W MARCH 5, 1993 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 10 island 3 SECTIONS, 52 PAGES REPORTER SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA, FLORIDA ; ! h 1 ; 1 l'W!&4?'f?'\$£'i/ '''••''$ ^'i't. ^^':V'^i'-'l''^-' ^ i ''^'V''^';ir^ •'"•'^•^V^''•V; ' -^' ''/'•' 'r •''''' • ''•••f; ''''"-'*•'£•-^^.^7'" '^•;^l^!'>'f°^^>'; ^ W"'Uiq'^.' Library asks for help with funding By MaiyJeanne McAward Staff Writer The new Sanlbel Public Library, to be built next to city hall, was not supposed to cost tax- payers a dime. Yet Tuesday, library represen- tatives asked for and received $109,786 from the Sanibel City Council. "The budget for the new building is $1.5 million. No new tax will be required, as the li- brary has been accumulating these funds in anticipation of this project," said library di- rector Patricia Allen and library board presi- dent Field Wasson when they first announced the project in August. While no new tax has been levied on is- landers yet, the Sanibel City Council agreed Tuesday to spend funds on the library. The lion's share of that figure—$79,986—• will create a safer emergency refuge space for islanders and city employees, in the form of a hurricane shelter built to withstand 155 mph winds, the threshold of a Category Five hurri- Workers must use heavy equipment to move the Watts—into the second floor of the Congrega- cane. Yamaha concert grand piano—used by Andre tional Church for the Sanibel Festival. • please see page 2A Council calls latest pay plan a $30,000 mistake A move to unionize the police department "City council and residents of Sanibel must be Pay-for-perfomance and possibly the entire city hall work force very unhappy with previous quality of service has been fueling in recent months—a direct as they felt they were paying too much for system eliminated result of the new compensation package. those services." By Dawn Grodsky The pay plan was adopted by the council He listed the many things the small staff of Editor last spring after it paid the HayGroup, an At- public works employees provides and said, Sanibel City Council members decided to lanta-based consulting firm, $30,000 to for- "These employees thought you were happy throw out the city's latest employee compen- mulate a new plan weighted strongly on per- with all that they were doing for you. But you sation plan during a special workshop last formance. have told us you are not happy by your deci- Friday, February 26. "Pay-for-performance" and forced distribu- sion to cut back on their rewards arid benefits. The workshop was scheduled to help under- tion turned out to be the thorns in the sides of Employees who had previously worked at an stand why employees were so dissatisfied with most employees who aired their views last outstanding level of performance found out the pjan and what the council could do to im- Friday. that outstanding was really just smoke as now prove the situation. Public works employee Forest Walter said, • please see page 2A Causeway cause for county officials to come to town By MaiyJeanne McAward the Sanibel Causeway. concerns about causeway main- current through the steel of the Staff Writer Lee County Public Works Direc- tenance, safety, scouring, repairs bridge. tor J.W. French and County Direc- and other issues. However, county officials Lee County officials attended tor of Transportation George Crawford defended the county's maintained this method only the the Sanibel City Council Crawford attended the the meet- repairs to the bridge during the works if there is continuity In the meeting Tuesday to discuss per- ing in response to recent corre- past two years as "not superfi- steel—if the rods all touch—In the ceived problems with the safety of spondence from the city regarding cial." He said substantial repairs bridge. Steel in the Sanibel were made and will continue to be Causeway is not continuous and made. cathodic treatment would not Crawford noted he has had no work, county officials maintain. success in getting the U.S. Coast Crawford said retrofitting may Guard to limit the number of enhance the storm survivability openings of the bascule span but of the Sanibel Causeway. He said he plans to continue his ef- pledged to continue to work with forts. the city and keep city officials ap- Also discussed was chloride in prised of maintenance schedules the concrete of the bridge and in for the bridge. concrete used in recent repairs as Crawford also said he will wel- well as cathodic treatment of the come city representatives at bridge to stop corrosion of steel county meetings concerning the reinforcing rods. causeway. Sanibel resident Andrew He pledged to work openly with Seipos, a design engineer, spoke the city—not to have a series of about shear stress cracks,- chlo- county meetings in a back room, ride in concrete and this method then come out with a design and of corrosion prevention, which, say, "Take it or leave it." according to the county officials, "We tried that once and it didn't County officials promise to keep the ciiy apprised of repairs to the causeway. entails running a weak, electric work," Crawford laughed. .?