The Ellijay City Council approved a pay increase for city police and fire department employees when meeting Monday, Sept. 20, at City Hall.
The almost 18 percent pay scale adjustment is for both new hires and current employees of the two public safety departments, confirmed Police Chief Ed Lacey and Fire Chief Sam West. It will become effective Oct. 1.
“Everybody in public safety is struggling to find and keep police officers. We’re fortunate our citizens love and appreciate the police and are supportive of things like this. We’re lucky to live in an area that’s very supportive,” Lacey said.
The Ellijay Police Department currently has 10 employees, but can employ up to 12. Lacey said his department went through most of last year with a full staff, but two officer positions are currently open.
“We’ve been trying to fill those positions, but we’ve kept our standards high and we’re not going to hire just anybody. We’re going to make sure we hire good, quality police officers,” he added.
West said the city fire department has four full-time employees, as well as several part-time personnel.
“We’ve had some part-timers come and go, but (currently have) no full time vacancies. The part-timers’ (increase) will be a different rate than the full timers, but everybody got an increase,” he added.
In other news ...
﹣ The first reading was given for an addition to the city’s ordinance for building permits.
Code Enforcement Officer Andrew Mathis said the addition allows for a building permit to be extended if a project is past a certain stage.
“Up until now, there really hasn’t been a real firm timeframe. Permits were issued for a year, but there wasn’t any way to get an extension,” said Mathis.
The changes will have to pass through a second reading next month before they can be voted on. If approved, they will apply to both residential and commercial permits, Mathis confirmed.
“I’m still looking at the basic year timeframe and being able to extend it as needed, especially with how busy everybody is since the coronavirus hit. I’ve seen projects sitting for six to nine months even after they’ve got the permits. I want the flexibility to work with people to where they’re not just getting started on something and have to get another permit,” he added.
﹣ Councilmembers approved the sale of a small strip of land adjacent to the River Street city parking lot and public rest room facilities to the owners of properties at 41 and 29 North Avenue.
Paul King, owner of the 41 North Avenue property, said an encroachment on city property was found after an inspection was done for a building permit.
King noted that purchasing the sliver of property will allow him to continue renovating the former “Old Hotel” building, which he plans to soon resume.
﹣ Councilmembers approved a microdistillery license for White Path Distillery.