000 each.

In addition to the vests, a request by City of Maricopa Management Assistant Paul Jepson was approved to purchase 20 laptop computers for the police department. He said this will make police officers jobs more efficient allowing them to remove the hardware from the vehicles.

In an effort to fill a position in the Parks, Recreation and Libraries Department, Human Capital Manager Karen Shaffer and PRL Director Martin McDonald’s request to increase the salary for the Adult/Youth Sports Coordinator position was approved. The position, currently vacant, will increase from $25,642 to $33,000. Also, they plan to reclassify the job title to Recreation Coordinator I. The salary increase and job title change stem from information gathered after researching other cities within proximity to Maricopa and what they are currently paying for this position.

“These are comparable titles and comparable job responsibilities… apples to apples,” said Shaffer.

The Planning Department also received approval for a new employment position. So far, the department was unable to fill the Assistant Planner position which has been posted for 7 months. Department officials said a planning assistant position with different qualifications, specifically no college degree, will hopefully fill faster so staff can keep up with their workload.

Financial Director Roger Kolman’s request for a contract award to TischlerBise, Inc. in the amount of $66,400 to update the City’s development impact fee study, was approved.

Also at the meeting, purchase approvals for an air compressor, new furniture and fixtures for the Interim City Hall and the Police Department and new furniture, a curbside book drop and a book cart for the public library.

Maricopa resident Mary Lou Smith hands out pictures of the library to members of council. The photo illustrated how crowded it gets, and she urged them to work toward getting more space for the facility.