Rockford Sun

City of Carlyle Employee Concerns Committee and City Council met Sept. 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee and the council:

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Shannon Petrea at 5:45 p.m. at Case Halstead Library located at 550 6th Street. Committee members present included Shannon Petrea, Kent Newkirk, and Jeremy Weh. Others present included Joe Behrman, Andy Wennerstrom, Don Perez, Mayor Judy Smith, Andy Brackett, and Martha Reinkensmeyer.

The first item on the agenda was COVID related sick leave. Andy stated that under the federal mandate Families First Coronavirus Response Act, employers are required to provide 80 hours of paid sick leave on the employer for COVID related absences. These include mandated quarantines orders or displaying COVID symptoms. The City has now begun running into this issue. Andy explained to the Committee that it is possible for an employee to have to quarantine and burn through the 80 hours provided by the federal mandate, but never have COVID themselves. Then, a few weeks later, the employee could come down with COVID and be forced to use their own sick hours. He asked the Committee what it thought about providing an additional 80 hours of COVID leave to those who have already used the initial 80 hours, but later have a positive test or must go get tested and quarantine while waiting for results. Andy explained that the additional 80 hours would no longer be available once the public health emergency is over. The Committee agreed it was a good idea to provide an additional 80 hours of COVID leave for those that met the requirements. Documentation will be required from all employees to ensure there are no situations of employees abusing the program. No motions were made.

The second item on the agenda was payroll tax deferral. Andy stated that this was put in place by President Trump in his COVID relief executive orders. It would waive tax withholding on Social Security at this time, but once this benefit ended, employees would be expected to pay back the tax amount that had been deferred. After some discussion, Jeremy Weh made a motion not to defer the payroll tax. Kent Newkirk seconded the motion. After a voice vote, all were found in favor.

There was no old business.

There was no new business.

There were no any other comments.

There were no public comments.

The seventh item on the agenda was executive session. Kent Newkirk made a motion to enter executive session at 6:13 p.m. Jeremy Weh seconded the motion. The purpose of executive session was to review executive session minutes.

The eighth item on the agenda was vote on executive session item(s). Kent Newkirk made a motion to approve and open executive session minutes from January 27, 2020 and March 9, 2020. Jeremy Weh seconded the motion. After a voice vote, all were found in favor.

With no further business to discuss, Kent Newkirk made a motion to adjourn. Jeremy Weh seconded the motion. Finding all in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/carlyle/Board.nsf/Public