Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bellevue to return to 5-day work week

City staff hours to be restored after cuts


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

The Bellevue City Council voted on Thursday, Aug. 11, to restore city staff members' work schedules to 40 hours per week, and to open Bellevue City Hall five days per week beginning in October.

Bellevue City Hall will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bellevue staff hours were cut from 40 hours to 32 hours per week two years ago due to financial constraints, and City Hall hours were reduced to four days per week.

Staff hours have been increased over the past year to 38 hours per week, but City Hall has remained closed on Mondays.

"Because of the savings we have made in the budget, we are able to do this," said Councilman Larry Plott in an interview.

Last February, the council cut a 19-hour per week city administrator position from the city budget. The council recently made plans to contract with the city of Hailey for law enforcement services, a move that is expected to save the city almost $70,000.

<

"All of the decisions within the budget are tough decisions when you are working with a small income," said Mayor Chris Koch. "You have to weigh the pros and cons."

Koch said the city was not able to contribute as much as it wanted to Mountain Rides Transportation Authority and the Sustain Blaine business organization, but increased its annual payment to the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley. All three organizations supply services that benefit Bellevue residents.

"Staff and the council have worked tremendously hard to stay within their budgets," he said.

- In other Bellevue news, Bellevue Public Works Director George Tanner reported that the street department had completed repairing selected potholes. However, he agreed for the department to repair several additional potholes at the request of city council members.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.