••• a Seven emergency call boxes to.foe removed from island CT) Seven emergency call boxes to the Sanibel locksmiths. Lindgren Boulevard; the Sanibel boat ramp; Police Department will be removed from var- However, island resident Charlotte Baker the weigh station (in accordance with a city ious locations around the islands in the near commented after Plager's presentation that contract with Lee County); Gulfside City Park o future. This action was approved by the Sani- she was happy to have a call box handy near (where the box may be moved to a more visible bel City Council Tuesday. the Lighthouse beach parking lot. She put it to location or better identified); Periwinkle Way Sanibel Police Chief Richard Plager pre- use one early morning when she was on turtle at Casa Ybel Road and the swimming pool at the recreation center. en sented use and economic statistics to illus- patrol and was surprised by a nude man com- in trate reasons why the boxes should go. ing up out of the surf. At one time in the 1970s, when the phone Few calls were made from them during the Locations where boxes will be removed in- company was removing phone booths at vari- o past three years, he said, and most of those clude the Lighthouse gulfside parking lot; the ous locations, the city had 43 callboxes a. around the island. LJU calls were made to the police by people seeking fishing pier parking lot; Periwinkle Way and EC PAY PLAN • a sions this fall, the council adopted some gen- partment heads distribute it as they saw fit. * from page 1A eral guidelines for a new plan including the Some wondered how a secretary could do CO they have become above average, which fur- elimination of pay-for-performance. something above-and-beyond the call of duty ther reduced their value.., Although employee evaluations will con- in the way that a lifeguard or police officer "In closing, I ask you only to answer one tinue, they will not be used to determine pay, could. question: What must we do to please you?" council members decided. Kain said he believed department heads and In previous plans, forced distribution—a Members decided to allow for cost-of-liv- Price could recognize excellence. Price sug- complicated procedure that required a certain Ing-adjustments (COLA) each year. The per- gested that teams of workers be rewarded number of employees be rated at certain levels centage will be determined during budget ses- while several department heads said they to determine bonuses—was never required. In- sions. were uneasy with the idea of rewarding merit stead, each department evaluated its employ- They also decided to replace the pay-for- to individual employees. ees as it saw fit, Price noted. performance plan with some type of step pro- There was some discussion about certain Most council members were sympathetic to gram in which employees move through the employees "brown-nosing" to get merit and the employees and called the HayGroup plan— steps in their pay range during their tenure one employee, Coby Amadio, said she would the third compensation plan in three years— with the city. Kain dissented on this measure. rather see that money distributed equally as a *a mistake." Council member Daphne Miller gave a reluc- Christmas bonus. "I understand...I'd be upset too," said Mayor tant nod, noting she was not entirely com- Muench and Janes offered their support of Mark Westall. He added that the council fortable with four pay plans in four years. merit pay "as long as it doesn't take money should not tell city departments how to rate Originally, Miller favored trying to make the away from the rank-and-file employee." their employees and said he believed they Hay plan work. Kain also agreed the plan was Miller agreed to try it for a year and Westall could come up with a fair and equitable plan acceptable and only needed "fine tuning." dissented on this measure. for both taxpayers and employees. "We don't have to abandon something to- Another item the council will consider is All council members agreed that the 10 per- tally, only five months into the problems," he changing a police department policy which cent and higher pay increases of the past "are said. states employees are not eligible for raises if out the window." Council member Jerry Muench was they've been written up or suspended during City Manager Gary Price said the plan strongly in favor of ditching the Hay plan.